ERIE, Colo. – Paul Gonzalez posted one of the best individual tournament scores in UT Arlington men's golf history, and the Mavericks collectively secured the 2nd-best score to par in program lore as the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational from Colorado National Golf Club concluded on Tuesday.
 
Gonzalez signed for a final-round 70 as part of an 11-under 205 total for the three rounds. The -11 score to par is tied for the 3rd best in program history, while the 205 total matches the 4th best. The Waxahachie native equaled his own personal mark of 205 from the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championships (program record: 201 by Zack Reeves at the 2007 Turtle Bay Resort Collegiate).
 
That performance from Gonzalez – which had him tie for 5th overall in the field – in addition to Caleb Hicks, also carded a final-round 70 en route to a 7-under 209, led the Mavs to a final-round 6-under 282 score. UTA's 845 three-round total (-19) is the 6th best in program history, bettering the 846 (-18) performance from the 2019 edition of the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational.
 
Additionally, the -19 score to par is the 2nd best in program annals to only an incredible -41 by the 2007 squad at the aforementioned Turtle Bay Resort Collegiate.
 
Individually, Hicks – who made a hole-in-one during Monday's 2nd round – matched his career-best 54-hole total with the 209, and Daniel Steinarsson established his career low with a 217, besting a previous mark of 219.
 
Competing against four nationally-ranked top-100 ranked teams in the field of 17 opponents, UTA shot under-par rounds each day on the par-72, 7,705-yard layout where elevation plays a significant factor.
 
The Mavs finished 9th in the strong field, just one shot back of Utah Valley (844) and three behind Grand Canyon (842). Boise State blistered the scoreable course to win the event by 10 shots over San Francisco with a 46-under 818.
 
UTA SCORES
Team
9) UT Arlington: 282-281-288 = 845 (-19)
 
Lineup
T-5) Paul Gonzalez: 68-67-70 (-11)
T-24) Caleb Hicks: 71-68-70 (-7)
59) Daniel Steinarsson: 73-71-73 (+1)
T-78) Kyle Cox: 71-85-69 (+9)
T-87) Hiroki Miya: 72-75-81 (+12)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES
Gonzalez

• Posted a very clean card with four birdies and only two bogeys. Three of those birdies came on his opening six holes – the 9th, 10th and 13th. After the birdie on the 10th – his second hole of the day – Gonzalez's scorecard was always multiple shots under par. Gonzalez also posted all three rounds multiple shots below par.

Hicks

• The only blemish on the scorecard came on his final hole with a bogey on the par-4 8th. Up until that point, Hicks had made three birdies and 14 pars en route to – like Gonzalez – a third-straight round under par to match his career-best 54-hole total set at the Little Rock Invitational last October.

Steinarsson

• The Iceland product posted another consistent round with the 73. He resided at +3 following a double bogey on the par-3 16th, but was able to settle down from there to roll in two birdies and convert eight pars over his closing 10 holes to get back to +1.

Cox

• An opening-round 71 on Monday was followed by an afternoon round of 85, but Cox quickly reverted back to his typical form in the final round on Tuesday with a team-best 3-under 69. Starting on the 11th, Cox opened birdie-double bogey-birdie, and remained at level par until an eagle short par-4 17th. A par on 18 preceded back-to-back birdies on the 1st and 2nd holes to get to -4, but he ended his day at -3 following a bogey on the par-4 6th.

Miya

• An adventurous day for the North Texas transfer yielded eight pars, three birdies, three double bogeys, three bogeys and a triple bogey.

THIS AND THAT
The eagle for Cox is now the 11th of his career, tying him for the 3rd-most in program history (record: Cash Wilkerson with 14 from 2011-15) … Gonzalez led UTA in birdies (15), par-4 scoring average (3.77 to tie for the 6th-best in the 99-player field) and par-5 scoring (4.58) … Hicks also averaged 4.58 on the par-5 holes, and led the Mavs and tied for the field lead in par-3 scoring at 2.83 … Hicks paced UTA with 38 pars to tie for the 8th most among all players … scoring was the hardest of the three rounds on Tuesday at 73.33 (72.12 for the week).
 
NEXT UP
UTA continues its stretch of playing four-straight weeks to open the 2021-22 season when the Mavs head to SMU's Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas Oct. 4-6.
 
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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.