WORLD CHAMPION – GOLF

Born on O’ahu and raised in Kaneohe, Dean Wilson was a “late-comer” to golf taking up the sport about age 12 when he asked his mother to take him to a golf course. He immediately fell in love with the game and set a goal to become a professional golfer on the PGA Tour.

Dean participated and excelled in Hawaii’s junior golf program and made Castle High School’s golf team. He worked part-time at a golf club repair shop where he learned how the equipment worked. Each club in his bag had a different head: Spalding, Wilson, Top-Flite, etc. and still his scores beat his opponents.

As a high school senior with limited playing experience, the only collegiate offer was a scholarship from BYU-Hawaii, which ended its program after Dean’s first year. With the encouragement of his coach he went to BYU’s main campus in Utah and made the team as a walk-on, something that is rarely done.