Castillo earns Mickelson Award as the nation's top freshman
4/30/2020 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff
Ricky Castillo becomes the third Florida Gator to win the award
Ricky Castillo (Yorba Linda, Calif.) has won the 2020 NCAA Division I Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award as presented by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).
Castillo, who recorded two wins and compiled a stroke average of 70.08 (the lowest in program history), becomes the third Florida Gator to win the award, following Camilo Villegas (2001) and Sam Horsfield (2016).
His consistency was remarkable, as he never finished outside the top 25 in any tournament he played in his freshman season.
In addition to the Mickelson Award, Castillo has been selected to the 2020 U.S. Arnold Palmer Cup Team, and named a finalist for the 2020 Ben Hogan Award. He has also earned NCAA Division I PING All-Southeast Region honors, and was tabbed a NCAA Division I PING First Team All-American.
Related: Three Hogan Award Finalists Named
Rounding out the GCAA Division I All-Freshman Team were Johnny Keefer of Baylor, Yuxin Lin of Southern California, William Mouw of Pepperdine, and Mark Power of Wake Forest.
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