Men’s Golf Opens 2021-22 Season Sunday

Sunday, September 12

Choudrant, LA

University of Texas Arlington

First Round

9/11/2021 9:49:00 AM | Men's Golf

JIM RIVERS LIVE SCORING

By: By: Jason MacBain (@JaBain)

CHOUDRANT, La. – The UT Arlington men's golf team tees off on its 2021-22 season this weekend with a team-lineup event at Louisiana Tech's Jim Rivers Intercollegiate and an individual-only tournament at Texas Wesleyan's Texas Intercollegiate.

JIM RIVERS INTERCOLLEGIATE
The 54-hole event outside Ruston at Squire Creek Country Club gets underway Sunday, Sept. 12, and continues with 18 holes each day through Tuesday, Sept. 14.

Below is UTA's five-man team lineup which qualified for the season-opening outing:

1) Caleb Hicks
2) Paul Gonzalez
3) Hiroki Miya
4) Daniel Cronje
5) Daniel Steinarsson

It will be an early start for the Mavs in the 1st round with Steinarsson getting things started at 7:30 a.m. off the 10th. He'll be followed in 10-minute increments until Hicks concludes UTA's tee times at 8:10 a.m. Monday is set for tee times based off 1st-round results beginning at 7:30 a.m. as well, with final-round tee times scheduled to commence on Tuesday at 8 a.m.

They'll be taking on the par-72, 7,105-yard Squire Creek course, where UTA actually won the inaugural Jim Rivers Intercollegiate in 2004 when it was named the Squire Creek Invitational.

TEXAS INTERCOLLEGIATE
In addition to the team event at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate, UTA will have three individuals competing at the Texas Intercollegiate. The tournament begins with 36 holes on Monday, Sept. 13, from Hawks Creek Golf Club in Westworth Village just outside Fort Worth, and concludes with the final round on Tuesday, Sept. 14.

Below are the three Mavericks who will be competing as individuals there:

Kyle Cox
Alberto Menacho
Trent Griessel

Live scoring for both tournaments will be available via Golfstat.

BIO BLASTS

Hicks is competing for the first time as a UTA member since his run to the Round of 64 at the U.S. Amateur last month. He is believed to be the first Mav to ever advance out of stroke play thanks to rounds of 67 and 71 at Longue Vue Club and Oakmont Country Club, respectively, before suffering a 3&2 loss in the Round of 64. Hicks was one of two UTA players to compete in all seven tournaments last year, holding a stroke average of 74.48.
Gonzalez enters his final season with the Mavs ranked 3rd in program history in career scoring average at 73.32 (record: Zack Fischer, 73.10, from 2008-11). He also ranks in the top 10 in program history in birdies (7th, 320), par-or-better rounds (7th, 39), eagles (8th, nine) and counting scores (9th, 94). He posted a 74.50 scoring average last year – the 2nd-best on the team – and the lowest among UTA players who competed in at least six events.
Miya will be making his UTA debut after transferring from North Texas over the summer. The New Zealand native did not compete in any tournaments last year, but posted a 76.20 scoring average over 12 rounds as a freshman in 2019-20, including a career-low 67 in the final round of the Ka'anapali Collegiate Classic in Hawaii.
Cronje joined Hicks as the lone Mavs to compete in all seven events last year, finishing with a 75.81 scoring average. He opened the year with a career-best 67 at the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate, tied for the best round by any UTA player all season. Cronje's 47 birdies were the 2nd-most on the team, and he led UTA at the Sun Belt Conference Championship with a T-14 finish.
Sophomore Steinarsson cracks the team lineup for just the second time in his young career. Last year, the Iceland native competed in three events for the Mavs, with two of those coming as an individual. His lone appearance in the team took place at SMU's Trinity Forest Invitational. He signed for a low round of 69 at Dallas Baptist's Patriot Classic in early April.
Cox enters his senior campaign currently possessing the 8th-best career scoring average in program history at 73.72. He is also tied for 5th on the program's all-time list with 10 eagles, and his 28 par-or-better rounds rank 14th. Last year, Cox led UTA with a 74.13 scoring average in 15 rounds over five events. He claimed medalist honors at Sam Houston's Bearkat Invitational in April with a 6-under 210, becoming the first UTA player to win a tournament since 2013.
Menacho will be making just his third collegiate appearance as he enters his third season, all coming as an individual. In his lone event last year at DBU's Patriot Classic he rolled in five birdies over three rounds. As a freshman in 2019-20, he carded a career-best 69 in the final round of App State's Bash at the Beach in his first-ever college event.
Griessel, meanwhile, will be competing in his first college event. The true freshman who hails from Redmond, Wash., but graduated from Yorktown Education in Plano posted a very respectable 72.62 scoring average in seven events in the abbreviated/altered 2020-21 Texas Junior Golf Tour (TJGT) season.

NEXT UP
The events mark the start of UTA playing in four-consecutive weeks to begin the 2021-22 season. The Mavs will return to action next Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 20-21, at UTSA's Lone Star Invitational from TPC San Antonio, site of the PGA TOUR's Valero Texas Open.

FOLLOW THE MAVS SOCIALLY
For up-to-date news, photos and videos of the UTA men's golf program, follow us on Twitter: @UTAMavsMGolf, Instagram: @UTAMensMGolf and Facebook: /UTAMavsMGolf.

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 – which just opened in March of 2021 – 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.