HOLLISTER, Mo. – UT Arlington's Romina Gonzalez registered a hole-in-one that led UTA to a 1st-round 308 Monday at Missouri State's Ozarks National Invitational from the Ozarks National Golf Course.  
 
Competing as a member of the team lineup for just the second time this season, senior Gonzalez registered her hole-in-one on the 6th hole – which marked her first-ever hole-in-one. Monday's opening-round 75 is the Mexico native's best round so far this year.
 
"The hole was 160 yards and downhill, so you can see the green super clear," Gonzalez recalled. "I hit the straightest six iron directly at the pin and I was just hoping it was the right distance. Coach ZC (Zach Cole) was on the tee with me, and the ball took a bounce and disappeared into the hole. He started celebrating, but I was in shock! Coach Cat (Catherine Matranga) saw it from the next tee box too, so that was awesome having them both there."
 
The Mavericks sit in a nice spot on the leader board as the team resides in 6th place alongside Northern Iowa – two shots shy of 4th place.

UTA SCORES
T-7) Romina Gonzalez: 75
T-15) Madison Le: 76
T-20) Hannah Choi: 77
T-42) Connor Howard: 80
T-57) Ana Rodriguez: 83

INSIDE THE SCORES
Gonzalez

• Gonzalez began her day on the 11th hole and produced a 37 (+1) on the back side – her front side – with a pair of birdies on 12 and 18. Even with a double on 3, the senior was able to get her card back down to +2 courtesy of the aforementioned hole-in-one on the 6th hole. She went on to play the final four holes in +3 to cap the round of 75.

Le

• Le followed Gonzalez's play closely as she turned in a 1st-round 76. The freshman's card featured seven bogeys, eight pars and three birdies – which came on 6, 7 and 16.

Choi

• Choi played the first seven holes in +5 (12-18) after putting an unlucky double and three bogeys on her card. However, the senior settled down on the front side – her back side - after just one hiccup came on 7 as she recovered with a birdie on 10 to complete the round of 77.

Howard

• Howard started Ozarks National Invitational action on hole 10 and played her first nine in +7 with a pair of big numbers that set her back before making the turn. With two more bogeys across the final nine, the senior was able to recover with a birdie on 8 that led to an 80.

Rodriguez

• Rodriguez struggled to gain any momentum throughout her round as she logged a 1st-round 83. The freshman's day consisted of two doubles, seven bogeys and nine pars.

NEXT UP
The Mavericks will be right back on the course Tuesday for the second round of the Ozarks National Invitational with a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start.

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