CHOUDRANT, La. – Paul Gonzalez posted another under-par round with a 71 on Tuesday to lead the UT Arlington men's golf team in the final round of Louisiana Tech's Jim Rivers Intercollegiate from Squire Creek Country Club.
 
UTA finished the 54-hole event in 11th place out of 21 teams with an 875 (+11) total following a final-round 297. LSU (841) ran away from the pack thanks to a closing 13-under 275 to win by seven shots over UTSA (848).
 
Gonzalez narrowly missed a top-10 finish to start the year as he tied for 11th in the field of 119 with a three-round 213 total (-3) on the heels of playing the final 36 holes in -5.
 
UTA LINEUP SCORES
T-11) Paul Gonzalez: 74-68-71: -3
T-40) Caleb Hicks: 74-70-75: +3
T-49) Daniel Steinarsson: 71-74-76: +5
T-66) Daniel Cronje: 72-77-75: +8
T-91) Hiroki Miya: 75-75-78: +12

• Gonzalez posted his second-straight under-par round following a 68 on Monday as he rolled in four birdies against three bogeys. He went out in 2-under 34, but his card was at level par before a birdie on the par-5 17th – the seventh birdie Gonzalez made in eight opportunities on par-5 holes over the closing two days.
   
• Hicks carded a front-side 39 and had his score at +5 through 16 holes before ending on a high note with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and par-4 18th. His other birdie came on the short par-4 6th.
   
• Steinarsson registered three under-par holes, but a stretch of five-straight bogeys from holes 4-8 and a double on the par-3 16th derailed an otherwise clean round. He rolled in three birdies on the round, two of which came in a three-hole stretch between 11 and 13.
   
• Cronje was in position for UTA's second-best round of the day as he sat at +1 heading to the 456-yard 18th, but unfortunately made a double. Prior to that he matched Gonzalez's team-leading birdie total for the day with four, including one on the 464-yard 7th which the other four Mavs collectively played in +4.
   
• Miya was at even par through six holes, but he couldn't recover from a triple on the par-4 7th as he posted a pair of 39s on each side. His lone birdie came on the 528-yard, par-5 2nd.

THIS AND THAT
UTA finished 4th in the field in par-5 scoring average for the week with a blistering 4.65 (-21) … the Mavs converted 47 birdies for the three rounds … Hicks tied for 3rd in the field in par-4 scoring at 3.93 (-2) … Gonzalez tied for 2nd in the field in par-5 scoring at a gaudy 4.25 (-9) … Hicks led the Mavs with 13 birdies … the field scoring average for the final round was the highest of the week on the par-72, 7,105-yard layout at 74.64.
 
NEXT UP
The event marked the start of UTA playing in four-consecutive weeks to begin the 2021-22 season. The Mavs will return to action next Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 20-21, at UTSA's Lone Star Invitational from TPC San Antonio, site of the PGA TOUR's Valero Texas Open.
 
FOLLOW THE MAVS SOCIALLY
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.