CHOUDRANT, La. – Thanks to a season-best 7-under round, the UT Arlington men's golf team made a major push during the 2nd round on Monday at Louisiana Tech's Argent Financial Classic from Squire Creek Country Club.
 
Every single UTA player was either under – or equal to – par, led by a 4-under 68 from Hiroki Miya. The Mavericks other scores on the day in order of low performance were Ethan Miller (-2), Daniel Cronje (-1), Arran Kanth (E) and Cameron Beck (E).
 
Combined, the top-four scores accounted for the second-best round of the day by any of the 16 teams in the field, bested only by Southern Mississippi's -8.
 
UTA moved into sole possession of 4th place at -5 for the week, and that showing propelled the Mavs within eight shots of 36-hole leader Central Arkansas (-13). UTA is also just three shots out of 2nd place (Southern Miss, -8).
 
Final-round pairings and tee times – in addition to scoring all day on Tuesday – will be available via Golfstat.
 
UTA SCORES
Team
4) UT Arlington: 290-281: 571 (-5)
 
Lineup
T10) Daniel Cronje: 70-71: 141 (-3)
T22) Hiroki Miya: 76-68: 144 (E)
T22) Ethan Miller: 74-70: 144 (E)
T22) Cameron Beck: 72-72: 144 (E)
T37) Arran Kanth: 74-72: 146 (+2)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES
MIYA
The New Zealand native nearly turned in an unblemished scorecard as he made five birdies and just one bogey – that coming on the par-3 3rd – en route to his season-low round. Miya, like all the Mavs, began on the back 9 and rolled in birdies on the 13th, 15th and 17th holes. He dropped another birdie on the 2nd hole to get to -4, the bogey moved him back to -3 but a closing circle on the par-5 9th capped the 68.
 
MILLER
The Kansas State transfer started his round with four birdies in a seven-hole stretch to close his opening 9 at -3 due to a bogey on the 16th. However, the birdie train ran out of gas making the turn to the front – his backside – and Miller made eight pars and a bogey coming into the clubhouse. Still, the Austin native produced his first under-par performance of the season with a 70.
 
CRONJE
The South African continued his dominance of Squire Creek with another under-par performance. The 5th year kept his scorecard clean for the first 11 holes, recording three birdies and eight pars. Back-to-back bogeys on the 3rd hole and par-4 4th were his only negatives from a 2nd-round 71.
 
KANTH
The Englishman opened his 2nd round at -1 through six holes, with the birdie coming on his fourth hole of the day, the short 356-yard par-4 13th. After recording two quick bogeys on 16 and 18, Kanth made the turn looking for some birdies. He did so with two more on the front against only one bogey to get in with a level-par round.
 
BECK
The sophomore started on fire as he opened his day with three-straight birdies and five total on the first nine to go out in 33. However, those would be his only birdies of the round as the Mansfield native recorded three more bogeys on the course's front side and finished with a second-straight even-par round.
 
THIS AND THAT
UTA collectively played holes 10-18 in -10 during the 2nd round, and holes 1-9 in +3 … after making 19 double bogeys or worse in its season-opening tournament last week at the Golfweek Collegiate Kickoff from Dalhousie Country Club, UTA has yet to make anything worse than a bogey through 36 holes this week … the Mavs are tied for 1st in par-4 scoring average for the week at 4.06 (+6) … UTA is tied for 4th in par-5 scoring average at 4.65 (-14) … Miya and Beck lead the team with eight birdies each.
 
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.