PHOENIX – The UT Arlington men's golf team continues its spring season on Monday and Tuesday, Mar. 14-15, when the Mavericks head to the Grand Canyon Invitational at the Grand Canyon University Golf Course.
 
UTA LINEUP
1) Kyle Cox
2) Paul Gonzalez
3) Caleb Hicks
4) Daniel Steinarsson
5) Zak Jones
 
Dating back to the fall, Gonzalez and Hicks will be competing in the team lineup for the seventh time in as many qualifiers this season. Steinarsson makes the lineup for a sixth time after competing as an individual last tournament. Cox will be competing for his fourth time in the, while Jones will make an appearance in the team lineup for his third time this season. More information about each competitor later in this release.
 
TOURNAMENT INFO

• Format: 3 Rounds | Monday: 36 Holes | Tuesday: 18 Holes
• Time: 9:45 AM Central Shotgun Both Days (7:45 AM Local Pacific)
• Layout: Day 1: Par 71, 7,148 Yards | Day 2: Par 71, 7,202 Yards
• Live Scoring: Golfstat
• Participating Teams: 23 – Grand Canyon, TCU, Hawaii, North Dakota State, Southern Miss, Sacramento State, Valparaiso, Pacific, Drake, UT Arlington, Creighton, Omaha, Columbia, Cal Baptist, Abilene Christian, Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Northern Colorado, Fresno State, Kansas City, Incarnate Word and Cal State Fullerton.

ABOUT THE PLAYERS

• Cox started the spring by finishing T-8 at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate earlier this month. Only just past the midway point season, he already has nine par or better rounds in just five tournament appearances. Not only is he on track to beat his previous career high (12), Cox is also on track to break multiple career highs this season in number of rounds and rounds in 60.
   
• Gonzalez has done nothing but dominate this season, despite an uncharacteristically poor performance at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate last time out – the first time all season he didn't post a top-20 finish. Still, he is leading all UTA golfers in most every scoring statistic this season. He needs just two birdies to become the all-time leader at UTA, and he currently holds the lowest career scoring average in program history at 73.06 (more records later in this release).

• Hicks, a 2021 U.S. Amateur Round of 64 competitor last summer, has a 72.25 average score over his last four events. He has career bests in average score, score versus par and also ranks in the top-7 percent of players with a low round of 67 this year.
   
• Steinarsson has been Mr. Reliable for the team this year by not only playing in all the events, but by also being tied for #1 in the country in others (nothing worse than a double bogey on any hole this year). He also leads the team in eagles with three.

• Jones has also played well for the Mavs by posting +2 or lower in five of six rounds of play. Jones has improved his average score by 2.61 strokes over last season and also is maintaining a career high versus par with a 2.33.
   

LAST TIME HERE
UTA has never competed in the GCU Invitational. The Mavs will get their first taste of the Championship Golf Course. Since UTA is moving conferences to the WAC (Western Athletic Conference) beginning on July 1, the Mavs will be teeing it up against several future league opponents this week, including: Grand Canyon, Cal Baptist, Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word.
 
GONZALEZ AND COX IN THE PROGRAM RECORD BOOK
Kyle Cox is climbing up the career eagles leaderboard with a great performance in California, and with his hot play, Gonzalez has positioned himself in numerous top-3 career lists in the program record book, including:
 
Scoring Average
1) Paul Gonzalez: 73.06
2) Zack Fischer: 73.10
3) Paul McConnell: 73.17
 
Par-Or-Better Rounds
1) Zack Fischer: 54
2) Paul Gonzalez: 50
    Zack Reeves
4) Tyrone Mordt: 49
 
Birdies
1) Bobby Massa: 387
2) Paul Gonzalez: 386
3) Zack Reeves: 377
 
Eagles
1) Cash Wilkerson: 14
2) Kyle Cox: 12         
     Zack Reeves
4) Paul Gonzalez: 11
    Tanner Gore
    Bobby Massa
 
NEXT UP
The Mavs have a quick turnaround and play next week in Kerrville, Texas, on Mar. 21-22. At the Comanche Trace GC.
 
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: @UTAMavsMGolf 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 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.