BOULDER CITY, Nev. – On the strength of its second-best round of the season, the UT Arlington men's golf team bounced back from a disappointing 1st round with a strong 8-under 280 2nd round on Saturday to move up the leaderboard and into red numbers at the Western Athletic Conference Championship from Boulder Creek Golf Club.
 
All five members of UTA's lineup were either under or at level par for the day, led by a 4-under 68 from Hiroki Miya to match his season best. Caleb Hicks signed for a 2-under 70, and that total was equaled by Daniel Cronje on his birthday. Zak Jones and Cameron Beck both posted even-par 72s to round out the UTA performances for the day on the par-72, 7,482-yard layout.
 
UTA improved by 13 shots from Friday's opening round, and now resides at -3 (573) and in 8th place entering Sunday's final round. Grand Canyon and New Mexico State co-lead the 13-team tournament at -23 (553) by six shots over 3rd-place Sam Houston (-17, 559). The Mavs have a five-shot lead over 9th-place Southern Utah (+2, 578).
 
UTA SCORES
Team
8) UT Arlington: 293-280: 573 (-3)
 
Lineup
T-20) Hiroki Miya: 74-68: 142 (-2)
T-20) Cameron Beck: 70-72: 142 (-2)
T-32) Zak Jones: 73-72: 145 (+1)
T-38) Daniel Cronje: 76-70: 146 (+2)
T-42) Caleb Hicks: 77-70: 147 (+3)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES
MIYA (-4, 68)
Miya started his morning with a birdie on the 1st hole. After a solid front-nine showing, the New Zealand native caught fire on the back with three birdies in a four-hole stretch (holes 13-16). Miya produced the best round of the day by any Maverick, which also represented the best of the tournament for UTA. This was also Miya's best 2nd-round score of the year, and the 68 matches his 1st-round performance at the Little Rock Invitational in October for the best this season overall.
 
CRONJE (-2, 70)
The South African started hot with two birdies over his first five holes. A bogey on the 9th moved him to -1, but he carded two more birdies on holes 11 and 13 to move all the way to -3. A closing bogey on 18 – which was unfortunately a theme of the day for UTA – ended his round with a 70.
 
HICKS (-2, 70)
Hicks shaved seven shots off his 1st-round score thanks to four birdies and just two bogeys as part of an otherwise clean card. The Arlington native rolled in a pair of birdies and a bogey on each side.
 
BECK (E, 72)
The freshman had another solid performance by producing a 2nd-round 72. He was on track for another under-par performance heading into his final two holes, but back-to-back bogeys on 17 and 18 caused him to sign for a respectable even-par performance. He tied with Miya for the most birdies by a Maverick on the day with five.
 
JONES (E, 72)
The graduate student raced out to a 3-under start through five, and he still sat at -2 after 13 holes. However, a double bogey – the lone one of the day by UTA – dropped him back to level par, which is where he finished.
 
THIS AND THAT
UTA leads the field with 115 pars through two rounds … the Mavs are currently 3rd in the field in par-3 scoring (3.05) … Beck is tied for 3rd in par-3 scoring average (2.75) … Jones is tied for 3rd in total pars (26) … the only UTA player who did not bogey the 18th hole during the 2nd round was Miya … the only lower round produced by UTA this year was a 279 in the 1st round of the Wyoming Cowboy Classic earlier this month.
 
NEXT UP
Tee times and pairings, when posted, along with live scoring for Sunday's final round will be available via Golfstat.
 
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.