Ricky Castillo

Castillo took up the game at age of 5 when he joined his older brother Derek and their father at the Fullerton Municipal course. Playing with only three clubs, a 3-wood, a 7-iron, and a putter, the kid was so ecstatic he had hit a shot that he would take off sprinting to his ball, leaving Mark and Derek laughing in the cart. Castillo was 6 at his first U.S. Kids Golf World Championship and his father Mark said that his son learned at an early age that golf wasn't about power, but about strategy.
With the brothers three years apart, sibling rivalry drove both of them. When older brother Derek was recruited at UNLV by coach J.C. Deacon, 11-year-old Ricky tagged along on Derek's recruiting visit. According to a story by G. Allan Taylor in The Athletic, Deacon noticed the boy listening intently and asked Mark if his son played golf. When dad replied that Ricky was on pace to be better than his brother, Deacon half-jokingly said, "Well, then, you're gonna play for me one day." He was right. He just didnÃ?Æ?Ã?¢Ã?¢ââ?¬Å¡Ã?¬Ã?¢ââ?¬Å¾Ã?¢t say where. Deacon became Florida's coach in 2014 when Castillo was in eighth grade. And before Castillo even began his freshman year at Valencia High Scool in Placentia, California, he'd verbally committed to play at Florida. Castillo took official visits to USC, Arizona State, and UNLV, but his father sensed the trust factor with Deacon was unbreakable. Mark was close to the situation since he taught accounting, marketing, and business law at Valencia High School, where he also coached his sons on the golf team. Also as a 14-year-old Ricky qualified for the U.S. Amateur in 2015 at Olympia Fields and despite missing the cut got a lot of experience out of it. Castillo also played in the 2017 U.S. Amateur losing in the Round of 32 to Connor Syme 4 and 3.
Castillo was the number one junior golfer in the nation as a Valencia High junior, a member of the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup team, a two-time AJGA first-team All-American, and a final 16 finisher at the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship, losing his round of 16 match against John Augenstein 1 up. After that Castillo enrolled at Florida and was hoping to be the second-youngest member of the Walker Cup team that would play in England. He was disappointed when he was named an alternate, missing the trip to Royal Liverpool.
As COVID-19 abruptly shut down college golf in March, Castillo was on a roll in his freshman season that included setting a school record for single-season scoring average (70.08) in 21 tournament rounds this past season. He won individual titles in Florida's first two spring tournaments and was in the top 25 in all seven events in which he competed. He was, in addition to being the country's top freshman, a Ping All- American and a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award as the nation's best college golfer. He was named the 2019-20 Phil Mickelson Award winner, given annually to the country's top freshman, he also was named to the USA Palmer Cup Team. Over the summer in 2020 Castillo got to to the semi-finals of the Western Amateur beating Andy Ogletree in the quarter-finals in 20 holes, but lost his semifinal match to Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen in 21 holes. After the loss, he returned home to Yorba Linda and was getting ready for the U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes when he felt achy and sluggish. He was tested for COVID-19 and mononucleosis and when tests came back negative, Castillo and dad Mark made the 14-hour drive to Bandon. Upon arriving in Oregon, he took another COVID-19 test that came back negative, he was told by a doctor that there was a 10 to 25% chance that Ricky had the virus. Still feeling fatigued and for the best interest of the field, Ricky withdrew.
He went home to quarantine and get ready for the U.S. Open. He got lucky with the fact that the USGA didn't have qualifying in 2020 and went to a system to allow amateurs in by inviting the top-seven of the World Amateur Golf Ranking which Castillo was 2nd at the cutoff on August 19. At Winged Foot Castillo shot 73-79 to miss the cut by six shots. Still, he was able to experience something totally different, the 2nd round saw tough conditions in which the field scoring average was 75.25. As he said in a press conference after, "I did not play my best this week, but it was great to have the experience out here." He is hoping to return to play for Florida, pandemic permitting. "I'm really not thinking of a timeframe about turning pro after this year or next year," Castillo says. "If I'm getting better in college and I know that I'm progressing, then I don't see any reason to turn pro."
The Gators finished last season ranked 23rd after the coronavirus canceled the NCAA championships.