LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Hiroki Miya posted a pair of under-par rounds and is just two shots off the individual lead as he led the UT Arlington men's golf team to an 11th-place position after the opening two rounds of action Monday at the Little Rock Invitational from Chenal Country Club.
Miya posted rounds of 4-under 68 and 2-under 70 as the New Zealander resides in sole possession of 5th place at -6, just two shots back of 1st (-8) as the redshirt junior will be in search of his first-career medalist honors on Tuesday.
He paced UTA on a long Monday which finished just before darkness on the challenging par-72, 7,115-yard layout as just three schools reside in red figures after 36 holes. VCU and Troy lead the 16-team field at -7, three shots ahead of 3rd-place Southern Mississippi. The Mavs sit just one shot back of 10th-place Oral Roberts (+13) and looking further up the leaderboard are only 12 strokes out of 4th place entering the final round Tuesday.
UTA SCORES
Team
11) UT Arlington: 295-295: 590 (+14)
Lineup
5) Hiroki Miya: 68-70: 138 (-6)
T-22) Daniel Cronje: 71-74: 145 (+1)
T-51) Caleb Hicks: 75-76: 151 (+7)
T-78) Zak Jones: 81-75: 156 (+12)
89) Trent Griessel: 83-81: 164 (+20)
INSIDE THE SCORES
MIYA
Beginning his day on the par-4 13th hole, Miya was nearly flawless in the 1st round, carding five birdies against just one bogey. After that lone bogey on the par-4 8th, he made three-straight birdies on the 9th, 10th and 11th holes before a closing par on the 12th to post the 68 – the lowest round of the year by any UTA player.
In the 2nd round, he birdied the opening 13th and made another on the par-5 16th to quickly move to -2. After consecutive bogeys on the 17th and 18th moved him back to level, he carded a trio of birdies on the front 9 to get to -3 before a bogey on the 10th had him settle for the round of 70.
CRONJE
His 1st round featured three birdies, two bogeys and 13 pars as the South African was never over par during his first 18 at any point en route to the 1-under 71. That stretch remained in-tact until his 4th hole – the par-3 17th – in the 2nd round when he carded a double bogey. A bogey on the 18th followed, but Cronje bounced back with an eagle on the par-5 1st before another pair of bogeys and a birdie coming in closed out the round of 74.
HICKS
The Arlington native rolled in three birdies as part of an up-and-down 1st round which also included four bogeys and a double to comprise the 75. In the 2nd round, Hicks sat at +7 with no birdies through his first 13 holes before catching fire and registering birdies on three of his closing five holes to get in with a 76.
JONES
A triple bogey on his first hole of the day, the par-4 15th, unfortunately set the tone for the next 17 holes as Jones struggled to an 81 in the 1st round – his first round in the 80s all year, and one which snapped a streak of five-straight rounds of 73 or less. His 2nd round was cleaner and included three birdies as the Spring, Texas, native got into the clubhouse with a 75.
GRIESSEL
A slew of big numbers unfortunately set the sophomore back as he signed for a 1st-round 83. His 2nd round was a little more settled, but Griessel couldn't get anything going, and his lone birdie of the closing 18 came on the par-5 12th.
THIS AND THAT
UTA picked apart the par-5 holes as the Mavs collectively recorded a 13-under total on them to rank tied for 6th in the field … the Mavs' 105 pars are tied for the 5th-most in the field … Miya is tied for 4th in the 90-player field in par-3 scoring at -1, and is tied for the field lead in birdies with 10 … Cronje's 25 pars are tied for the 3rd-most in the tournament … the average score for the field in the 1st round was 75.07, and the 2nd round was slightly better at 74.20.
NEXT UP
The final round is scheduled for an 8 a.m. shotgun start on Tuesday, with UTA teeing off on holes 10-12.
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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 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.
