EL DORADO, Ark. – Competing in the Sun Belt Conference Championship for the final time, the UT Arlington men's golf team put up a valiant effort before falling just short to Little Rock, 3-2, in match play semifinal action from Mystic Creek Golf Club on Wednesday.
 
Daniel Steinarsson picked up an impressive 4&2 win over the #39-ranked player in the nation, Anton Albers, and Paul Gonzalez had a three-shot lead with five holes to play on Nicolas Horder when the match was clinched by Little Rock, giving the Waxahachie native an unorthodox, unfinished 3&5 victory for the second UTA point.
 
However, Little Rock – which is the highest-ranked Sun Belt team in the nation at #44 – picked up a pair of early wins as Magnus Lomholt and Jansen Smith both secured 4&3 triumphs over Daniel Cronje and Kyle Cox, respectively.
 
With the Trojans holding that 2-0 lead, Steinarsson wrapped up his win for the Mavs to trim the deficit to 2-1. Gonzalez – who was 6 UP at one point – had his match likely in hand to even things up at 2-2.
 
That turned the focus to Caleb Hicks' matchup with Marcel Rauch. Rauch rattled off four wins in a five-hole stretch to turn a deficit into a lead and never looked back, ultimately clinching a 3&2 win with a birdie on the par-3 7th hole (all matches started on the 10th hole).
 
UTA advanced to just its second appearance in the match play portion of the Sun Belt Championship since the league went to the format in 2016. The Mavs got there by finishing in 3rd place after three rounds of stroke play; the top-4 teams in terms of stroke play total score after 54 holes moved on to the match play semifinals and eventual final to determine the title.
 
In the other semifinal, Georgia Southern – the 2nd-highest-ranked team at #46 – defeated rival Georgia State, 3-2, setting up a rematch of the 2021 Sun Belt Championship with the Trojans.
 
Below is more information on each of the matches.
 
Lomholt (LR) def. Cronje (UTA) 4&3
Cronje dug himself an early setback, dropping each of the first three holes. He got one back on the 15th with a par, but Lomholt immediately got that back on the next hole. However, Cronje won the 18th with a par and rolled in a birdie on the par-5 1st to only go 1 DOWN with eight holes to play. But, Lomholt won the 2nd, 4th and 5th holes to go 4 UP and put Cronje dormie.
 
Smith (LR) def. Cox (UTA) 4&3
Cox won the opening hole – the par-4 10th – with a par, but a loss on the par-4 13th tied the match. That began a stretch of Smith winning four of the final six holes on the first 9 as he made the turn 4 UP, and Cox was unable to get any closer.
 
Rauch (LR) def. Hicks (UTA) 3&2
The eventual deciding match all swung in a five-hole stretch. Hicks was 1 UP with 10 holes to play, but lost the 18th, 1st, 3rd and 4th to go 3 DOWN. He tried to mount a comeback thanks to a win on the par-4 5th, and he remained 2 DOWN with three holes to play before Rauch sealed the victory for the Trojans with the aforementioned birdie on the 7th hole.
 
Steinarsson (UTA) def. Albers (LR) 4&2
The only match which began with a tie on the opening hole was followed by four more as the showdown was ALL SQUARE through five holes. Steinarsson then broke the ice with a win on the 15th hole and another on the 17th to make the turn 2 UP. He added to his lead with a birdie on the 1st to go 3 UP. Albers – who finished stroke play alone in 2nd place – finally won his first hole of the match on the 2nd with a double bogey, but Steinarsson responded immediately with a bounce-back victory on the 3rd. After his lead was once again trimmed to just 2 UP with four holes to play, the Icelander wrapped up the win with birdies on the par-4 6th and par-3 7th to ice the match.
 
Gonzalez (UTA) def. Horder (LR) 3&5 (Unfinished)
Gonzalez wasted no time in making his mark as he won six of the first seven holes, playing that opening stretch in -3 compared with Horder's +4. Horder bounced back and cut into Gonzalez's lead a bit as he picked up victories on the 18th, 1st and 3rd to get to 3 DOWN with six holes to play. However, after the two squared the par-3 4th to have Gonzalez remain 3 UP, Rauch clinched the match with Hicks to seal the win for Little Rock and leave Gonzalez's match unfinished but with the Mav posting a victory.
 
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.