BOULDER CITY, Nev. – On the strength of the 4th-best individual round in program history by Zak Jones, the UT Arlington men's golf team concluded its 2022-23 season by delivering the 6th-best team round in program history in the final round of the Western Athletic Conference Championship on Sunday from Boulder Creek Golf Club.
 
Jones carded a bogey-free, 7-under 65 to set his career low in his final collegiate round, and UTA posted a season-low 12-under 276 total with all four counting scores from Jones, Hiroki Miya (70), Caleb Hicks (70) and Daniel Cronje (71) being under par.
 
The graduate student's 65 equals seven others who have signed for that number in program lore. However, only two men on three different occasions have gone lower in the 50+ year history of the program: Bobby Massa (62, 64) and Shad Muth (63); all three of those came between 2000-09.
 
The 65 is the lowest final round in a conference championship in program history. Only one other person has reached that mark in a league tournament as Aaron Guanlao's 65 occurred during the 2nd round of the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Championship.
 
As for the Mavericks overall, the 12-under performance is the best in a conference championship ever, and represents the 6th-best score to par in any tournament. UTA's 12-under round was the best of the day by any team in the field; only one other team was even better than -8, and that was Grand Canyon (-11). For the week, the round of 276 was the 3rd-best by any team over the course of the championship.
 
Combined with an 8-under 280 in the 2nd round, UTA overcame a 5-over 293 1st round to tie for the 6th-best 54-hole score to par in program annals at -15; that mark is shared with the Mavs' 2019 performance at the Sun Belt Championship. Additionally, the 54-hole total (849) is the 11th-best all-time; since being named head coach in 2018, Casey Devoll has overseen eight of those 11 best 54-hole totals.
 
All told, UTA moved from 10th place following the 1st round to 8th place after play on Saturday and all the way to 6th place at the conclusion of the tournament. Grand Canyon won the WAC Championship with a 34-under 830, five shots clear of 2nd-place New Mexico State (-29, 835).
 
UTA SCORES
Team
6) UT Arlington: 293-280-276: 849 (-15)
 
Lineup
T-11) Zak Jones: 73-72-65: 210 (-6)
T-17) Hiroki Miya: 74-68-70: 212 (-4)
T-29) Cameron Beck: 70-72-73: 215 (-1)
T-35) Caleb Hicks: 77-70-70: 217 (+1)
T-35) Daniel Cronje: 76-70-71: 217 (+1)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES
JONES (-7, 65)
He began his round with back-to-back birdies on the 1st and 2nd holes, and rolled in two more on the par-5 5th and par-4 7th to quickly move to -4. A birdie on the short par-4 10th got him to -5, and the Spring, Texas, native recorded two more on holes 15 and 16 to conclude the brilliant round.
 
MIYA (-2, 70)
Miya matched Jones with birdies on the 5th and 7th holes, and made the turn bogey-free at 2-under. However, consecutive bogeys on the par-4 11th and par-3 12th gave both of those back before the New Zealand native birdied the short par-4 15th and was the lone Mav to birdie the 469-yard, par-4 18th to post -2.
 
BECK (+1, 73)
An inauspicious start with a double bogey was the lone big number of the day by any UTA player. The true freshman bounced right back with a birdie on the par-5 2nd, but made the turn at +2. He battled all the way back to even par by taking advantage with birdies on both par 5s on the back – the 13th and 635-yard 16th – but a bogey on 17 resulted in the 1-over round.
 
HICKS (-2, 70)
Hicks bogeyed the opening hole, but offset it with a birdie on the 5th as part of an otherwise clean front nine. The Arlington native dropped in birdies on the 11th and 15th holes coming in, as the bogey on the 1st was his lone dropped shot of the day en route to the 70.
 
CRONJE (-1, 71)
The South African did most of his work late in the round as well. He parred 11 of the first 12 holes, with the lone hiccup coming as a result of a bogey on the par-4 7th. He then notched birdies on the 13th and 16th to get under par, which is where he remained over the closing two holes and signed for the 71.
 
THIS AND THAT
UTA led the 13-team field in total pars for the week with 179 … the Mavs had the 3rd-best par-5 scoring average at 4.45 (-33) … Cronje tied for the 3rd-most pars with 38, with Hicks and Jones (both 37) right behind to tie for the 6th-most … Beck's 215 (-1) for the tournament was the best of his young career.
 
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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 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.