CHANDLER, Ariz. – Spurred by a season-low 9-under par in the 1st round, the UT Arlington men's golf team opened the Wyoming Cowboy Classic from Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass on Monday.
 
The 279 is the 4th-best 1st-round total in program history, and that 9-under score to par is tied for the 3rd-best opening round in program lore. However, UTA followed that up with a 2nd-round 300 (+11) on the par-72, 7,334-yard Cattail Course, and the Mavericks (+3, 579) sit in three-way tie for 9th place after 36 of 54 holes.
 
In a field featuring three of the top-50 teams in the nation, UTA still resides five shots ahead of #34 TCU (+8, 584) and just three back of #28 San Diego State (E, 576). #50 Missouri leads the deep 21-team field after two rounds at -11 (565), one shot better than 2nd-place Kansas (-10, 566).
 
Caleb Hicks used a torrid closing stretch to his 1st round, going 4-under over his last eight holes to post a 3-under 69. He backed it up with a 73 in the 2nd round and is UTA's high man on the leaderboard at -2 as the Arlington native is tied for 17th among 116 competitors.
 
UTA SCORES
Team
T-9) UT Arlington: 279-300: 579 (+3)
 
Lineup
T-17) Caleb Hicks: 69-73: 142 (-2)
T-27) Hiroki Miya: 68-76: 144 (E)
T-45) Zak Jones: 70-76: 146 (+2)
T-52) Daniel Cronje: 72-75: 147 (+3)
T-93) Cameron Beck: 78-76: 154 (+10)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES
HICKS
1st Round: Residing at +1 after 10 holes after starting on hole 9 and making the turn to the course's front side, Hicks delivered birdies on five of his closing eight holes. His lone blemish came with a bogey on the par-4 4th, but he put circles on his card on holes 5, 7 and the closing 8th.
2nd Round: Hicks again sat at +1 through 10 holes, but got back to level par with a birdie on the par-4 1st. After a double bogey on the 3rd, he rolled in a birdie on the 4th, made bogey on the par-3 6th and another birdie on the 7th before a par on the 8th to close his day.
 
JONES
1st Round: He also was 1-over par heading to the front 9, but an eagle on the par-5, 567-yard 2nd hole was backed up with a birdie on the par-3 3rd hole to quickly move to 2-under, which is where he ended his round.
2nd Round: A relatively calm scorecard featured only three bogeys but just one birdie – coming on the par-4 18th – until a double bogey on the 7th.
 
MIYA
1st Round: Five birdies and just one bogey were included on his card in a nearly flawless round. Miya sat at -2 with three holes to play, but converted birdies on the 6th and 7th holes to post -4.
2nd Round: After making the one bogey versus five birdies in the 1st round, Miya unfortunately reversed that in the 2nd round with just one birdie and four bogeys or worse.
 
CRONJE
1st Round: A birdie on the par-3 15th was followed by an eagle on the par-5 17th to move from +2 to -1 in just three holes. Another birdie on the 2nd pushed him further into red numbers at -2, but a double bogey on the 4th resulted in the even-par round.
2nd Round: A pair of doubles – another of which occurred on the 4th – resulted in a round of +3 as the South African recorded two birdies on the 2nd and 7th holes.
 
BECK
1st Round: The lone Mav to not start on the 9th hole, Beck instead opened on the par-4 8th. The freshman sat at +7 through nine holes, but then played his closing nine in -1 with the lone birdie coming on his closing 7th hole.
2nd Round: Aside from a +4 stretch on holes 13-14 with consecutive doubles, Beck played the other 16 holes in even par with three birdies and three bogeys.
 
THIS AND THAT
After registering 18 total birdies (16) and eagles (two) in the 1st round, the Mavs' quintet accounted for just 11 (all birdies) in the 2nd round … after three Mavs were under par in the 1st round, all five were over par in the 2nd round … UTA's previous-best round(s) this season prior to Monday were a pair of 4-under 284s to open the spring season in mid-February at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic … UTA ranks 2nd in the field in par-3 scoring (+2, 3.05) and tied for 4th in par-5 scoring (-13, 4.68) … the Mavs' 117 total pars are the most in the field, and their two eagles are also tied for the most … Miya is tied for 3rd in par-3 scoring (-1, 2.88), Hicks is tied for 7th in par-4 scoring (-2, 3.90) and Cronje is tied for 6th in par-5 scoring (-5, 4.38).
 
FINAL ROUND
The final round is scheduled for Tuesday, Apr. 4. Live scoring will again be available via Golfstat by clicking here.
 
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.
 
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