HUMBLE, Texas – The UT Arlington men's golf team commenced its spring season on Sunday with the opening round of the All-American Intercollegiate at the Golf Club of Houston.
 
The Mavericks shot a 1st-round 298 total and are tied for 10th place overall in the loaded field which features 13 schools – all of which are ranked inside the top 150 of the nation. Five of those reside in the top 100 and three are in the top 35, led by #8 Wake Forest.
 
Caleb Hicks and Daniel Cronje led UTA with rounds of 74 and are tied for 35th overall. Paul Gonzalez and Kyle Cox were both one shot back as each signed for a 75 and are tied for 48th. Zach Cole completed the Maverick lineup scoring with an 82.
 
Sunday marked the first time in now 13 rounds this year bridging the fall and spring seasons that no Maverick shot better than 74, and it was just the third round with no player breaking par. However, it still represented the 11th sub-300 round of the year for UTA, which will look to make a push up the strong leaderboard over the final two rounds Monday and Tuesday.
 
Sam Houston State leads the pack at 277 (-11), with Louisiana and Wake Forest one shot back at 278 (-10). UTSA recorded a 7-under 281, but those were the only four teams to record under-par rounds on the par-72, 7067-yard layout which has played host to the PGA Tour's Houston Open since 2003.
 
UTA – which is tied with Middle Tennessee – is just nine shots back of 5th place ULM (289, +1) as positions 5-12 on the leaderboard are separated by only 11 shots.
 
Freshman Cronje birdied three of the four par 5s to tie for the overall par-5 scoring lead in the 81-player field. Sophomores Hicks and Cox matched Cronje's three total birdies to tie for the team lead.
 
Second-round action is set to commence at 8 a.m., and the Mavs are slated to go off the 10th tee in nine-minute increments beginning with Cole. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat by clicking here; updates will be posted on the official Twitter account of the program: @UTAMavsMGolf.
 
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THE NEW HOME OF UTA GOLF: Texas Rangers Golf Club
The recently-opened state-of-the-art Texas Rangers Golf Club is the new home of the UT Arlington'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 at Brown Boulevard and Collins Street, just a few miles north of UTA's campus. 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 – set to open in early 2020 – will feature 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.