CHOUDRANT, La. – Paul Gonzalez fired a 4-under 68 in the 2nd round of Louisiana Tech's Jim Rivers Intercollegiate on Monday to lead the UT Arlington men's golf team to a strong 1-under 287 team score with the final round on deck Tuesday.
 
Gonzalez was one of two Mavericks who signed for under-par rounds as Caleb Hicks posted a 2-under 70. Daniel Steinarsson – who led the Mavs in the opening round with a 71 – registered a 74 in the 2nd round. He was followed by Hiroki Miya with a 75 and Daniel Cronje with a 77.
 
The Mavs shaved four shots off their 1st-round total of 291 and remain in a tie for 9th place in the 21-team field with a 36-hole 578 total. UTSA fired a blistering 16-under 272 to move from 7th place to the top of the leaderboard with now a 562 total, three shots clear of La Tech (565). Teams in 3rd place through 10th place are separated by just 12 shots, leaving plenty of opportunity for UTA to move up in the final round.
 
UTA LINEUP SCORES
T-15) Paul Gonzalez: 74-68: -2
T-32) Caleb Hicks: 74-70: E
T-36) Daniel Steinarsson: 71-74: +1
T-68) Daniel Cronje: 72-77: +5
T-76) Hiroki Miya: 75-75: +6

• Gonzalez went out in 2-under 34 with birdies on each of the front-side par 5s – the 2nd and 9th. He made the turn and promptly rolled in birdies on holes 10 and 11 to get his card to -4 through 11. However, his lone blemish came with a bogey on the par-4 14th which paused the momentum momentarily before Gonzalez took advantage of another par 5 – the 17th – with a birdie as he played the four par-5 holes collectively in 4-under par.
   
• Hicks made a pair of birdies and bogeys on his front side to go out in level par. After a bogey on the par-4 10th, Hicks rattled off four birdies in a five-hole stretch from 11-15 before a bogey on the par-3 16th in advance of closing pars.
   
• After a tough front side in which he posted a 40, Steinarsson settled down nicely with birdies on three of his first four holes on the back, ultimately settling for a back-side 34.
   
• Miya had his scorecard at even par through 15 holes, thanks to 11 pars and a pair of birdies and bogeys. However, a bogey on the 16th and double on the par-4 18th unfortunately had him come in at +3.
   
• Cronje rolled in three birdies on the day, but was undone by six bogeys and a double.

THIS AND THAT
Hicks is tied for 2nd in the field in par-4 scoring average at 3.90; his 10 birdies through two rounds are tied for the 3rd most … Gonzalez is tied for the 5th-best par-5 scoring average in the field at 4.25 (-6) … scoring was just over a shot easier in the 2nd round (73.46) than the 1st round (74.48).
 
FINAL-ROUND ACTION
UTA will tee off the 1st beginning with Miya at 7:30 a.m. and concluding with Gonzalez at 8:10 a.m. Live scoring will again be available via Golfstat.
 
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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.