DALLAS – Daniel Cronje shot a season-best 1-under 71 to lead the UT Arlington men's golf team in the 1st round of SMU's Trinity Forest Invitational from Trinity Forest Golf Club on Sunday.
Cronje recorded three birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back 9 to move his card from +1 to -2 before eventually signing for -1, with the 71 being five shots better than his previous best round this year.
As a team, UTA posted a 294 (+6) total and resides in sole possession of 15th place with two rounds remaining on Monday and Tuesday. Little Rock (-9, 279) leads the 17-team field, three shots clear of host SMU (-6, 282).
UTA SCORES
Team
15) UT Arlington: 294 (+6)
Lineup
T-18) Daniel Cronje: 71 (-1)
T-39) Alberto Menacho: 73 (+1)
T-51) Caleb Hicks: 74 (+2)
T-68) Hiroki Miya: 76 (+4)
T-83) Zak Jones: 78 (+6)
INSIDE THE SCORES
CRONJE
The South African sat at +1 through seven holes, and after a birdie on the 7th and bogey on the 9th remained there as he made the turn in 37. However, a clean card – which included circles on the par-4 12th, short par-4 14th and par-5 16th – moved him to -2 entering the 505-yard 18th, which he unfortunately bogeyed to post 71.
MENACHO
The senior went out in 5-over 41, but a birdie on the par-5, 550-yard 10th got his card to +4. From there, the Peru native made three-straight pars before he rattled off four-consecutive birdies beginning on the 14th. After getting all the way back to even par with a birdie on the 138-yard 17th, he also recorded a bogey on the 18th, but still signed for a 73 after the challenging start.
HICKS
Along with Cronje, Hicks was the lone Mav to not post anything higher than a bogey on the round, and that's exactly how his day started with a square on the par-4 1st. He made the turn at +1, but sat at +3 after 13 holes before converting birdies on the 14th and 16th to get back to +1. Again, another UTA bogey on the 18th forced him to post the round of 74.
MIYA
Miya was the lone Mav to birdie the 574-yard, par-5 2nd, but following a double bogey and bogey on the 4th and 5th holes he moved back to +2. Another set of bogeys on 13 and 15 pushed him to +4 on the day, and that's where he finished as he wrapped up the round of 76.
JONES
Jones had an up-and-down day with five birdies, but also took on five bogeys and three doubles. The graduate student finished with just five pars en route to the 78.
THIS AND THAT
Menacho tied for the most birdies in the field in the 1st round with six on the par-72, 7,372-yard layout in southeast Dallas … as a team, UTA had 19 birdies, two shy of the most in the field … the Mavs played the par-5 holes in -5 (4.75) to represent the 5th-best average in the field … Cronje's 1-under (2.75) performance on the par 3s was tied for the 2nd-best in the field.
NEXT UP
The 2nd round is scheduled for Monday with field tee times again commencing at 8:30 a.m.
Gallery: (10-2-2022) Men's Golf @ Trinity Forest Invitational
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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.
