NEW ORLEANS – UT Arlington had a pair of men's golfers receive 2022 Sun Belt All-Conference recognition on Tuesday as Paul Gonzalez was named to the Second Team and Kyle Cox earned a spot on the Third Team, as voted on by the league's 12 head coaches.
 
It represents the second postseason Sun Belt honor for graduate student Gonzalez (2019 Second Team) and first postseason recognition for senior Cox. Gonzalez led UTA and ranked 7th in the Sun Belt with a 72.36 average score over 28 rounds, while Cox was 2nd on the team with a 73.32 scoring average and claimed a win during the 2021-22 campaign.
 
Gonzalez's scoring average was the 2nd-best in single-season program history (his own 72.00 in 21 rounds during the COVID-shortened 2019-20 year is the best). In the Sun Belt Championship, Gonzalez was victorious in his semifinal match (3&2) over Little Rock's Nicolas Horder thanks to winning six of the first seven holes.
 
The Waxahachie, Texas, native had a team-leading 13 par-or-better rounds and 91 birdies. His eight rounds in the 60s led the Mavs and helped fuel him to three top-10 finishes and seven top-20 showings. Gonzalez's 4.07 par-4 scoring average ranked as the 3rd-best in single-season program history (record: Jordan Krantz's 4.04 in 2004-05).
 
His best placement on the leaderboard was a T-2 at the Trinity Forest Invite in early October. Additionally, Gonzalez recorded a 205 (-11) total at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invite in September to tie for the 5th-best 54-hole score in program history; he also equaled that total at the Trinity Forest Invite.
 
As for Cox, his medalist honors came with a 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.
 
The Carrollton, Texas, product tied for the team lead with four eagles. His 12 par-or-better rounds were 2nd-most on the team behind Gonzalez. Cox produced five rounds in the 60s, led by a career-best 66 to open the GCU Invite as that score was tied for the 11th-best in program lore.
 
Cox secured five top-15 finishes during the year, including three in a row (T-8, 1, T-11) to open the spring season. His score was used in the team total 17 times out of 19 opportunities as he competed as an individual in two of four fall events before cracking the A-Team lineup in all five spring tournaments.

In its final season as a Sun Belt member, this is the first time that UTA has had multiple all-conference selections in the same year. In 2015, Aaron Guanlao (Second Team) and Jake Greenspoon (Honorable Mention) were both selected, but only Guanlao landed on a team.
 
The last time the Mavs had multiple all-conference team members was in 2013 when Paul McConnell (First Team) and Hunter Brown (Second Team) were both recognized by the Western Athletic Conference. UTA is re-joining the WAC, effective July 1.
 
2021-22 Sun Belt Men's Golf Postseason Awards
Golfer of the Year
Anton Albers, Little Rock (Sr. – Buchholz, Germany)
 
Freshman of the Year
Eli Ortego, Louisiana (Fr. – Lafayette, La.)
 
Newcomer of the Year
Jack Hearn, South Alabama (Sr. – Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary, Ireland)
 
Coach of the Year
Jake Harrington, Little Rock
 
All-Sun Belt First Team
Anton Albers, Little Rock (Sr. – Buchholz, Germany)
Magnus Lomholt, Little Rock (Jr. – Asnaes, Denmark)
Ben Carr, Georgia Southern (Sr. – Columbus, Ga.)
Mason Williams, Georgia Southern (Sr. – Bridgeport, W.Va.)
Peter Hinnant, Louisiana (Sr. – Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Jack Hearn, South Alabama (Sr. – Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary, Ireland)
 
All-Sun Belt Second Team
Jansen Smith, Little Rock (Jr. – San Angelo, Texas)
Luka Naglic, Arkansas State (Jr. – Zirovnica, Slovenia)
Christofer Rahm, Arkansas State (Sr. – Gothenburg, Sweden)
Paul Gonzalez, UT Arlington (Gr. – Waxahachie, Texas)
Evan White, Texas State (Sr. – Lindale, Texas)
Brantley Scott, Troy (Fr. – Dothan, Ala.)
 
All-Sun Belt Third Team
Timothius Tirto Tamardi, App State (Sr. – Surabaya, Indonesia)
Wilson Andress, Georgia Southern (Sr. – Macon, Ga.)
Eli Ortego, Louisiana (Fr. – Lafayette, La.)
Jacob LeCroy, South Alabama (Jr. – Anniston, Ala.)
Kyle Cox, UT Arlington (Sr. – Carrollton, Texas)
Will McFadden, Troy (Jr. – Mobile, Ala.)
 
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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 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.