Ricky Castillo finished 13-under-par over the weekend to claim the Gator Invitational individual title at Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville. (Photo: Adler Garfield/UAA Communications)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – All it was supposed to be was a trip to Nevada for the Castillo family. The oldest brother, Derek, was on an unofficial visit to UNLV, looking for the right place to pursue a college golf career.
What it became was a future offer for his 11-year old brother Ricky.
On the visit, the Castillos took an extensive tour of campus, topped off with a UNLV basketball game in the evening. Sometime before the game, though, they found themselves inside the office of UNLV's head golf coach Dwaine Knight.
It was there that Ricky caught the eye of former UNLV assistant and current Gators head coach J.C. Deacon.
Ricky, Derek and their father Mark took a seat in an office with Coach Knight and Deacon. They all just sat there chatting for 30 to 45 minutes about Derek's recruitment and what UNLV had to offer. And off to the side was Ricky, silent and taking in the conversation. In the middle of the meeting, Deacon looked over at Ricky and saw him completely entranced in the talks.
"This is an 11-year old kid, you would think that after half an hour to 45 minutes he would be sitting there getting bored," Mark Castillo said. "When are we going to the game? I'm hungry. Can I do this? You know what I mean? Whatever a normal 11-year old would do. And he was fixated on that [conversation], didn't say a word, and was just there. And that's when J.C. saw him, and he knew that what Ricky had was something different."
Deacon wouldn't see Ricky play golf for the first time until months after their initial encounter. But it was in that room Deacon realized the kid's future potential.
"He recruited my brother, so he didn't really know me that much," Ricky Castillo said. "But then my dad was talking to him about it and, you know, said he also told J.C. that I played golf too. He kind of just, I don't know why, but he kind of took a liking to me, just thought that I was something special. I don't know what he saw or anything like that, but I think he just thought I could be something."
In Knight's office that day, Deacon decided to let Ricky in on a prophecy concerning the young golfer's future.
"He even told me … I was going to play for him one day," said Ricky.
Gators freshman Ricky Castillo addresses the crowd Sunday afternoon following his individual title and UF's team win in the Gator Invitational. (Photo: Adler Garfield/UAA Communications
Seven years later, Ricky has become one of the top amateur golfers in the world. He is a two-time Heather Farr AJGA Champion, a two-time AJGA Rolex first-team All-American and he was a member of Team USA in the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup.
Through all of his success, Ricky always kept an eye on Deacon and how he was doing. In fact, very soon after Deacon received the head coaching job at Florida, one of his first congratulatory calls was from the Castillo family.
And a few months later Ricky made his first visit to the University of Florida.
Ricky and his family came away impressed with the school and the golf program. But Deacon found himself fighting with other schools for Ricky's services as the rising golf star received strong offers from USC, UNLV and Arizona State as well.
"USC was definitely in the mix and it was between USC and Florida," Mark Castillo said. "And, you know, they were very persuasive also. They were very aggressive, and they were after Ricky just as hard as J.C. was."
In the end, Ricky went with the man who saw something in him before anyone else.
Just as it was prophesied.
And that decision has paid dividends for the UF freshman. After some strong outings in the summer, Ricky arrived on campus eager to make an impact with the Gators.
And so far, he has.
Earlier this month, Castillo captured his first-ever individual collegiate title, winning the Sea Best Invitational with a final score of 8-under. It was a significant milestone, but he knew it wouldn't be his last victory. In fact, he sought to make sure that performance carried over to this past weekend's Gators Invitational, the only home tournament for this season.
He let his golf clubs do the rest.
Castillo was borderline unstoppable. He finished the tournament 13-under-par, eight strokes better than second-place finisher Logan Perkins from West Virginia. Castillo became the first UF golfer since 2011 to win back-to-back tournaments. And the stellar performance sparked the Gators to the team title, beating second-place Vanderbilt by 18 strokes.
If others are surprised at Castillo's smooth transition to the collegiate level, don't count Deacon among them.
"I knew he was going to be special,'' Deacon said following the tournament. "And he's been special ever since and just, no surprise for me that this is happening and, you know, I've been in his ear since day one about his confidence and belief. He probably thinks I'm crazy sometimes, but he's listening a little bit and starting to talk like a champion and he's such a special player and special person."
Castillo is doing more than listening and talking like a champion. He's playing like one. Deacon called it seven years ago in Vegas.
Talk about a winning hunch.
"And he's like a little brother to me and it's so fun to see his dreams come true,'' Deacon said.
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