CHOUDRANT, La. – On the strength of Daniel Cronje's 2-under round of 70, the UT Arlington men's golf team finds itself in position to compete for Louisiana Tech's Argent Financial Classic title thanks to a season-low 290 in the 1st round on Sunday from Squire Creek Country Club.
 
Cronje – who like the rest of the Mavericks began his day off the 10th tee – played the final four holes in -3 thanks to a birdie-bogey-birdie-eagle finish to go from +1 to -2 for the day, which also represented UTA's low round of its young season.
 
Despite the +2 round as a team, UTA is right in the mix for the tournament crown as the Mavs are only 11 shots back of leader Central Arkansas, but also only two shots shy of 3rd-place Southern Mississippi and host Louisiana Tech (E, 288) with two rounds remaining.
 
UCA posted an impressive opening round with a 9-under 279, and the Bears lead the 16-team field by eight shots over Louisiana (-1, 287) as the Ragin' Cajuns were the only other squad to record an under-par round on Sunday.
 
Second-round pairings and tee times – in addition to scoring all day – will be available via Golfstat.
 
UTA SCORES
Team
T6) UT Arlington: 290 (+2)
 
Lineup
T9) Daniel Cronje: 70 (-2)
T25) Cameron Beck: 72 (E)
T39) Ethan Miller: 74 (+2)
T39) Arran Kanth: 74 (+2)
T57) Hiroki Miya: 76 (+4)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES
CRONJE
The South African started -2 thanks to birdies on his second (11th) and fourth (13th) holes of the day and looked poised for a low round. However, a bogey on the par-3 16th, followed by back-to-back bogeys on 1 and 2, moved him to +1 for the day. But, in an amazing turnaround, Cronje managed two birdies and rolled in a long putt on the closing par-5, 546-yard 9th hole for an eagle – the Mavs second of the season.
 
BECK
The sophomore recorded three birdies and two bogeys in his first six holes to sit at -1, which is where he remained through the first 13 holes of the day. A bogey on the 175-yard, par-3 5th was his only blemish on the back side – the course's front – on his way to an even-par 72.
 
KANTH
The London native bogeyed two of his first five holes, and remained at +2 entering his final four holes. He started that stretch with back-to-back bogeys on the 6th and 7th holes and got all the way to +4, but closed strong with birdies on the par-4 8th and par-5 9th to come in with a +2 card.
 
MIYA
Miya opened the tournament with two bogeys on 10 and 12 with a birdie sandwiched in-between, which set the tone for the rest of his round. The New Zealand native carded three birdies, but struggled with seven bogeys in his round en route to the 76.
 
MILLER
The Kansas State transfer went out in even par thanks to a bogey a birdie. He got his card to -1 for the day with a birdie on the par-5 2nd, and remained in red numbers heading to the 5th hole – his 14th of the day – but a stretch of three-straight bogeys commencing then pushed him to +2 for the round.
 
THIS AND THAT
This is UTA's first round of the season with no player recording a double or worse … UTA tied for the 4th-best par-4 scoring average in the field with a 4.14 (+7) … the Mavs collectively played the par-5 holes in -5 (4.75 average) … UTA rolled in 14 birdies and carded 53 pars; Beck, Kanth and Miller each had a team-leading 12 pars … Kanth and Beck (both E) led the Mavs in par-3 scoring … Cronje's 1-under par-4 scoring average was tied for the 8th-best in the field; he also led the Mavs with four birdies.
 
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 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.