AUSTIN – A drastic Monday afternoon turnaround from the UT Arlington men's golf team gave the Mavericks a little momentum heading into Tuesday's final round of UT's George Hannon Invitational from the University of Texas Golf Club.
 
After shooting 1st-round 325 in the morning, the Mavs improved 25 shots in the afternoon 2nd round with a 300, highlighted by a pair of 1-under rounds of 70 from Kyle Cox and Caleb Hicks.
 
Cox and Hicks rank 1st and 2nd on the Mavs in scoring through 36 holes at +6 and +7, respectively. As a team, UTA's 625 total through the first two rounds places them in 13th place amidst an extremely-challenging field which features eight of the top-50 ranked teams in the nation and four of the top 20.
 
UTA LINEUP SCORES
T-46) Kyle Cox: 78-70: 148 (+6)
T-54) Caleb Hicks: 79-70: 149 (+7)
72) Zach Cole: 80-82: 162 (+20)
74) Paul Gonzalez: 88-80: 168 (+26)
75) Daniel Cronje: 89-80: 169 (+27)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES

• It took Cox until his 18th hole of the 1st round (the 9th) to make a birdie, and he carried that over as he then birdied 10 and 11 to start his 2nd round. He rolled in three more birdies over his final five holes of the day to post a season-low 70.
• Hicks didn't make a birdie during his 1st round, but settled down nicely and rolled in five in his 2nd round en route to his 2nd-best round of the year.
• Several big numbers derailed the rounds of Cole, Gonzalez and Cronje as they each signed for uncharacteristically-high scores.

THIS AND THAT

• Four of UTA's five members posted a lower 2nd-round score than a 1st-round score.
• Cronje and Cox are both tied for 5th in the field in par-5 scoring average at 4.50 (-3).

FINAL-ROUND TEE TIMES (No. 10 Start)
9:15 AM: Daniel Cronje
9:24 AM: Paul Gonzalez
9:33 AM: Zach Cole
9:42 AM: Caleb Hicks
9:51 AM: Kyle Cox
 
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ABOUT TEXAS RANGERS GOLF CLUB
Opened in February of 2019, the state-of-the-art Texas Rangers Golf Club is the new home of UTA's men's and women's golf programs. The world's only Major League Baseball-branded golf course, TRGC is the result of a $24 million renovation and updated routing of the former Chester W. Ditto Golf Course.
 
The Home of UTA Golf was designed by UTA alumni John Colligan and Trey Kemp of Arlington-based Colligan Golf Design. It features an expansive 23-acre practice area, and a new 33,871-square-foot clubhouse – which just opened in March of 2021 – features a full-service restaurant and bar, covered patio overlooking the golf course, pro shop, locker rooms and numerous rental and event spaces. For more information about TRGC, click here.