Local residents will be cheering for Tyler Loree from Kula, Maui when he makes his start on Thursday in the First Round of the 2025 Sony Open in Hawaii. The Seabury Hall senior who will join UCLA's Men's Golf Team after graduation,won the Hawaii State Golf Association's local amateur qualifying tournament last November at Waialae Country Club.
Hawaii will also be represented by PGA TOUR pro Chan Kim, a Kaimuki High School alum. Meanwhle, PGA TOUR rookie Ricky Castillo who has family and friends flying in from Kauai to watch him make his season start always wears his trademark puka shell necklace in honor of his grandmother, a huge supporter of his golf career. During Ricky's childhood, his father, Mark, took the family to Hawaii where they visited an old sugar cane plantation where Mark’s grandparents – immigrants from the Philippines and Japan – lived and worked. "My grandma brought it back for me from Kauai when I was probably five or six years old. I've basically worn -- maybe not this one, but I've worn some type of puka shell necklace since I was five or six years old. I just don't take it off. Feels like she's a part of me, with me wherever I go"
Photo courtesy Andrew Lee.
