EL DORADO, Ark. – Coming off one of the best statistical regular seasons in program history, the UT Arlington men's golf team will tee it up in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Sunday-Wednesday, Apr. 24-27, from Mystic Creek Golf Club.
Due to inclement weather expected in the area on Monday which is anticipated to make play nearly impossible, both the 1st and 2nd rounds are now scheduled to be played on Sunday. Tee times have been up one hour with action getting underway at 7:30 a.m. for half the field.
If all 36 continuous holes cannot be completed on Sunday, the 2nd round will conclude on either Monday on Tuesday, pending weather. The third, and final, round of stroke place is still scheduled as normal for Tuesday.
The four teams with the lowest stroke totals after 54 holes will move on to match play to determine the Sun Belt Champion on Wednesday following semifinal and final matches.
UTA will be going off the 1st hole with tee-time starts for the 1st round Sunday between 8:15-8:51 a.m. The Mavs will be paired with Texas State and Troy the opening day, and the field will not re-pair in-between rounds. Below is UTA's lineup for the week:
1) Paul Gonzalez: 8:51 AM
2) Kyle Cox: 8:42 AM
3) Caleb Hicks: 8:33 AM
4) Daniel Steinarsson: 8:24 AM
5) Daniel Cronje: 8:15 AM
Alternate) Hiroki Miya
Four of the five lineup members for the Mavs possess previous Sun Belt Championship experience, with the lone exception being Steinarsson. More importantly, that quartet played in the SBC Tournament at the par-72, 7,293-yard Mystic Creek course in south-central Arkansas last year.
FOLLOW ALONG
For the third time in history, the championship will be streamed on ESPN+, with the exception of Sunday's 2nd round. The direct links to watch each day are attached to this release (Championship Central), along with the Golfstat link for live scoring coverage throughout the tournament.
LAST YEAR'S CHAMPIONSHIP
UTA entered the all-important final round of stroke play last April in 3rd place, but unfortunately dropped down to 7th with a 314 on the last day and missed out on a top-4 position by five shots (916 compared with 921).
The extremely challenging Mystic Creek layout saw every single team well over par for the three rounds of stroke play as Georgia Southern finished as the low team at 899 (+35). Coastal Carolina's 916 (+52) was good enough to qualify in the 4th, and final, match-play position. In match play, Georgia Southern defeated Little Rock, 3-1-1, to win the 2021 Sun Belt Championship.
Cronje led UTA as he tied for 14th overall (+13) and was followed by Gonzalez (T-19, +16), Cox (T-19, +16), Hicks (T-19, +16) and
Zak Jones (T-50, +30).
UTA SUN BELT CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY & RECORDS
This will be UTA's final Sun Belt Championship as the Mavs will join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) on July 1.
Team Year-By-Year Results
2014: 3rd Place – 865 (Grand Bear GC; Saucier, Miss.)
2015: 2nd Place – 865 (Raven GC; Miramar Beach, Fla.)
2016: 5th Place – 867 (Raven GC; Miramar Beach, Fla.)
2017: 11th Place – 888 (Raven GC; Miramar Beach, Fla.)
2018: T-2nd Place – 871 (Raven GC; Miramar Beach, Fla.)
2019: T-4th Place – 837 (Raven GC; Miramar Beach, Fla.)
2020: Canceled (COVID)
2021: 7th Place – 921 (Mystic Creek GC; El Dorado, Ark.)
* Match Play Format Has Been In Place Since 2016
Low Individual Round
65: Aaron Guanlao – 2nd Round, 2016
Low Team Round
274 (-10): Final Round, 2019
Low Individual Total
205 (-8): Paul Gonzalez – 2019
CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD (Golfstat National Ranking)
#44 Little Rock
#46 Georgia Southern
#86 South Alabama
#91 Arkansas State
#98 ULM
#112 Louisiana
#114 UT Arlington
#115 Texas State
#119 Troy
#122 Coastal Carolina
#128 App State
#156 Georgia State
RECORD-SETTING SEASON SHAPING UP
The 2021-22 campaign is shaping up to be a potentially historic and record-setting season in terms of scoring average for the Mavs. Currently, UTA has a 292.25 average score over 28 rounds to rank as the 4th-best in single-season program history. The current single-season scoring mark in program history is 291.09 by the 2008-09 squad.
Not surprisingly, the Mavs are also closing in on the single-season program record for par-or-better rounds with 11 in the aforementioned 28 opportunities. The 2008-09 team had 12 for the current all-time mark, but that came in 33 chances. The 11 rounds this year are tied for 2nd in program history with the 2005-06 and 2007-08 squads.
UTA has gotten to that point thanks in large part to assaulting par 5s. The team for the year has a 4.79 scoring average on those holes, currently the 2nd-best in program history (record: 4.73 in 2019-20). Helping spur that par-5 scoring average are 15 eagles on the year, currently tied for the most in single-season history with the 2010-11 team.
The Mavs also currently possess the 5th-best par-4 scoring average in single-season program history at 4.21 (record: 4.15 in 2004-05).
UTA has registered three different top-10 all-time 54-hole scores in program history this year alone: 4th-best last month at the Grand Canyon Invitational (839, -13), a tie for the 6th-best in October at the Trinity Forest Invitational (844, -8) and the 8th-best in September at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational (845, -19). In terms of the 19-under par, that represents the 2nd-best in program history (record: -41 at the 2007 Turtle Bay Resort Collegiate Invitational).
UTA LINEUP SEASON NOTES
Paul Gonzalez: His 72.00 scoring average over 25 rounds is currently tied with his own 2019-20 average score of 72.00 in a COVID-shortened 21 rounds for the best in single-season program history (3rd-best: Bobby Massa's 72.42 over 33 rounds in 2008-09) … 12 par-or-better rounds are tied with Cox for the most on the team … eight rounds in the 60s lead the Mavs … three top-10 finishes and seven top-20 showings … best was a T-2 at the Trinity Forest Invite in early October … 4.07 par-4 scoring average is currently the 3rd-best in single-season program history, and 4.69 par-5 scoring average is the 4th-best … 205 (-11) total at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invite in September is tied for the 5th-best 54-hole score in program history; he also equaled that total at the Trinity Forest Invite.
Kyle Cox: 72.82 scoring average in 22 rounds is currently the 10th-best in single-season program history … claimed medalist honors with a 1st-place, near-program-record finish of 11-under par at the Grand Canyon Invitational in mid-March … the 202 total (66-68-68) was just one shot shy of tying the all-time 54-hole program record of 201 set by Zack Reeves at the 2007 Turtle Bay Resort Collegiate Invitational … tied with Steinarsson for the team lead with four eagles … tied with Gonzalez for the team lead with 12 par-or-better rounds … five rounds in the 60s … five top-15 finishes … 3.07 par-3 scoring average in currently the 5th-best in single-season program history … career-best round of 66 to open the GCU Invite was tied for the 11th-best in program lore.
Caleb Hicks: 73.00 scoring average in 25 rounds is the 3rd-best on the team … 10 par-or-better rounds … three rounds in the 60s … best round was a 4-under 67 to open the Trinity Forest Invite … a pair of top-10 finishes, both coming with 210 totals at the aforementioned Trinity Forest and also the GCU Invite … his score has been used in the team total 24 times out of 25 possible opportunities.
Daniel Steinarsson: 73.38 scoring average in 21 rounds … seven par-or-better rounds … season-best 69 in the 2nd round of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate in early March as an individual … tied with Cox for the team lead with four eagles … leads the team and currently possesses the program's 2nd-best par-5 scoring average in single-season history at 4.67 … has not made a single triple bogey or worse this year, tied with several others nationally who hold that distinction.
Daniel Cronje: 75.56 scoring average over 16 rounds … four par-or-better rounds … season-low 71 in the 1st round at Trinity Forest … that was an even-par round as he is in search of his first round in red figures this year … tied for 5th to lead UTA at The Big Texan in March with rounds of 73-72-72 (217, +1).
Hiroki Miya: 74.76 scoring average over 17 rounds … five par-or-better performances … two rounds in the 60s, paced by a career-low-tying 67 in the 2nd round at the Dallas Baptist Classic in early April … competing as an individual at that DBU Classic he registered a 206 (-10) total which was tied for the 10th-best 54-hole total in program history … 4.74 par-5 scoring average … missed several weeks earlier this spring with an ankle injury.
INSIDE THE PROGRAM RECORD BOOK
Career Wins (Starts)
1) Paul McConnell: 3 (36)
Bobby Massa (42)
3) Kyle Cox: 2 (31)
Michael Douthit (24)
Harry Singh (41)
Zack Fischer (45)
Career Scoring Average (Rounds Played)
1) Paul Gonzalez: 73.06 (126)
2) Zack Fischer: 73.10 (129)
3) Paul McConnell: 73.17 (103)
4) Aaron Guanlao: 73.45 (118)
5) Kyle Cox: 73.49 (89)
Career Birdies
1) Paul Gonzalez: 407
2) Bobby Massa: 387
3) Zack Reeves: 377
4) Zack Fischer: 363
Career Eagles
1) Kyle Cox: 14
Cash Wilkerson
3) Zack Reeves: 12
4) Paul Gonzalez: 11
Tanner Gore
Bobby Massa
Career Par-Or-Better Rounds
1) Zack Fischer: 54
2) Paul Gonzalez: 51
Zack Reeves
4) Tyrone Mordt: 49
Career Counting Scores
1) Zack Reeves: 118
2) Tyrone Mordt: 116
3) Paul Gonzalez: 115
4) Zack Fischer: 110
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.
