MONTGOMERY, Texas – A team championship. An individual title. The UT Arlington men's golf team could not have asked for a better end to its regular season on Tuesday from Walden on Lake Conroe Golf Club.
 
UTA won Sam Houston's Bearkat Invitational by seven shots with a 54-hole 13-under 851 total following a final-round 10-under 278, and in the process had Kyle Cox claim medalist honors by two shots thanks to a final-round 69 as part of a 6-under 210 total.
 
Incredibly, Cox became the first Maverick to win a tournament since Paul McConnell claimed the Western Athletic Conference Championship in 2013 during UTA's lone year as a league member.
 
The team crown for the Mavs is their first since September of 2019 when they were co-champs of UTSA's Lone Star Invitational; UTA's last outright tournament triumph came in March of 2018 at Appalachian State's Cape Fear National Intercollegiate.
 
Cox eagled not one, not two, but three holes in his final round on Tuesday, added three birdies, had two double bogeys and also two bogeys to complete a colorful card which was only bettered by two players in the field on the final day. The 69 represents a season low for the junior, whose previous-best career finish was a T-5 as a freshman in 2018-19.
 
While Cox finished 1st, teammate Caleb Hicks was right behind as he tied for 2nd following a final-round-equaling 69 as part of a 4-under 212 three-round total. It marked the junior's second-straight round of 69 after opening with a 2-over 74.
 
However, it was Paul Gonzalez with the team's best round of the day as the senior delivered a patented 68 – his 13th round in the 60s in his career. That moved him 10 spots up the leaderboard and gave the Mavs three top-10 finishers as Gonzalez tied for 6th overall at -1 for the week.
 
"Even playing the practice round, I could tell something was different this week – guys were fully engaged and hitting it well, and that carried over into competitive action," said UTA head coach Casey Devoll. "We didn't get off to a great start in the 1st round, but once we settled down guys started feeding off each other with birdie after birdie. This morning, I was pleased to see how calm everyone was as well; we got off to a good start, went through a few tough holes but then had an incredibly-strong finish to win."
 
"The momentum for us is huge – it couldn't have come at a better time heading into the Sun Belt Conference Championship in two weeks," Devoll added. "We were just a completely different team this week from what we've shown so far this spring; the potential is absolutely there and the guys are just oozing with confidence now."
 
The 278 by UTA in the final round was the best by any team in the 15-team field all week, represented a season low for the Mavs and also tied for the 11th-best round in program history. In comparison to par, the -10 round is tied for the 8th-best in program history.
 
That performance allowed the Mavs to stave off host and top-45 nationally-ranked Sam Houston (-6) by the aforementioned seven shots. The Mavs also finished well ahead of fellow Sun Belt Conference foes Texas State (3rd, +10) and Louisiana (4th, +12).
 
UTA LINEUP SCORES/FINISHES
1) Kyle Cox: 70-71-69: 210 (-6)
T-2) Caleb Hicks: 74-69-69: 212 (-4)
T-6) Paul Gonzalez: 71-76-68: 215 (-1)
T-33) Zakary Jones: 80-72-72: 224 (+8)
T-44) Daniel Cronje: 73-73-83: 229 (+13)
*T-76) Daniel Steinarsson: 75-96-73: 244 (+28)
* Competed As An Individual
 
INSIDE THE SCORES

• Cox's roller coaster of a round commenced inauspiciously with a double bogey on the 1st, but he quickly got that back with consecutive birdies on the next two holes. A bogey on the 4th moved him to +1, which is where he sat until he eagled the par-5 9th to get his card under par. Another eagle on the next hole – the par-5 10th – quickly got him to -3. In an extremely rare opportunity, a third-straight par 5 awaited Cox on the 11th tee, but he made a double bogey. A settling par 3 on the 12th helped yield a birdie on the par-4 13th. Cox then made the last of his three eagles on the day on the par-5 16th and sat at -4 entering the 18th, which he unfortunately bogeyed.
   
• Devoll's thoughts on Cox: "Kyle winning was fantastic to see. He absolutely striped it all three rounds. He had a few errant shots here and there, but for the most part it was basically a 'point and shoot' mentality where he was hitting it exactly where he wanted. It's huge for him and the team."
   
• Hicks rolled in six birdies – three on each side – and made nothing worse than a bogey as he equaled a season-low round and registered his second T-2 of the season with the other coming at the Little Rock Invitational back in October.
   
• Gonzalez matched the performance of Hicks with six birdies and three on each side, but made just two bogeys. He had his score to -5 before a bogey on the par-3 17th, but still signed for his best round of the season and also posted his best finish of the year.
   
• Jones registered 12 pars, made three birdies and also a trio of bogeys in a relatively-clean round. It marked his second-straight level-par round after opening his event with an 80.
   
• Cronje resided in a tie for 12th entering the final round, but fell back on Tuesday due to several double bogeys.
   
• Competing as an individual, Steinarsson bounced back nicely from an extremely uncharacteristically-high 2nd round with a 1-over 73 in the final round. He made 15 pars on the day as he rolled in a birdie and made just two bogeys.

THIS AND THAT

• UTA's four eagles for the week tied for the most in the field. The Mavs led the field in par-5 average (4.76) and ranked 2nd in par-4 average (4.11) and total birdies (55) – one of only two teams with more than 50 for the three rounds.
   
• Individually, Cox paced the 83-player field in par-4 scoring average (3.88) and ranked 2nd in par-5 average (4.53). Hicks led UTA and tied for 5th in the field in par-3 average at level par.
   
• Cox's three eagles led the field for the entire week, while the 15 birdies from Hicks were tied for the 2nd-most in the field. Additionally, Steinarsson's 35 pars were the most by a UTA representative and tied for the 5th-most in the field.

NEXT ON THE TEE
The Mavs will compete in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Apr. 25-28 from Mystic Creek Golf Club in El Dorado, Ark.
 
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For up-to-date news, photos and videos of the UTA men's golf program, follow us on Twitter: @UTAMavsMGolf, Instagram: @UTAMensMGolf and Facebook: /UTAMavsMGolf.
 
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.