ERIE, Colo. – Arran Kanth delivered rounds of 68 and 72 on Monday to lead the UT Arlington men's golf team during the first day of action from Colorado's Mark Simpson Invitational at Colorado National Golf Club.
 
For his efforts, Kanth resides in a tie for 7th place at -4, only two strokes back of the individual lead entering Tuesday's final round as the graduate transfer is in search of medalist honors in just his third Division-I tournament. The round of 68 is also tied for the lowest by any Maverick so far this year.
 
As a team, UTA resides in a two-way tie for 10th place at +6 following rounds of 290 and 292 on the altitude-impacted 7,787-yard par-72 layout. San Francisco leads the 17-team field at -18, seven shots clear of 2nd place Colorado State (-11).
 
UTA SCORES
Team
T10) UT Arlington: 290-292: 582 (+6)
 
Lineup
T7) Arran Kanth: 68-72: 140 (-4)
T40) Daniel Cronje: 75-70: 145 (+1)
T51) Ethan Miller: 73-73: 146 (+2)
T76) Shoichiro Kato: 74-77: 151 (+7)
T93) Michael Chevalier: 79-78: 157 (+13)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES
KANTH
Kanth began his day with a double bogey on the par-4 6th hole, but bounced back impressively with seven birdies over the closing 17 holes of the 1st round to post the -4. His 2nd round featured three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back 9 – from holes 12-15 – to go from +1 to-2 before settling for another under-par performance at -1.
 
CRONJE
A pair of double bogeys – one of which came three holes into his 1st round and the other which occurred with three holes to play – derailed what was an otherwise under-par round for Cronje with three birdies and two bogeys. In the 2nd round, a strong back side produced four birdies between holes 12-18 en route to a 2-under 70 with the only blemishes being two bogeys on the front side. That represented his team-leading third under-par performance of the season. 
 
MILLER
After sitting at +4 through his first 11 holes, Miller settled down nicely and carded three birdies over his final seven holes to post an opening-round 73. The Kansas State grad transfer equaled that number in the 2nd round as well. He began with a double bogey on the par-3 5th, but eventually got back to even par, and even reached -1, before signing for a 1-over 73.
 
KATO
Kato got off to a challenging start as a quadruple bogey on the par-3 14th – his eighth hole of the 1st round – moved him to +6. That is where he remained heading to the 18th, but he responded with a birdie there to spearhead a closing surge of four birdies in his final seven holes to close in +2. He then had nothing worse than a bogey on his 2nd-round card, but unfortunately he made eight of those against just three birdies.
 
CHEVALIER
Making his collegiate debut, the true freshman couldn't get anything going in his 1st round, but rolled in his first birdie on the 419-yard, par-4 4th hole – his 16th hole. In the 2nd round, a pair of big numbers were too much to overcome, but he did notch two more birdies.
 
THIS AND THAT
UTA has the 8th-most birdies in the tournament thus far with 34 … the Mavs are 6th in par-5 scoring average with a 4.78 (-9) … UTA has played the 3rd-hardest hole on the course – the par-3, 198-yard 16th at even with two birdies, two bogeys and six pars … Kanth leads the tournament field in back-nine scoring at -7.
 
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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 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.