By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

A solid freshman season at the University of Tennessee was followed by just a so-so sophomore campaign and Angela Arora felt like she needed a change. A fresh start.

So the soon-to-be 20-year-old from Surrey decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal and see what happened. The former B.C. Junior and Juvenile Girls champion feels like she hit a jackpot of sorts by accepting an offer to join the University of Arizona in Tucson.

“I am excited, I am very excited,” Arora said in an interview. “I just decided to go on the portal and honestly I was talking to a bunch of schools and Arizona stood out.”

One of the things that stood out — in addition to the great year-round weather and terrific facilities — was Giovana Maymon, the new women’s golf coach at Arizona. She was recently hired after former longtime Arizona coach Laura Ianello left to run the women’s program at the University of Texas.

“The new coach just seems amazing and I think she is going to do a lot for the program and she seems to have a lot of faith in me,” Arora said. “So I was like, this is where I want to go. I am very happy to have this opportunity to play for the Wildcats.”

Arora registered a top-10 finish in her first collegiate event as a freshman at Tennessee and later that year earned her first collegiate win. Coincidentally, that win came in Arizona at the Clover Cup at Longbow Golf Course in Mesa. Her sophomore season was a bit of a disappointment and Arora started thinking about making a change.

“Yeah, I just wanted a change of scenery and I honestly did want to come a little closer to home,” she said. “So this time around in the recruiting process I was giving priority to schools that were closer to home. I’m lucky and grateful that this opportunity came about.”

Entering the transfer portal was something of a nerve-wracking experience for Arora, who is a member of Golf Canada’s national women’s team. “I had confidence that I would end up somewhere good, but there is definitely so much uncertainty. It’s like the recruiting process all over again. I felt like a junior golfer again getting al these emails and calls and responding.”

Arora is visiting the Arizona campus this week and will head to Tucson the third week of August to begin her junior season. Later this month, she will attempt to Monday qualify her way into the CPKC Women’s Open in Calgary. She will be in the field for the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, which goes July 30-Aug. 2 at Royal Colwood Golf Club in Victoria.

SEASON BEST: Merritt’s Roger Sloan posted his best result of the season with a tie for 31st finish at the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit. Sloan’s nine-under total left him nine shots behind winner Cam Davis. Sloan made $48,583 and moved up 10 spots to now stand 184th on the FedExCup points list. He needs to move inside the top 125 to retain his exempt status for 2025. Sloan and Surrey’s Adam Svensson, who missed the cut in Detroit, are both in the field for this week’s John Deere Classic in Silvas, Ill.

MAKING THE CUT: Kelowna’s Justin Towill made his first PGA Tour Americas cut and tied for 40th at the ATB Classic in Sherwood Park, Alta. The UBC-Okanagan product finished the event at three-under par, 10 shots behind Frederik Kjettrup of Denmark, who won for the second straight week. Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald tied for 64th at five-over par and fell one spot to sixth on the points list. The next PGA Tour Americas event is the Explore New Brunswick Open, which goes July 11-14 in Fredericton.

NO THREE-PEAT: James Lee will not be attempting a three-peat at this week’s B.C. Junior Boys Championship at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf Club in Kelowna. The part-time Whistler resident had a busy June, playing in the Dogwood Invitational in Atlanta, the British Amateur in Ballyliffin, Ireland, and the California Amateur in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Lee missed the cut in those events.

SENIOR MOMENT: Bryn Parry of Seymour Creek Golf Centre won the PGA of B.C. Seniors Championship at Nicklaus North Golf Course in Whistler. Parry fired two rounds of 69 and his four-under total was one better than runner-up Brett Burgeson of the Breaking Par Golf Academy in Kamloops. Parry earned $2,300 for the win. The PGA of B.C. Women’s Championship was played concurrently at Nicklaus North and Taylor Kim of Beach Grove Golf Club won by seven shots with a two-day total of three-under par. Kim earned $1,350. Esther Lee of Mayfair Lakes Golf Course in Richmond was second.

JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: Vancouver amateur Anna Huang tied for fourth and Port Coquitlam’s Yeji Kwon finished sixth at the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour’s Children’s Hospital of Illinois Championship. Huang, a member of Golf Canada’s junior team, completed the 54-hole event at six-under par. That was five shots behind winner Jean Reynolds of Newnan, Ga. Kwon, who recently turned pro, finished at five-under par. Mary Parsons of Delta tied for 11th at one-under par, while Megan Osland of Kelowna tied for 23rd at three-over par.

BIRDIE BINGE: Vancouver’s Leah John made her second straight cut and tied for 63rd at the Epson Tour’s Dream First Bank Charity Classic in Garden City, Kan. John played her best golf in the second round of the 54-hole event when she had eight birdies in a round of five-under 67. The birdies were much harder to find in her first and third rounds when the two-time B.C. Women’s Amateur champion recorded rounds of 78 and 75.

CHEERS!: Vancouver Parks Golf has launched alcohol service at its Queen Elizabeth and Stanley Park pitch and putt courses. A variety of beverages can be purchased between the hours of 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. and consumed on new patios and throughout the courses.

CHIP SHOTS: Vancouver’s Ilirian Zalli fired an eight-under 63 and edged Richmond’s Chris Crisologo by one shot to win the Vancouver Golf Tour’s University Open at University Golf Club. Zalli, a former B.C. Junior Boys champion, earned $1,100 . . .UBC-Okanagan will play host to the Canada West Golf Championships Oct. 7-8 at the Bear course at Okanagan Golf Club in Kelowna. The University of B.C. men’s and women’s team swept last year’s championships.