Texas Rio Grande Valley Athletics

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics named Paola Cortes-Ortiz, who played four seasons of collegiate golf at Stephen F. Austin, as the men’s and women’s golf assistant coach on March 31, 2021.
 
In 2022-23, Cortes-Ortiz helped the women’s team set a three-round program record after posting an 877 at the UTRGV Invitational where they finished in second place, which was part of three straight top-three finishes to start the spring. Cortes-Ortiz also helped the women’s team lower their team scoring average by 5.62 strokes to post the lowest team scoring average in program history.
 
Cortes-Ortiz helped the men’s team to a win at the 2023 Big Texan marking their first team win since the 2020-21 season. Cortes-Ortiz helped the team post five individual top-10 finishes throughout the season. 
 
Off the course, Cortes-Ortiz was a key to helping both programs give back to the community and finding success in the classroom. The men’s and women’s programs finished in fourth place in the National Helper Helper community service rankings. The women’s team earned UTRGV’s Community Service Team of the Year. Cortes-Ortiz guided the men’s team to a 3.87 GPA, which was the highest in the department. 
 
In her first full season with the programs, Cortes-Ortiz helped the women’s team to three top-five finishes, including a fifth place finish at the Western Athletic Conference Championship and also helped the team post four individual top-10 finishes, three top-15 finishes, and six top-20 finishes. Cortes-Ortiz also guided the program to a record setting performance at the Islander Classic where they set a single round program record with a final round 288. 
 
Cortes-Ortiz helped the men’s team improve by 56 spots in the Golfstat Rankings in the spring and guided the team to four individual top-10 finishes, four top-15 finishes, and two top-20 finishes. 
 
Cortes-Ortiz, originally from Allen, Texas, played four years at Stephen F. Austin where she played in a total of 96 rounds throughout her career while posting a top-10 and a top-20 finish.  
 
Cortes-Ortiz spent the 2019 spring season as the coaching intern at SFA where she helped create practice plans in collaboration with the coaching staff. She also organized information about qualifying tournament dates and rounds and assisted with recruiting. 
 
Cortes-Ortiz is also a member of the Puerto Rico National Women’s Golf Team where she has been able to expand her understanding and knowledge of the player-coach dynamics. 
 
Cortes-Ortiz represented Puerto Rico at the 63rdCaribbean Amateur Golf Championships in 2019 as she posted a top-10 finish while helping Puerto Rico to the George Teale Trophy.