NEWTON, Kansas – A torrid closing stretch from Hiroki Miya helped fuel the UT Arlington men's golf team to a 6-under 282 total in the 2nd round on Monday from Wichita State's Grier Jones Shocker Invitational from Sand Creek Station Golf Course.
 
Miya started on hole 14, and he sat at even par with five holes to play in his second round of the day. That's when the New Zealander caught fire and birdied each of his final five holes to sign for a 5-under 67. That closing stretch was part of a larger run in which Miya played the last 10 holes in -7 after sitting at +2 to that point.
 
Combined with a 1st-round 2-under 70 earlier on Monday, Miya resides in a tie for 9th place on the individual leaderboard at -7, only two shots off the overnight lead of -9 held by five different players entering Tuesday's final round.
 
As a team, UTA rebounded from an opening-round 3-over 291 with the surge to close the 2nd round – which also featured under-par showings from Daniel Cronje (70) and Arran Kanth (71).
 
The Mavericks are in sole possession of 10th place with a 3-under 573 total. The results on Golfstat show Oklahoma State as the tournament leader at -21; however, the Cowboys are not competing as a team and instead have five individuals. Host Wichita State (-20) leads the 15-team field by five strokes over 2nd-place Rice (-15).
 
UTA SCORES
Team
10) UT Arlington: 291-282: 573 (-3)
 
Lineup
T9) Hiroki Miya: 70-67: 137 (-7)
T32) Arran Kanth: 73-71: 144 (E)
T41) Daniel Cronje: 75-70: 145 (+1)
T53) Ethan Miller: 73-74: 147 (+3)
87) Cameron Beck: 80-78: 158 (+14)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES
MIYA
The New Zealand native came out the gate in the 1st round on fire, carding an eagle on the par-5, 525-yard 16th – his third hole of the day – and looked poised for a low round. He was able to card his first birdie on the par-4 18th to lower his round to -3 through five holes, but a bogey on the 600-yard, par-5 2nd hole ended his hot start. He was able to card another birdie and bogey to register an opening-round 70 (-2), the best of any Mav in the 1st round.
 
In his 2nd round, Miya opened up with two bogeys on 17 and 1 – his fourth and sixth holes of the day, respectively – but quickly regained his strokes lost with back-to-back birdies on 4 and 5. Miya then torched the remaining eight holes by recording the aforementioned five-consecutive birdies from holes 9-13 to produce the lowest round of any Mav this year with a 67 (-5).
 
KANTH
Kanth, starting on the 15th hole, got off to another great start, notching a birdie on his second hole of the day – the par-4 16th. He remained steady with seven-straight pars and rounded his first 9 with a birdie on the par-4, 365-yard 5th hole and looked primed for another under-par performance. Two bogeys and a birdie put the Englishman at -1 with one hole to play, but a double on his final hole knocked his score to a 73 (+1).
 
In his 2nd round, Kanth opened up with nine-straight pars before rolling in a birdie on the par-4, 445-yard 6th. A late double on the 9th pushed the grad transfer out of red figures with five holes to play, but he was able to record birdies on 10 and 13, and managed a par on the 14th – the 2nd-hardest hole on Monday – to get back under par with a 71 (-1).
 
CRONJE
In his opening round, the South African was unable to roll in any birdies, and carded three bogeys to finish at 75 (+3). In his 2nd round, the fifth year was able to make his first birdie on the par-5, 525-yard 16th hole which help put him back into a groove. He was able to card three more birdies on 4, 10 and 11 to help drop his score to a 70 (-2).
 
MILLER
Miller, a graduate transfer from Kansas State, had a solid 1st round with three bogeys and two birdies en route to a 73 (+1). However, in his 2nd round, the Austin native opened up on fire with three-consecutive birdies spanning from 16 through 18, and looked poised for an incredibly low round. After a fourth birdie at the par-5, 601-yard 4th hole, the momentum quickly wore off as he carded bogeys on five of his last eight holes to drop him to 74 (+2).
 
BECK
The sophomore struggled in his opening round, carding a triple, double and three bogeys on his way to an 80 (+8). In his 2nd round, the Mansfield native opened up with a bogey and a triple in his first two holes. A slew of three birdies in his next four holes seemed to put Beck within reaching distance of an under-par performance, but he struggled on the front 9 with two bogeys and a double. He was able to finish his second round at 78 (+6).
 
THIS AND THAT
UTA ranks T-5 in par-3 scoring average at exactly 3.00 (E) … the Mavs also have the 3rd-most pars in the field with 118, tied with two others …  has the 3^rd most pars in the tournament with 118 … Miya is tied for 4th in par-4 scoring average at 3.80 (-4).
                            
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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.