DALLAS – The UT Arlington men's golf team opened its spring season Sunday on a challenging course and against a tough field, but the Mavericks are in contention as they reside in a tie for 11th place after the 1st round of SMU's Trinity Forest Invitational.
 
UTA shot a 298 (+14) total, and is tied with top-40 nationally ranked TCU and Louisville after the first of three rounds. Host SMU – ranked #13 in the nation by Golfstat – leads the 15-team tournament following an even-par 284, two shots ahead of #18 North Texas.
 
UTA LINEUP SCORES (No. 10 Start)
T-32) Daniel Cronje: 74 (+3)
T-32) Kyle Cox: 74 (+3)
T-32) Zach Cole: 74 (+3)
T-52) Caleb Hicks: 76 (+5)
T-67) Daniel Steinarsson: 80 (+9)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES

• Cronje rolled in a team-high three birdies, but two double bogeys along with a pair of bogeys led to the 74. Still, two of those birdies came on challenging par-3 holes. He made one of only 10 birdies on the day on the 138-yard 8th, and was responsible for one of just six birdies on the 205-yard 12th. That all led to the sophomore tying for the best par-3 scoring average in the field of 75 at 2.50 (-2) for the 1st round.
   
• Cox is tied for the 3rd-best par-3 scoring average at 2.75 (-1). He parred three of four par-3s on the day, with his birdie coming on the 215-yard 17th – one of only seven made by the field all day. Making his 2020-21 debut, Cox also converted a bogey on the par-4 5th which moved his card to a team-low +1 at that juncture, but a pair of bogeys coming in resulted in the 3-over round.
   
• Cole also matched Cronje and Cox, but did so thanks in large part to 13 pars – tied for the 5th-most by all players on day one. He made one birdie – on the par-5 7th – but that was his lone hole under, or over, par out of his final 12. After opening with bogeys on four of his first six holes, Cole settled down and played the last 12 holes at -1. His 1-under 35 on the front side (his back) was the lone under-par front or backside by any Maverick on Sunday.
   
• Hicks made two birdies, but a double bogey offset those and a handful of bogeys resulted in his 76. Meanwhile, making his collegiate debut, Steinarsson was the lone Mav to birdie the par-4 17th, but that was the freshman's lone under-par hole en route to his 80.

THIS AND THAT

• In total – including an SMU 'B' squad – one-third of the field is ranked in the top-40 in the country.
   
• No team in the field shot under par on the day, and only three players broke par.
   
• Only the par-5, 570-yard 7th and par-4, 315-yard 5th holes played under par for the round.
   
• The average score for the day on the par-71, 7,330-yard layout was nearly four shots over par at 74.59.

2ND-ROUND TEE TIMES (No. 10 Start)
9:15 AM: Daniel Steinarsson
9:24 AM: Caleb Hicks
9:33 AM: Zach Cole
9:42 AM: Kyle Cox
9:51 AM: Daniel Cronje
 
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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 – set to open this spring – 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.