MONTGOMERY, Texas – The UT Arlington men's golf team commenced its 2020-21 regular-season finale on Monday in impressive form as the Mavericks reside in 1st place entering Tuesday's final round at Sam Houston's Bearkat Invitational.
 
UTA posted rounds of even-par 288 and 3-under 285 on the par-72 Walden on Lake Conroe Golf Club layout as the Mavs will hold a five-shot overnight lead on host and top-45 nationally-ranked Sam Houston (578) thanks to a 36-hole 573 total. The Mavs are also ahead of fellow Sun Belt Conference foes Louisiana (3rd, 585) and Texas State (4th, 587) in the 15-team field.
 
On top of a team title, the Mavs will be chasing a medalist crown during Tuesday's final round as Kyle Cox (2) and Caleb Hicks (T-6) both reside in the top 10 of the player leaderboard. Cox is just one shot off the lead of Wichita State's Marcus Wochner (-4) as the junior posted rounds of 2-under 70 and 1-under 71 and sits in sole possession of 2nd place with a 141 total.
 
Close behind him is Hicks, who rebounded from a 2-over 74 in the 1st round with a team-best 3-under 69 in the 2nd round to move up 19 spots and position himself at -1 and in a tie for 6th, just three shots off the individual lead.
 
UTA LINEUP SCORES
2) Kyle Cox: 70-71: 141 (-3)
T-6) Caleb Hicks: 74-69: 143 (-1)
T-12) Daniel Cronje: 73-73: 146 (+2)
T-16) Paul Gonzalez: 71-76: 147 (+3)
T-36) Zakary Jones: 80-72: 152 (+8)
*81) Daniel Steinarsson: 75-96: 171 (+27)
* Competing As An Individual
 
INSIDE THE SCORES

• Cox posted a nearly-clean 1st-round card as he made just one bogey and got three birdies to drop as the round of 70 tied a season low. His 2nd round was much more up-and-down as he made five birdies and four bogeys en route to another under-par performance.
   
• Hicks rolled in four birdies in his 1st round as he worked to overcome a triple bogey on the par-4 13th, and was able to get his card back to level before posting the 74. He bounced back impressively with five birdies and only a pair of bogeys in the 2nd round, including a 3-under 33 on the back side (started on hole 8), to also tie his season-low round.
   
• Cronje registered a team-leading five birdies in his opening round, including four in his closing seven holes. He made nothing worse than a bogey in the 2nd round as he had three birdies.
   
• Gonzalez's 1st round was highlighted by a pair of birdies and an eagle on the par-5 16th as he turned in his team-leading seventh par-or-better round of the year. He had his 2nd round at 1-under after 12 holes (started on the 7th), but unfortunately played his final six holes in +5.
   
• Jones converted two birdies on par 5s in his 1st round, but got derailed by a pair of big numbers. Like Hicks, he flipped the page in the 2nd round and posted an even-par 72, thanks to a fast start in which he sat at -4 through seven holes.
   
• Playing as an individual, Steinarsson made 14 pars in the 1st round – tied for the most by a Mav – and recorded the only birdie by a UTA player all day on the par-3 6th. However, his 2nd round included multiple big numbers as he struggled coming in to conclude the 36 holes.

THIS AND THAT

• UTA leads the field in birdies (35) and par-4 scoring through two rounds at 4.10 (+8). The Mavs are 2nd in par-5 average (4.82, -9) and 3rd in total pars (103).
• Cox leads the 83-player field in par-4 average at 3.75 (-4). Hicks is tied for 3rd in par-3 scoring (2.90, -1) and tied for 5th in birdies with nine.
• The eagle for Gonzalez was the ninth of his career, moving him into sole possession of the 7th-most in program history. A 10th eagle would tie him for the 5th-most.
• The 285 2nd-round performance for the Mavs is tied for their 3rd-best of the season.
• Hicks' round of 69 was one of only six in the 60s by the entire field over both rounds on Monday as the average score was 76.52.
• The course features a unique feature with three-straight par 5s from holes 9-11.
• UTA will be in search of its first team championship since September of 2019 at UTSA's Lone Star Invitational (290-287-296: 873).

FINAL ROUND TEE TIMES
The Mavs will go off the 1st hole and be paired with Sam Houston and Louisiana in the last groupings of the final round on Tuesday.
 
9:30 AM: Zakary Jones
9:39 AM: Paul Gonzalez
9:48 AM: Daniel Cronje
9:57 AM: Caleb Hicks
10:06 AM: Kyle Cox
*9:48 AM: Daniel Steinarsson (10th Hole)
 
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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.