Oneda Maryon Castillo (born April 13, 1952) is a Global Instructor for the Ladies Professional Golfers Association (LPGA). She joined the LPGA in 1997. She is only the third African American woman to achieve Class A status as a LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP), doing so in 2003. As of 2016 she is still one of just a few African American women golfers to become a LPGA Teaching Professionals.
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Early life
Castillo was born April 13, 1952 in Akron, Ohio, as the second of three children to Walter and Ruth Scott. She was raised by her mother, along with her two brothers, in Cleveland and Buffalo, New York where she graduated from Bennett High School in 1970. She went on to study engineering at Lakeland College in Mentor, Ohio. Pursuit of her vocation led her to become one of the only female machinists making nuclear reactors for submarines. At the same time, having played basketball and softball in school, her sports interests led her to sign up for the National Womens Football League (NWFL) in 1980, playing for the Cleveland Brewers.
Being the first and, often, only African American in a setting started early for Castillo. In 1962, fourth grader, Castillo and a few of her classmates, were bused to an all-white elementary school to prove that there was integration in Cleveland, Ohio where she was growing up. However, instead of being a part of the class, the young students were isolated from the rest of the student population and taught in a classroom alone.
Castillo's aunt, Oneda Holzendorf, was the first known golfer in the family. However, Castillo did not become interested in the sport until she was thirty, after her husband, Ron Castillo, coaxed her onto the tee with club in hand. After a trip to the driving range, she immersed herself in the game. When she learned what it could do for one's self growth and business career, she was determined to teach others, especially youth, women and African Americans in general, to play the game.
Castillo's daughter Bianca Castillo Dinsmore and her son Ronald Castillo, Jr., embraced their mother's passion for the sport. Bianca played the #2 spot in high school on a team that placed second in the state.
Castillo's son, Ron, guides youth and teaches golf as the Program Director of First Tee in Texas. Between mother and son, thousands of youngsters have been nurtured by their exposure to the sport. Additionally, the two were the only African American professional golfers mother and son combination to place third in the National Pro Lady Pro Man Tournament in 2007.
She has been the Director of Golf for the Women in Golf Foundation which was founded by LaJean Gould, and has partnered with Petrina King to form Golf Women Mean Business, a program that focuses on the development of the business woman as a golfer.
Castillo, alongside African American golfer Lajean Gould, hosts the National Women's Collegiate Championship, an annual three-day, spring competitive golf event started in 1994.
She is a sought after speaker and volunteer, actively encouraging everyone to get involved in golf for fun as well as for advancing their business career. Her skills make both as a player and a club fitter also make her an excellent choice as a coach. Castillo has appeared on the Golf Channel and has appeared as a speaker in numerous other settings.
LPGA Instructor and Certified Fitter
"Golf teaches patience and competitive skills such as fair play and honesty. It brings out the best in you and it is humbling; you can never get too full of yourself.” - Oneda Maryon Castillo, interview February 2016.
In 1997 Castillo joined the teaching ranks of the LPGA as a Certified Golf Teaching Professional. She is only the third African American golfing professional to achieve Class A Status as a LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP), studying many hours and attending numerous seminars and workshops, culminating with testing and placing at the top of her group, in 2003.
Castillo is emotionally invested in the sport. She is passionate about empowering youth and women through the sport because she has seen how the ability to play influences so many aspects of a golfer's life and it provides such insight into a player's character.
She has gone on to teach LPGA Golf for Women's Clinics, Tiger Woods Golf Clinics, Hook a Kid on Golf Clinics, LPGA/US Girls Golf Clinic, Inc. and Odyssey Travel Golf Clinics.
She has taught such students as Zakiya Randall who became the only Atlantan to win a medal and first place in the U.S. Women's Open local in Atlanta and who was introduced to the sport through First Tee of Atlanta where Castillo was an instructor. Castillo serves as a National Evaluator for the LPGA.
She has taught alongside Tiger Woods at his Tiger Woods Golf Clinics at East Lake Golf Club, alongside Charlie Sifford, son of the African American professional golfer Charlie Sifford who helped desegregate the PGA Tour and also taught alongside Renee Powell, the second African American female golfer to play on the LPGA Tour.
Castillo's decision to join the LPGA was influenced by the fact that the 13 original founders of the organization made the decision to exclude the "Caucasian Only" clause that existed in the PGA charter from their 1950 original charter. Castillo has met many of the founders including Patty Berg, Louise Suggs, Betty Jameson, Shirley Spork, Bette Danoff and Marilynn Smith.
Castillo has teed off in Africa and Europe and has traveled to forty of the US states since her husband, Ronald Castillo, Jr., urged her to give the sport a try in the spring of 1983.
In 2014 she was appointed as a Global Instructor to the newly formed LPGA Global Education Program and is the only African American on that team.
Awards
Castillo was inducted into the African American Golfers Hall of Fame in 2014.
In 2012, Castillo was selected as the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Southeast Section Teacher of the Year.