Guadalajara Native Eduardo Castiello Adds Diversity to OU Golf Team

University of Oklahoma golfer Eduardo Castiello was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico where, unlike countries such as Ireland or the U.S., few pursue a future in golf.

Eduardo Castiello hits the golf course with a more dressy casual
look than his fellow Sooner teammates. The look is a reflection
on his Guadalajara style. PHOTO: Joseph Truesdell

Three Big 12 teams, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Texas A&M, are currently ranked in the nation’s top 10. No. 1 OSU’s roster includes two Germans and one native of Denmark while no. 6 Texas has three international born players coming from Finland, South Africa and Venezuela. Texas A&M, on the other hand, has no players from outside the U.S.

In the past four years international competitors have dominated the PGA tour. From 2008-2011, of the 16 major golf tournaments, international players have won 11. Three from South Africa, three from Northen Ireland, two from the Republic of Ireland, and one each from Germany, South Korea and Argentina.

OU men’s golf head coach Ryan Hybl mentioned that the international success in pro golf has influenced the way college coaches recruit in the U.S.

“What we see in pro golf, the success by international guys, does influence the way coaches recruit,” Hybl said, “you want to win no matter where you are and you’re going to get the best players to do that.”

The OU women’s team has four international golfers spanning from Thailand, Australia and two from Canada.

Eduardo Castiello began playing soccer at age seven and it wasn’t until four years later that he picked up golf as a hobby.

“I played soccer all my life, when I was 11 I just started playing golf as a hobby with my parents in the summer and I really liked it so I just kept playing,” Castiello said.

Castiello continued to play for fun, but began to realize his potential in golf

“I was pretty good at it so I just kept playing and I was getting better and I was excited about it.”

Eduardo, known by his OU coach and teammates as Eddie, wasn’t highly recruited by colleges and universities in the U.S. but wasn’t bothered because he knew OU was the right place.

“I got a couple of letters from San Antonio University and New Orleans, but after OU I just stopped looking at schools because I knew this was the one.”

The players and coaches all agree that Castiello is as good for the team as the team is for him.

“Everybody loves Eddie. He’s happy go lucky and really funny,” teammate and future roommate Ben Klaus said.

Other than his attitude and his attributes on the course, coach Hybl says Castiello will help them down the road.

“He has helped us get in touch with some other guys in Mexico and I think it will help more down the road,” Hybl said.

Though his teammates enjoy having Eddie on the team, they do notice little differences in things such as his clothing style.

“The international style is a little different but somewhat the same with an accent.” Klaus said.

Aside from his OU teammates and parents, Castiello has played with friends in Guadalajara who have also come to play golf in the U.S.

“I have a cousin that plays for Texas State here and I usually practiced with him everyday in Mexico,” Castiello said, “my cousin and also Carlos Otiz who plays for North Texas. We were pretty comparative.”

Eduardo noted that his decision to come to OU was somewhat due to the lack of colleges that provide golf as a sport in Mexico.

“Here you have a lot of sports and it’s the only way to keep playing golf as an amateur so I just came here. Kept the dream,” Castiello said.


In the below video, Eduardo Castiello talks about why he decided to come to the U.S. to pursue a career at OU in golf.

[AUDIO: Joseph Truesdell, runs: 1:25

OU Golf's Dynamic Duo

University of Oklahoma golfers Ben Klaus and Will Kropp have been friends and a golf tandem since a young age. The two grew up in Edmond, OK and went to high school at Edmond North where Ben graduated in 2007 and Will in 2008. The two golfers have a never-ending list of awards and honors including all-state and all-american individual honors and members of seven total state championships and both were a part of the 2006 McDonald's High School National Championship team.

After graduating from Edmond North in 2007, Ben became a Commodore at Vanderbilt University while Will entered his final year at Edmond North.

In the 2007-2008 school year, Ben competed in four events at Vanderbilt and Will won his fourth straight state championship at Edmond North. Following his graduation, Will attended Georgia University. Will was recruited to Georgia by former Bulldog assistant coach and current OU head coach Nate Hybl.

Though the two longtime friends were at different universities, one in Tennessee and one in Georgia, the friends were still close.

In 2009, Hybl was hired by OU to restore the winning tradition that they had lost in the years since the Sooners’ 1989 national championship. When Hybl came to OU, Kropp followed.

Klaus started to consider the idea of transferring after he heard of Kropp’s full release. Klaus played the 2009 fall season at Vanderbilt after coming off of an ACL injury. Though he felt improvement in his game, his scores weren’t showing. His family, swing coach and he all felt he would be happier and more succesful at OU.

Klaus was released to talk with Coach Hybl and both agreed it would be better for Klaus and the team to transfer to OU.

The two friends were reunited at OU in the spring of 2010 and have been roommates since.

[Slideshow: Joseph Truesdell; runs, 2:02]

OU Crew and Rowing test the waters

Women's eight rowing team at the Head of 

Oklahoma regatta. Photo courtesy of 

Soonersports.com

At 5:30 a.m. on weekday mornings, many University of Oklahoma students are still sleeping. Most student-athletes are even still asleep. The OU crew and rowing teams are at the Chesapeake Boathouse on the Oklahoma City River in Oklahoma City.

Unlike many sports at OU, the crew and rowing teams don’t have the luxury of on-campus facilities to practice. The disadvantage doesn’t end with having to drive north on I-35 Monday through Friday, but because of scheduling conflicts they have to practice from 5:30 to 7:30 every weekday morning.

The Rowing team is sponsored by OU but the mens and womens crew teams are not. The crew teams are club sports, meaning they have to pay dues every semester to pay for travel expenses, uniforms, boathouse fees and regatta entrances fees.

The crew teams are comprised of athletes many of whom have never rowed before coming to OU. Only one of the 10 men on the crew team had rowed before college.

Rustenhaven, who played football and baseball at South Grand Prairie High School in Texas, missed playing organized sports during his freshmen year at OU.

“It’s one of the best workouts I’ve ever done and I missed being part of a team and competing,” Rustenhaven said.

Aside from the rowers, coaches and others involved with the program have experience on the water.

Robin Urquhart works at the Chesapeake boathouse. Urquhart teaches basics and is a coxswain for a corporate program. Urquhart is also a coxswain for one of the men’s crew teams and unlike her Chesapeake boathouse duties; Urquhart doesn’t receive anything for her services with the crew team.

“I compete with the crew team because I love rowing and being in charge of the boat,” Urquhart said.

The team competed in their first regatta in Oklahoma City this weekend and will travel to Austin, Texas and Wichita, KS for their final two later this semester. The fall season is composed of 2.5 mile, 5000 meter, and 4000 meter races while the spring events are made up of 2000 and 500-meter sprints.

Map of the Head of Oklahoma regatta on the Oklahoma City River. Map courtesy of oklahomariverevents.org