A native of San Diego, Calif., Darien Zhao made an immediate impact on the men's golf team in his first season at UC Irvine. The 6-foot-3 freshman competed in each of the Anteater's seven tournaments in his debut season, ranking third on the team with a 75.28 scoring average. Zhao put together a strong effort to close the season at the Big West Championships, leading the team with an 11th-place finish while carding a 54-hole total of 218. 
 
In our latest Q&A segment, we caught up with Darien to talk about his transition to the college level and his dream to eventually make it onto the PGA Tour.
 
 
Q: Why did you decide that UC Irvine was the right fit for you?
A: I decided that UC Irvine was a good fit for me after I talked with Coach Smolinski during my visit. I wanted to play for a team where I could play in every tournament so I could gain as much experience as I could before my college career ended and UC Irvine allowed me to do that.
 
Q: Were there any challenges that you faced while making the jump from high school to the college level? If so, how did you overcome them?
A: The main thing I struggled with was trying to schedule my day so that I could practice as much as I could while still keeping up with classes. In high school, I had a very light workload which let me practice at any time I wanted but when making the jump to the college level I had to cut out some things that were wasting my time to make sure I could get good grades and practice enough.
 
Q: When did you first start developing a passion for golf and realize that you wanted to continue playing collegiately?
A: I first started playing golf when I was six years old and my dream has always been to become a professional golfer. I dealt with a little bit of burnout during my freshman year of high school but after taking a break I realized that I wanted to play college golf and hopefully make it onto the PGA Tour.
 
Q: What's been your biggest accomplishment to date either on or off the course?
A: My biggest accomplishment so far is my 2019 golf season where I won three times. I had been struggling at the start of the year and worked super hard to get better which also led to me being recruited by Coach Smolinski.
 
Q: Which club is your favorite to swing and why?
A: My favorite club to swing is my driver because it's typically what I hit off the tee.
 
Q: How would you describe your playing style?
A: I would say that my play style has been very aggressive as being accurate is one of my strengths. However, Coach Smolinski is teaching me how to be smarter and a little more conservative.
 
Q: Who is your favorite professional golf player and why?
A: My current favorite golfer is Collin Morikawa because he is also from southern California and it's inspiring to see someone who played some junior tournaments that I have also played become very successful as a professional golfer.
 
Q: We hear you are planning on majoring in business administration. What drew you to that area of study?
A: I thought business administration would be a good fit for me as it is a pretty broad major and I don't really know what I want to do after college if I don't become a professional golfer.
 
Q: Although you are still early in your career at UC Irvine, do you have an idea of what type of career path you want to pursue?
A: Since my dream has always been to become a professional golfer, I would like to spend most of my energy on that. I'm not sure what type of job I want yet so I'm just going to see where my major takes me.
 
Q: What hobbies or interests do you have outside of golf?
A: Outside of golf I enjoy hanging out with friends and family and relaxing.