Hawai‘i Golf Hall of Famer Lori Castillo completed her ninth and final season as head coach of the Rainbow Wahine golf program in 2016-17. Earlier in the year, she announced her retirement at the conclusion of the season. Castillo, a second generation coach as her father, Ron, guided the Rainbow Wahine from 1976-80, finishes her career as the longest tenured women’s golf coach in program history.
During her tenure, Castillo guideded UH to a pair of runner-up finishes at the conference tournament – at the 2010 Western Athletic Conference Championship and at the 2015 Big West Conference Championship. She coached two UH medalists – Izzy Leung, who captured the 2014 Oregon State Invitational and Eimi Koga, who won the 2016 Hobble Creek Fall Classic. The Rainbow Wahine also captured the Hobble Creek Classic team title, a first since for the program since the 1996 Lady Bronc Classic.
Under her tutelage, Ka‘ili Britos was named the 2010 WAC Freshman of the Year as well as a four-time WGCA All-American Scholar; Leung earned first team all-Big West in 2017 after a pair of second-team honors; and Raquel Ek was a three-time all-Big West honorable mention.
In her final season, among the highlights included four Top 4 team finishes and six individual Top 10s. UH concluded the season with a Golfstat ranking of No. 106 and the team's overall scoring average dropped by 5.3 strokes per round for a 302.9 average. In the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, the Rainbow Wahine had the fourth biggest improvement nationally from the fall (No. 147) to spring (No. 92) moving up 55 spots.
As an amateur, Castillo was one of the most decorated women’s golfers in the state of Hawai‘i, winning three United States Golf Association (USGA) titles – the U.S. Girls Junior Championship in 1978 and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links in 1979 and ’80. At the time, she was the first female and one of only four golfers to hold two USGA titles at the same time joining Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones and Chick Evans. She also won the Junior World title for the 13-14 year-old division in 1975 and was a member of the 1980 Curtis Cup team.
After graduating from Kaiser High School in Hawai‘i Kai, Castillo attended the University of Tulsa for two years, where she was a member of the 1980 AIAW National Championship team. She later transferred to Stanford University, where she earned honorable mention All-America honors, and received her bachelor’s degree in communication in 1983.
Professionally, Castillo played one season on the Ladies Asian Tour and three seasons on the Ladies European Tour. She is a five-time winner of the Hawai‘i State Open women’s golf tournament, two-time winner of the Hawai‘i State Women’s Match Play Championship, the 1984 Wirral Coldy Classic champion on the Ladies European Tour and co-champion of the 1996 LPGA Big Skins Game in Ka‘anapali, Maui.
Castillo set two course records during her playing career, shooting a 66 at the par-74 Mid-Pacific Country Club during the 1983 Jennie K. Wilson Invitational and a 66 at the par-73 Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, Calif., during a Pac-10 collegiate event.
Following her professional career, Castillo served as a tournament coordinator for PGA Senior Tour events, was a manufacturer’s representative for various golf club, apparel and accessory lines, was a teaching professional at Kapalua Golf Academy, and served as an LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Member Advisor. For the past three years, she was a realtor for Sakamoto Properties in Maui. In addition, Castillo also was a board of director and past officer for the Hawai‘i State Junior Golf Association and a committee member for the USGA.
