DALLAS – Three UT Arlington men's golfers posted even-par rounds on Monday to highlight the Mavericks' 2nd-round performance at SMU's Trinity Forest Invitational from Trinity Forest Golf Club.
Caleb Hicks,
Daniel Cronje and
Hiroki Miya all recorded rounds of 72, with
Zak Jones turning in a 73 to help lead the Mavs to their best score to par of the young season at +1, and the 289 total equaling a season best.
Through the second of three rounds, UTA resides in sole possession of 13th place at +7 (583), just four shots back of 8th-place FAU (+3, 579) in the tightly compact field. Little Rock remains at the top of the leaderboard for a second-straight day as the Trojans (-15, 561) hold a one-shot advantage over host SMU (-14, 562) and two over Baylor (-13, 563) entering the final round on Tuesday.
UTA SCORES
Team
13) UT Arlington: 294-289: 583 (+7)
Lineup
T-19) Daniel Cronje: 71-72: 143 (-1)
T-42) Caleb Hicks: 74-72: 146 (+2)
T-52) Hiroki Miya: 76-72: 148 (+4)
T-62) Alberto Menacho: 73-76: 149 (+5)
T-73) Zak Jones: 78-73: 151 (+7)
INSIDE THE SCORES
CRONJE
The South African offset four bogeys with four birdies and carded 10 pars to account for his even-par round of 72. Starting on the 10th hole like the rest of his teammates, Cronje turned in 36 and used a birdie on the par-4 7th to get back to level and into the clubhouse with another 36.
HICKS
Hicks bogeyed the 11th, but then dropped in three birdies between holes 13 and 16 to get his scorecard to -2. That's where the Arlington native remained with three holes to play, but unfortunately bogeys on the 7th and par-3 8th moved him back to even par on the day.
MIYA
The Zealander got off to a slow start by bogeying three of his first four holes. He got one of those back with a birdie on the short par-4 14th and then picked up two more thanks to his first eagle of the year which came on the par-5 16th. After a bogey on 18, he carded birdies on the 1st, 2nd and 6th holes to move to -2; however, just like Hicks he bogeyed two of the last three holes, but still jumped 16 spots on the leaderboard from the 1st round.
MENACHO
The Peru native couldn't get much going as he made four bogeys on the first 9 before settling down with a back-side even-par 36 which included just one bogey and a birdie.
JONES
Jones sat at +2 after nine holes, but in just three holes exploded to get to -2 walking off the 3rd green. He birdied the par-4 1st, eagled the par-5 2nd and registered another birdie on the par-3 3rd to sit at -2. Unfortunately, similar to Hicks and Miya, he also stumbled coming in as the graduate student bogeyed three of the last four holes.
THIS AND THAT
The quintet of UTA players combined didn't make a single double bogey or worse … the two eagles on the day gives the Mavs six on the season through just five rounds … UTA is tied for 5th in the field in par-5 scoring through 36 holes at -11 (4.73) … the Mavs have accounted for 34 birdies … Cronje is tied for 10th in par-3 scoring (E, 3.00), and Jones is tied for 10th in par-5 scoring (-4, 4.50).
NEXT UP
The final round is scheduled for Tuesday with field tee times again commencing at 8:30 a.m.
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: @UTAMavsMGolf 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 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.
