NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Caleb Hicks carded a career-low 67 in the 2nd round of Appalachian State's Bash at the Beach Monday to lead the UT Arlington men's golf team on the opening day from The Surf Golf and Beach Club.
 
The Mavericks posted a strong 4-under 284 2nd round, and combined with a 4-over 292 in the 1st round earlier in the day reside in sole possession of 6th place with an even-par 576 total entering Tuesday's final round. The 284 is UTA's third-lowest of the season, and represents its first under-par round since Oct. 15.
 
UNCW will hold the overnight lead at -17 (559), 10 shots clear of 2nd-place Jacksonville State (-10, 566) and Tennessee Tech (-10, 566). UTA is just three shots back of 5th-place Eastern Kentucky (-3, 573), while Appalachian State resides at -9 (567); the Mavs are three shots ahead of 7th-place Loyola Chicago (+3, 579).
 
Hicks' 5-under performance came on the heels of an opening-round 74 as the junior bettered his previous career low of 68 set as a freshman. The Arlington Lamar product is tied for 9th at -3 (141) – four shots back of individual leader Jesus Montenegro (-7) of Jacksonville State as he jumped the up the leaderboard 32 spots from the 1st round.
 
Paul Gonzalez is tied for 20th at -1 following rounds of 73-70. Kyle Cox also resides in the top 30 of the 104-player field at T-26 after rounds of 71-73 and is at even par (144).
 
Those three carried the UTA lineup scoring for the day, which was wrapped up with Zach Cole notching rounds of 74 and 76 to sit at +6 (150), while Jacob Massengale turned in rounds of 77 and 74 in the junior's first appearance of the year and is +7 (151) entering the final round.
 
In addition to those five in the Mavs' lineup, UTA also had four players competing as individuals. Of that quartet, freshman Daniel Cronje signed for a career-best 3-under 69 in the 2nd round to rebound nicely from a 4-over 76 in the 1st round as the South African is positioned in a tie for 36th at +1 (145).
 
Similar to Cronje, Zakary Jones rebounded from an opening-round 81 with a 2-under 70 2nd round – the sophomore's fourth par-or-better showing of the season – and is at +7 (151) through 36 holes.
 
Freshman Alberto Menacho made his season debut with rounds of 79 and 73 – with the 1-over 2nd round representing a strong performance in just his second collegiate round. That adventurous 2nd round featured a team-best seven birdies, six bogeys, a double bogey and only four pars.
 
Making his first appearance since the 2017-18 season, Sully Billingsley started with a bang as the senior rolled in an eagle on his second hole of the day – the par-5 1st – in the opening round, but unfortunately finished with an 85 before securing a 2nd-round 75.
 
Hicks concluded his 1st round with an eagle on the par-5 1st, and carried that momentum over into the 2nd round as he commenced that 18 with a birdie on the par-4 2nd. Yet another eagle followed on the par-5 5th, a birdie on a par-3 6th and suddenly Hicks found himself -4 on the round after five holes.
 
Consecutive bogeys on the 7th and 8th dropped him back to -2, but Hicks rattled off three-straight birdies to start the back 9 before playing his final seven holes at even to post the 67.
 
Cox began his day with back-to-back birdies, converted consecutive birdies to begin the back 9 and made nothing worse than a bogey on his way to the 1st-round 71 – his team-leading 11th par-or-better round this season. The sophomore had his scorecard at -1 on the 2nd round making the turn to the back 9, where he eagled the par-5 10th but unfortunately played the final eight holes at +4 en route to the 73.
 
Gonzalez also eagled the 10th, but his came in the 1st round to aid in the 73 effort. The junior then went out in even-par 36 in the 2nd round, and like Hicks birdied the first three holes on the back to jumpstart the 2-under showing – his 10th par-or-better round of the year as he remains on pace to establish the single-season program scoring record.
 
UTA led the 15-team field in par-5 scoring for the day at an incredible -24 as the Mavs made four eagles – tied for the 2nd-most in the field – and rolled in 35 birdies, tied for the 4th-most in the field.
 
Individually, Menacho's 10 birdies led the Mavs and were tied for the 6th-most in the field, with Cox converting nine birdies and tying for the field lead with the aforementioned two eagles.
 
Final-round action is set to begin with an 8 a.m. Central (9 local Eastern) shotgun start on Tuesday. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat by clicking here.
 
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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.