CANCUN, Mexico – The UT Arlington men's golf team begins the spring portion of its 2023-24 season this week in Mexico at Playa Paraiso Golf Club for the Los Vaqueros Intercollegiate Monday-Wednesday, Feb. 5-7, hosted by UT Rio Grande Valley.
 
This will be UTA's first team action since mid-October, and head coach Casey Devoll will utilize the following five-man lineup which qualified, in addition to an individual:
 
UTA LINEUP
1) Hiroki Miya
2) Daniel Cronje
3) Arran Kanth
4) Ethan Miller
5) Diego Nuno
Ind.) Shoichiro Kato
 
The three-day, 54-hole tournament will commence Monday with tee times. The same format follows for Tuesday's 2nd round before a shotgun start for the final round on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Central.
 
On Monday, the Mavericks will be paired with Wichita State and Northern Colorado, beginning at 8 a.m. with Kato off the 10th hole and continuing in nine-minute increments until Miya at 8:45. Live scoring all tournament will be available via Golfstat.
 
Playa Paraiso Golf Club in Playa Del Carmen will play as a par-72 layout and 6,701 yards this week.
 
PARTICIPATING TEAMS
Abilene Christian, Lamar, Wichita State, UTEP, UAB, Northern Colorado, VCU, UTRGV and UTA.
 
LINEUP INFORMATION

• Miya leads the Mavs in scoring average this year, posting a 72.5 over 12 rounds in the fall. He is responsible for three of UTA's five rounds in the 60s this season, including a career-best 66 in the 2nd round of the fall finale Oct. 16 at Little Rock's Chenal County Club.
   
• South African Cronje holds the team's 2nd-best scoring average this year with a 73 over 15 rounds as he was one of just two players to qualify for all five events. Cronje boasts a team-high-tying seven par-or-better rounds with a low round of 68.
   
• Englishman Kanth is tied with Cronje for the team lead with those seven par-or-better showings as he posted UTA's 3rd-best scoring average in the fall at 73.4 over 15 rounds – also tied with Cronje for the most on the team. Kanth was responsible for UTA's best individual finish in the fall when he registered a T-3 thanks to a 6-under 210 at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invite in early October.
   
• Miller notched a 73.9 scoring average over four fall tournaments and 12 rounds. He secured a low round of 70 as part of a 1-under 215 total at Louisiana Tech's Argent Financial Classic in September.
   
• True freshman Nuno joined the program this semester. Originally expected to get to UTA for the fall semester, the Mexico native signed with the Mavs last summer after honing his craft in Arlington for one year as a member of the Crown Golf Junior Academy at Texas Rangers Golf Club (TRGC) – the home course of UTA – during the 2022-23 season. In high school he carried a season scoring average of 74 in 2021-22, posting a career-low tournament round of 5-under 67.
   
• Kato will be the first Mav to compete as an individual as part of a team event this year. It will be his second time teeing it up as an individual as he posted rounds of 71-70-73 at the Dallas Baptist Fall Classic Oct. 23-24. Kato also was a member of the UTA lineup in Colorado where his score was used in all three rounds. He has a 74 scoring average over those six rounds of action.

NEXT UP
UTA will have a quick turnaround as the Mavs return stateside and head to Montgomery, Texas, to compete in Sam Houston's Bentwater Intercollegiate Feb. 12-13, from the Miller Course at Bentwater Yacht & Country Club.