When it comes to women assuming major leadership roles in Colorado golf organizations — ones traditionally held by men — the last five years have marked a seismic shift in the landscape.

— In 2014, Leslie Core-Drevecky became the first female president of the Colorado PGA.

— A year ago, when the CGA and CWGA joined forces and became one organization, Juliet Miner and Joe McCleary agreed to serve one year as co-presidents of the CGA, with Miner becoming the first female president of the association.

— This fall, Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee Janet Moore was chosen the new president of that organization. Moore is a five-time winner of the CGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship.

— Also this fall, Molly Greenblatt was selected chairperson of the board for the Colorado Open Golf Foundation, which adminsters the CoBank Colorado Open Championships and The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch. Greenblatt earned low-amateur honors in the 1999 Colorado Women’s Open.

— On a national level, last month Suzy Whaley became the first female president of the PGA of America.

— Then last week, Janene Guzowski (pictured) was elected president of the CGA’s volunteer board of directors, becoming the first woman to hold that position outright. It was just over two years ago that Guzowski and Tracy Zabel became the first women to serve on the CGA board. Before the CGA and the CWGA started down the road of integrating — at the behest of the USGA — “we were operating under the understanding with the CWGA that if there were any talented women that were being considered, the CWGA would sure appreciate the opportunity to have them join their board,” CGA executive director Ed Mate said. “And that would happen a lot. We’d have a woman we thought highly of, and we’d steer that individual to the CWGA.”

But nowadays, with the boards of the CGA and CWGA having merged a year ago, roughly 40 percent of the CGA board in 2018 were women. That will remain true in 2019. And next year, three members of the Executive Committee will be women, with Guzowski joined by Dana Murray (secretary) and Miner (past president). To see the CGA’s 2018 volunteer leadership, CLICK HERE.

Asked her impression of women taking more leadership roles in Colorado golf, Guzowski said, “It’s a phenomenon, and to me it represents what happened last year with the historic merger of the CGA and the CWGA. Women are coming forward and people are giving us a chance to show everybody what we can do with golf in Colorado. It’s not strictly a man’s world anymore with golf or anything else for that matter. For us it’s an amazing growth and coming together in Colorado golf.”

The CGA has obviously experienced major changes over the last year, and Mate is among those who see the selection of Guzowski as the association’s new president as ideal in several respects.

“We have a lot of positive momentum with the integration and we just want to continue that as we have a lot of work yet to be done,” Mate said. “Having a strong, positive leader like Janene, it became obvious she was the right choice. This was the decision of the Nominating Committee, chaired by Doak Jacoway. They looked at the talent and looked at the situation and what does the organization need right now, and Janene was the clear, head-and-shoulders choice for the job at this point in time.

“She has the right set of skills. She personable. She loves caddies; that’s been her passion. The work she does with the Western Golf Association (which administers the Evans Scholarship for caddies) is also part of our mission. She was the right person at the right time.”

Though McCleary ended up serving three years as CGA president/co-president — while Miner did two as CWGA president and one as CGA co-president — traditionally CGA presidents have served two consecutive one-year terms. That was the case for every president from 2000 through 2015, and likely will be true for Guzowski as well.

“I hope to take us into the new year strong,” said Guzowski, a resident of the Cherry Creek area of Denver who belongs to Lakewood Country Club and Frost Creek in Eagle and owns a 15 handicap. “The committee chairs are all picked and they’re all off and running. I have some big shoes to fill after Joe and Juliet. I have four huge shoes to fill. They were instrumental in bringing the CGA and the CWGA together and they’ve led strongly and wonderfully through the process. I’m looking forward to taking what they have done and running with it.”

Guzowski, a graduate of Southern Methodist University who sells the Carlisle clothing line, is certainly no stranger to being in golf leadership roles on boards traditionally dominated by men. As mentioned, she was one of the first two women on the CGA board. She was also the first female director in Colorado for the WGA, joining that organization in 2011. In addition, she was the first female chairperson of the caddie committee at Lakewood Country Club.

“She’s the most likeable person,” Mate said of Guzowski. “She made it so comfortable for everybody. Let’s be honest: There’s a patriarchal culture, but she came in and didn’t miss a beat (in the WGA role). Now there are more women being considered for director’s positions around the country, and she was a pioneer in that respect.”

Guzowski also has served on the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame board since 2015.

As Guzowski begins her term as the CGA president, we conducted a Q&A with her last week. Here’s some of that conversation:

Q: How does it feel to be one of first women to become president of the CGA?

Janene Guzowski: “Of course, I’m honored and I’m humbled. I’m looking forward to leading the united group (after the merger of the CGA and the CWGA) and serving golf in Colorado for all people. I’m just thrilled. It’s going to be a learning experience for all of us.”

Q: Whenever you were first approached about possibly taking the role as president, what compelled to say yes?

JG: “I didn’t say yes right away. I was first of all very stunned. I understand the reason why they have asked me. I needed to see what kind of time commitment was involved, which is a lot. I’m approaching it as a full-time unpaid job. It already is. I had to think about it, talk to my husband (Alan). I have an 82-year-old gorgeous mother who I spend a lot of time with. I assume it’s going to take some time away from everybody — friends, family — and I wanted to make sure that it was OK with everybody.

“Of course, I was honored and flattered. I feel I can do a good job and do what they’ve asked me to do and expect me to do — and I’m excited to go forward.”

Q: What are your priorities for your time as president?

JG: “We’re introducing our new branding, our new logo, which is amazing. That will all come out at the end of January, and I look forward to representing that logo and getting it out there for people to look at and know what it stands for. I’d like to work with a lot more women’s groups and getting more women involved with the CGA. I’d like to have tournaments that serve a broader range of mainly men — a handicap or flighted tournament for a golfer of any handicap, which we don’t have right now with the CGA. Women have all kinds of (those types of) tournaments, but there aren’t any for the men. I’d like to see if we can get one of those tournaments implemented (possibly for 2020 or 2021). I’d like to have a co-ed tournament sponsored by the CGA open to all level of players as well. Those are some top issues for me.”

Q: Caddies are close to your heart. Will that be another priority for you, whether it be the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course or the Evans Scholarship at CU or whatever the case may be?

JG: “I’ve been on the caddie committee at Lakewood Country Club for 18 years. I chaired the committee for five years on and off. Next year will be my ninth year on the board of directors for the WGA. I’ve work with the Solich Caddie Academy kids. I was the chairman of the Caddie Development Committee for the CGA. All that will continue. It’s all near and dear to my heart.

“I was put on the caddie committee at Lakewood Country Club 18 years ago and watching these 13- and 14-year-old children — they’re children at the time — being trained to be a caddie, trained to talk to adults, trained to get up and be at a job at 6:30 in the morning … These kids are trained to be accountable and to have a future job throughout high school and perhaps college. Watching these kids grow and mature, talking to them about the Evans Scholarship and the possibility of getting full-ride tuition at CU, it changes children into adults and it’s an amazing thing to see. I’ve enjoyed it and will continue to enjoy it. I enjoy training caddies (left), I take caddies, I keep in touch with caddies. It’s going to continue to be a big thing for me. One of my favorite things that Ed Mate always says is the ‘C’ in CGA stands as much for caddies as it does for Colorado. That’s perhaps one of the reasons I became so involved so quickly because I have that same love that Ed does.”

Q: Having been on the CGA board, how do you think the integration of the CGA and CWGA has gone?

JG: “It could not have gone better. Joe and Juliet are now almost best friends. They got along so famously. I love Juliet’s analogy of a marriage. She gave up her name, her bank account, she moved. The CGA offered the CWGA so much in return for what they gave up. Golf in Colorado is going to be so much better for everybody. The Colorado Golf Association is all people, all ages — women, kids, men, people of all backgrounds and all inclusive of golf — whereas it wasn’t in the previous years.”

Q: What’s been your experience like since joining the CGA board in September 2016?

JG: “I think it’s one of the best boards I’ve ever served on. I think the Colorado Golf Association is the best golf association in the United States if you ask me — not that I’ve served on other ones. But in comparison to other boards I sit on, it’s organized and it runs smoothly. The staff … Ed Mate is amazing as our executive director. Meetings are run efficiently and timely. The issues that are brought up are important for golf in the state of Colorado. The talent on the board itself, there’s so much talent that can be tapped. I hope to do that as well; I hope to bring out the best in every person on the board, to get them involved in volunteering. There are so many smart, intelligent, talented people to work with. It’s thrilling.”
 

The Evans Cup of Colorado raises money for the Evans Scholarship for caddies, and Western Golf Association board member and director and state chairman Geoff “Duffy” Solich said he estimates that Monday’s event will net about $165,000 for the cause, a notable increase from last year.

The University of Colorado has been home to an Evans Scholars house since the 1960s, and many of the 59 current CU Evans Scholars (left) attended the festivities at DCC.

A total of 28 foursomes played at Denver Country Club, with 150 people attending the dinner.

Golf resort developer Mike Keiser, the founder and owner of Bandon Golf Resort in southern Oregon and a major supporter of the Evans Scholars, was the keynote speaker on Monday and also participated in a Sunday night dinner fundraising event. Keiser has been inducted into the WGA-administered Caddie Hall of Fame for promoting the use of caddies and their role in golf. He’s been a WGA director since 2007 and has played a key role in developing strategies have have substantially increased fundraising for the Evans Scholarship.

As Keiser said at his Hall of Fame induction in 2014, “Caddying is the best job a teenager can have. You learn about golf but you also learn a lot about life, what it takes to be successful and what it means to work hard.”

All in all, Monday proved another very successful gathering in support of the Evans Scholarship.

“It was a great event and having Mr. Keiser there made it very special,” Solich said in an email.

The Evans Cup of Colorado dates back to the early 1980s, when it was founded as the Par Club Tournament. The full tuition and housing Evans Scholarship is awarded to high-achieving caddies with limited financial means, The WGA, which adminsters the Evans Scholarship, has long partnered with the CGA in supporting the scholarship at CU.

All told nationwide, 985 Evans Scholars are currently enrolled at 18 universities.

The next Evans Cup of Colorado event is scheduled for Oct. 14, 2019 at Castle Pines Golf Club.
 

It was a nice bit of symmetry for Randall Thompson.

Two weeks ago, he was among those in attendance at Denver Country Club for an Evans Scholars Selection Meeting, helping interview the caddies who were finalists for the college scholarship.

Fifty years earlier, Thompson was on the other side of the questioning. He also was a finalist for the Evans Scholarship at a Selection Meeting at Denver Country Club. The difference was, back then in the late 1960s, Thompson remembers about 15 people attended the meeting, whereas this year it was about 110.

Either way, the stakes were high. Thompson went on to earn the full tuition and housing scholarship. And it was recently announced that a dozen current Colorado caddies have landed Evans Scholarships, with most destined to live at the house Thompson once did — 1029 Broadway in Boulder — and going to school at the University of Colorado beginning in the fall.

Nowadays, an Evans Scholarship is estimated to be worth $100,000 if renewed for four years.

The scholarship will “not make A difference in my life, but THE difference,” noted Oswaldo Morales, one of the fortunate 12 recipients from Colorado.

The brainchild of Charles “Chick” Evans, winner of a U.S. Open and two U.S. Amateurs, the scholarship dates back to 1930 and has produced more than 10,600 alums nationwide at 19 universities, including over 460 at CU since the 1960s.

A total of about 965 Evans Scholars are currently enrolled across the country, including a record 62 starting this school year at CU. It’s estimated that 275 scholarships will be awarded nationwide this cycle.

The Illinois-based Western Golf Association/Evans Scholars Foundation, which administers the Evans Scholarship, recently announced the new recipients from Colorado.

The WGA has long partnered with the CGA in supporting the scholarship in Colorado. The Evans Scholarship, awarded to high-achieving caddies with significant financial need, is a flagship program for the CGA. With bag-tag sales and Par Club contributions, Colorado donors fully fund the year-to-year scholarship costs at the CU Evans Scholars house.

To qualify for an Evans Scholarship — one of the nation’s largest privately funded scholarship programs — applicants must have excellent caddie records and academic results, show strong character and leadership, and demonstrate financial need. Thirty-two Coloradans applied for the Evans Scholarship this school year.

This year’s class of Colorado Evans Scholarship recipients includes eight young men and four young women. Currently, about one-quarter of CU Evans Scholars are women. Of the dozen, two each caddied at Cherry Hills Country Club, Lakewood Country Club and the Roaring Fork Club in Basalt. A record-tying four incoming Scholars started caddying at the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy — at either CommonGround Golf Course or Meridian Golf Club. The Academy has produced 17 Evans Scholars since debuting in 2012.

Overall, the incoming group has averaged a 3.8 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale in high school and 116 caddie loops. Seven are members of the National Honor Society. Two will receive three-year scholarships as they’re currently college freshmen. Two are classmates at Basalt High School.

Here are the 12 new Evans Scholars from Colorado:

— Payton Brown of Denver, (Denver) East High School. Caddied at Denver Country Club.

— George Conway of Centennial, Cherry Creek HS. Caddied at Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at Meridian Golf Club.

— Kaia Dameron of Lakewood, Bear Creek HS (2017 graduate). Caddied at Lakewood Country Club. Is a freshman at the University of Denver.

— Isabell Deak of Colorado Springs, Air Academy HS. Caddied at Broadmoor Golf Club and at Seattle Golf Club.

— Anderson Gillmore of Broomfield, (Westminster) Academy of Charter Schools. Caddied at Lakewood Country Club. The younger brother of current Evans Scholar Jordan Gillmore.

— Kyndall Hadley of Centennial, Smoky Hill HS. Caddied at Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course and at Cherry Hills Country Club.

— Oswaldo Morales of Basalt, Basalt HS. Caddied at Roaring Fork Club.

— Cole Prins of Highlands Ranch, Mountain Vista HS (2017 graduate). Caddied at Colorado Golf Club. Is a freshman at University of Colorado-Denver.

— Vincent Scarato of Broomfield, Homeschooled. Caddied at Cherry Hills Country Club.

— Samuel (Alex) Seibert of Basalt, Basalt HS. Caddied at Roaring Fork Club.

— Helina Seyoum of Denver, Bishop Machebeuf HS. Caddied at Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course.

— Quincy Slaughter of Aurora, Aurora Central HS. Caddied at Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course and at Sankaty Head Golf Club in Nantucket, Mass.

All but Hadley (Northwestern) are planning to attend CU.

Among those in attendance for the Selection Meeting at Denver Country Club on Jan. 18 were John Kaczkowski, WGA president and CEO, and new WGA chairman Frank Morley, along with numerous WGA directors and staffers. Many staff members and volunteer leaders from the CGA were also on hand, in addition to plenty of Evans Scholars alums.

“Each of these deserving Evans Scholars epitomizes what our program has been about since its creation in 1930,” Morley said in a WGA release. “Their dedication, hard work and sacrifice is humbling, and we are honored to be able to help them pursue their dreams.”

Evans Scholars have proven to be very high achievers in college, averaging a 3.3 GPA and a 95 percent graduation rate.

Over the last 88 years, the Evans Scholarship has provided more than $365 million worth of tuition and housing to caddies. The annual scholarship costs for Evans Scholars run about $20 million.

This month’s Evans Scholars Selection Meeting was the ninth of an anticipated 20 that will be held nationwide during this academic year. 

For those interested in donating to the Evans Scholars Foundation, CLICK HERE.

The Evans Scholarship for caddies is one of golf’s favorite charities, but things didn’t look very good a decade ago for the part of the program based at the University of Colorado.

The house at 1029 Broadway in Boulder (left) has been the home of the CU Evans Scholars since the 1960s. For the great majority of the half-century since, the norm has been 40-50 caddies living at the house any given school year, receiving full tuition and housing scholarships at CU.

But for the three school years beginning in 2005-06, the numbers at the CU Evans Scholars house dipped below 30 for the first time since the building was purchased in November 1968 to house the caddies.

There were just 28 CU Evans Scholars in 2005-06, 27 in 2006-07 and 29 in 2007-08. The long-term health of the Colorado chapter was in question, and it’s not unprecedented for the Illinois-based Western Golf Association, which administers the scholarship nationwide, to close an Evans Scholars house if things aren’t working out.

“I think I was” worried when the numbers of CU Scholars dropped into the 20s, said Geoff “Duffy” Solich, a CU Evans Scholar alum and now the WGA’s state chairman for Colorado. “We thought at first it might have been an abberation, but that was concerning.”

But at that pivotal time, instead of things going south to the point of no return for the CU Evans Scholars, the situation rebounded — and in a major way. And now, due to a variety of reasons, the number of Evans Scholars at CU starting this school year was a record 62, with three-quarters of them having caddied in Colorado.

That means that in the course of a decade, the caddies based at the house have more than doubled.

“I am really excited about the growth of the program in Colorado and especially excited about the quality of young men and women we are seeing as finalists,” George Solich, who played a key role in the turnaround on several fronts, said via email. “The need is greater than ever, so our ability to change more lives through the Evans Scholarship is rewarding beyond words.  From a community-living standpoint, the energy, enthusiasm and quality of experience for the kids is so much greater when the Scholarship house is bursting at the seams.”

The WGA has long partnered with the CGA in supporting the scholarship at CU. The Evans Scholarship, awarded to high-achieving caddies with significant financial need, is a flagship program for the CGA. Through the association’s bag-tag sales and Par Club contributions, Colorado donors fully fund the year-to-year scholarship costs at the CU Evans Scholars house.

With the soaring cost of college, it’s now estimated that the scholarship is worth an average of $100,000 if renewed for four years.

To qualify for an Evans Scholarship, applicants must have excellent caddie records and academic results, show strong character and leadership, and demonstrate financial need.

Last week, more than 100 people — including alums, many representatives of the CGA and WGA, and other supporters of the program — interviewed finalists for the incoming class of Scholars at Denver Country Club. Coincidentally, that’s where scholarship founder Charles “Chick” Evans won one of his Western Amateurs, in 1912, before later capturing titles in the U.S. Amateur (twice) and the U.S. Open. Nationwide, the Evans Scholarship dates back to 1930 and has produced more than 10,600 alums.

Thirty-two Colorado caddies applied for the scholarship this time around.

Among the reasons the number of Evans Scholars at CU (some of whom are pictured at left) has surged in the last decade are:

— The creation of the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy, starting at the CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course. The program is named after the aforementioned Solich brothers, George and Duffy, both CU alums and longtime major supporters of the program. The Academy, now with chapters at CommonGround, Meridian Golf Club and in Grand Junction, has produced more than 7,000 caddie loops over the last six years, as well as plenty of Evans Scholars.

— The WGA’s long-stated goal of reaching 1,000 Evans Scholars in school nationwide by 2020. The figure for this school year is 965, who are attending 19 universities around the country, with scholarship costs reaching $20 million annually. Nationwide, Evans Scholars are a high-achieving bunch, averaging a 3.3 grade-point average and a 95 percent graduation rate.

— The creation of a staff position at the CGA dedicated to caddie devolopment and recruitment, initially funded by George Solich. Erin Gangloff and Emily Olson have both played key roles at the CGA in that regard over the last decade.

— The $6 million expansion and renovation of the CU Evans Scholars house, which was completed early in 2016 under the guidance of project manager Rick Polmear, a University of Michigan Evans Scholars alum. The project added about 2,000 square feet of finished space, making room for roughly 10 additional Scholars to live there. “We call it a house that’s better than new,” said Jeff Harrison, the WGA’s senior vice president of education.

— Concerted effort by WGA directors in Colorado, including former state chairman Bob Webster and his successor, Duffy Solich, to identify and bring forward qualified candidates for the Scholarship, and to build support for the program financially and otherwise.

— And, of course, as a practical matter, the rebound in the economy following the Great Recession that hit almost 10 years ago. That’s helped money flow much more readily into the program, not only in Colorado but nationwide.

“In my view, the growth (of the number of CU Evans Scholars) is due to several factors,” George Solich noted. “First, our focus at the CGA on developing and promoting strong caddie programs throughout the state is starting to pay off. Second, it is undeniable the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy is reaching high-performing inter-city kids that are proving to be very deserving of an Evans Scholarship. These young men and women in many cases would have never stepped foot on a golf course without this program at CommonGround Golf Course and now Meridian Golf Club. Now we have (many) kids from this program earning a full tuition and housing scholarship to CU.

“And finally, with our partnership with CU Boulder, the CU Evans Scholarship house has become a truly national house with approximately 20 percent of those Scholars coming from out of state. This makes for such a rich and diverse mix of Scholars, making the Colorado Chapter more like the university demographic as a whole — kids from all over the country.”

CGA co-president Joe McCleary has been a longtime supporter of the Evans Scholarship and of the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy. He was among those in attendance at the selection meeting last week at Denver Country Club.

“The relationship the Colorado Golf Association has with the Evans Scholars and the creation of the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy made a real difference,” he said. “That was one of the goals of the Academy: to generate candidates who could fill those scholarship spots at the house. Just like anything, it takes a group of people to get things done, and that’s what’s happened. It is an incredible milestone, and it makes the difference in a lot of lives.”

Janene Guzowski serves on the Executive Committee of the CGA Board of Directors, chairs the CGA Caddie Development Committee and has been a WGA director for roughly eight years.

“There’s so much more awareness about the scholarship now through all of the work of (Olson and Gangloff),” Guzowski said. “Regarding kids at the house, they can have that many more with the remodel. I’ve been a (WGA) director eight years and it’s tended to grow and grow and grow. They started bringing in kids from other states and that helped fill the house and diversify it.”

After going sub-30 in the number of CU Evans Scholars, the total returned to the 40-plus mark in 2010-11, then reached 51 in 2015-16. Since then, it’s jumped to 57 last school year and to 62 this one.

Kevin Laura, the current CEO of The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch and of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation, served as president of the CGA in 2006-07. Given that, and also being a CU Evans Scholar alum, he finds the doubling in the number of CU Evans Scholars over the last decade to be a job well done in many respects.

“What I like the most is when we hit that bottom number (of less than 30 CU Evans Scholars), we didn’t sit there and sulk about it,” he said. “We almost kind of absorbed it. We not only doubled our efforts but quadrupled them by increasing the number of (WGA) directors that are supportive (and encouraged) more golf clubs and caddie programs to be more supportive. George (Solich) and Bob (Webster) went back to the university saying we’ve got to bring back that out-of-state (Scholar) element and figuring out how to do that affordably (tuition-wise). And obviously the house being (expanded).”

The CU Evans Scholars program now has more than 460 alums dating back to the 1960s, and it looks like that number will be reaching the 500 mark in the near future.

“I think the longevity of the house in Colorado is more secure based on having 62 kids up there rather than 30,” Duffy Solich said. “And it’s better for the kids to have more people there.”
 

There are many people who deserve credit for nurturing the Evans Scholarship for caddies at the University of Colorado over the last 50-plus years. But if you’re looking for the people truly responsible for building the foundation for the program in the 1960s, a good place to start is a photograph that appeared in the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper on Sunday, March 9, 1969.

That day, the paper devoted a full page to the March 6, 1969 dedication of what was then known as the Eisenhower-Evans Chapter House for the CU Evans Scholars at 1029 Broadway in Boulder.

One of the photos the newspaper ran to accompany the story was of three gentlemen who presided over the festivities that day: Richard Campbell, the president of the CGA; M.H. “Sonny” Brinkerhoff, the CGA’s chapter house committee chairman; and Dr. Homer McClintock, the scholarship chairman of the CGA. (A reproduction of that Daily Camera photo is below, with, from left, Brinkerhoff, Campbell and McClintock.)

Which brings us to an ongoing effort by a CU Evans Scholar alum — who wishes to remain anonymous — and his wife to remember and honor those “founding fathers” of the caddie scholarship program at CU. The full tuition and housing Evans Scholarship — now worth an average $100,000 if renewed for four years — is awarded to high-achieving caddies with limited financial means. About 965 Evans Scholars are currently in school nationwide, including 62 at CU. Evans Scholars alumni number 10,617, dating back to the 1930s, including 462 from CU.

That aforementioned CU E.S. alum, who was among those on hand during that dedication of the CU Evans Scholars House in 1969, established “Endowed Named Scholarships” at CU through the Illinois-based Evans Scholars Foundation in the names of Campbell and Brinkerhoff almost six years ago. Both Campbell and Brinkerhoff have been inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and they and McClintock are all CGA Governors Emeritus.

When recently learning about the considerable role McClintock also played — through reading McClintock’s obituary following the doctor’s recent death just shy of his 100th birthday — the alum decided to fund another Endowed Named Scholarship. He did so through the ESF and the Western Golf Association, which adminsters the scholarship nationwide in partnership with state/regional golf associations such as the CGA and CWGA. Through CGA and CWGA bag-tag sales and Par Club contributions, Colorado donors fully fund the year-to-year scholarship costs of the CU Evans Scholars.

Each Endowed Named Evans Scholarship is started with a donation of $125,000, which provides interest to fund the scholarship on an ongoing basis. The people who donate are told who are the designated recipients of Endowed Named Scholarships. For instance, Michael O’Hearne is the Brinkerhoff ENS and fellow CU Evans Scholar Charles Smith is the Campbell ENS.

The WGA said there are about 200 Endowed Named Scholars nationwide, with McClintock being the seventh from CU.

As for his reason for funding scholarships in the names of Campbell, Brinkerhoff and McClintock — all of whom have passed away — the person responsible said, “I just think it’s good for all Colorado Scholars — and maybe all Scholars around the country — to know the history of one of the chapter houses.

“I knew Sonny and Dick reasonably well. Both were really visible (in their ongoing support of the program at CU). They were at the house frequently, along with Homer. I didn’t know Homer well, if at all. I knew the name and of his involvement. His contribution was huge to what was then the Eisenhower-Evans Scholarship program.”

One of the people who is especially appreciative of the donor’s motives is CGA executive director Ed Mate. Not only does Mate see it from the perspective of the staff leader of an organization which devotes considerable resources to support the Evans Scholarship, but he is a former CU Evans Scholar himself. And he caddied at Denver Country Club, where Campbell was a longtime member. (Both Brinkerhoff and McClintock were members at Cherry Hills Country Club.)

“I was a history major,” Mate said. “I appreciate history at least as much as most. It’s really fitting to honor these individuals that are key founding fathers of the Evans Scholarship at CU. Endowed Scholarships create opportunities to recognize them in perpetutiity so that they’re not forgotten.”

Campell (pictured at top with Evans Scholars Kevin Laura, Charlie Trafton, Terry Brynes and Bill Pierson during the mid-1980s) was the longest-serving president in CGA history, holding that volunteer position from 1961 to ’72. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1980. Campbell accomplished much during his years as president of the CGA, including helping orchestrate the association’s merger with the Denver District Golf Associaton, thus bringing all state championships under the CGA’s purview, and making handicaps and course ratings more uniform and accurate statewide. Campbell passed away in 1994.

In 1961, Campbell and the CGA established the Eisenhower Scholarship — after getting the OK from former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower — and awarding it to selected college-bound junior golfers and deserving caddies.

The CGA merged the Eisenhower Scholarship with the WGA’s Evans Scholarship for caddies in 1963, and for the next several years the Scholars were housed at various locales around campus. In November 1968 a house for the Eisenhower-Evans Scholars at CU was purchased for $89,000, with Campbell, Brinkerhoff and McClintock all playing key roles. (In an interesting golf-related tidbit, the Evans Scholars bought the five-level house previously occupied by the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, where future World Golf Hall of Famer Hale Irwin lived during the 1965-66 school year. The house, across the street from the university, was constructed during World War I and was completed in the spring of 1917.)

“Was it a mess,” the Evans Scholar alum who’s endowing the three founding father scholarships remembers concerning the condition of the house. “That house had rooms that were painted black. It was trashed. We (the Scholars) worked our butts off, cleaning and painting. We put a lot of elbow grease in.”

After it was brought up to speed, the dedication came on March 6, 1969. Attending the festivities that day were more than 100 people, including most of the 45 Scholars at the time, officials from the CGA, the WGA and CU, along with Scholar parents. In addition, the Selection Committee that day interviewed 20 applicants for Evans Scholarships.

From the 1960s to 2011, the scholars at CU were called Eisenhower-Evans Scholars. But since 2011, the scholarship at CU has been known as the Evans Scholarship, Eisenhower Chapter.

Like Campbell, Brinkerhoff served as president of the CGA, serving in that role in 1978 and ’79. A club president at Cherry Hills during the 1960s, Brinkerhoff for almost a quarter-century oversaw the maintenance and improvement projects at the house on behalf of the WGA and CGA. During his time as CGA president, Brinkerhoff played a key role in the smooth separation of adminstrative functions between the CGA and the Colorado PGA. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2006. A longtime prominent figure in the oil and gas business, Brinkerhoff died in late 2011 at age 91.

“I remember they were replacing the carpet out at Cherry Hills, and Sonny arranged while I was in school to have the good parts of the carpet they took up at Cherry Hills put into the Scholars house,” the donor said. “It was essentially new carpet from Sonny scavenging for us. We thought it was great. I was just a young kid and probably a little in awe of these older, successful businessmen.”

McClintock, a longtime neurosurgeon after serving as a Navy physician in the Pacific during World War II, was a member of the CGA Board of Governors from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, a time when the association was greatly expanding its reach and services. In addition, he was the club president at Cherry Hills in 1963 and ’64, and in 1977, and received a lifetime membership in the Colorado PGA in 1977.

While McClintock did plenty in golf, the Evans Scholarship held a special place in his heart, as he indicated in an interview last year. Not surprisingly, when McClintock passed away in October, the family asked that in lieu of flowers, donations in McClintock’s memory be made to the Evans Scholarship, care of the CGA. (McClintock’s grandson, Keane, is a CU Evans Scholar after caddying at Cherry Hills.)

“The Evans Scholars program is really good, and it was run in the best way possible,” Homer McClintock told coloradogolf.org last year. “The selection meetings (in which scholarship finalists are interviewed) are always very interesting, understanding what some of these kids have gone through to get the scholarship. It’s fascinating and unbelievable.

“It’s such a great opportunity (for caddies). They don’t just get tuition, but they become part of a program that’s great.”

The E.S. alum endowing the CU scholarships knows that Campbell, Brinkerhoff and McClintock all dealt with many other golf-related issues besides the Evans Scholarship while serving on the CGA board, but the caddies were particulary important to them.

“I just don’t want people to forget these guys,” the alum said. “Much after the Scholars (of the 1980s), they don’t know really who we owe the Colorado program to. To my knowledge, it was those three. I’m sure there were other people involved, but these were great guys, dedicated to the program. They were interested in all things CGA, but you could tell their biggest interest was the Evans Scholars. That’s what they talked about most and thought about first.”

Nowadays, of course, others are mainstays in their support of the CU Evans Scholars. In fact, last year, 47 years after the initial dedication of the Evans Scholars house at CU, a re-dedication was held after a $6 million renovation and expansion was conducted on the house. That project was overseen by an Evans Scholar alum (from the University of Michigan), Rick Polmear, a former CGA president who, coincidentally, took over as de facto chapter house committee chairman in 1990 from Brinkerhoff.

Among the alums the CU Evans Scholars have produced over the decades are Colorado Golf Hall of Famers Tom Woodard and Mark Crabtree; brothers George and Geoff “Duffy” Solich, who lent their name to the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy; talk-show host and attorney Dan Caplis; Mate; retired Ernst & Young partner and business executive Rob Foss; former CGA president Kevin Laura, the CEO of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation and president of Green Valley Ranch Golf Club; businessman Randall Thompson; Terry Byrnes, vice president of total service for Caesars Entertainment; and Bob Webster, a former longtime WGA state chairman for Colorado.

All in all, it’s quite a legacy for these rightfully dubbed founding fathers of the CU Evans Scholars program.
 

The words “life-changing” are sometimes thrown around casually. But when people use them when speaking of the Evans Scholarship for caddies, they never seem to ring hollow.

Peter Evans, an Evans Scholar at the University of Colorado, recently put into words what thousands of Scholars have felt when they realize their good fortune in being awarded full tuition and housing to college thanks to the brainchild of Charles “Chick” Evans.

“It was a dream of Chick Evans,” Peter Evans noted in a recent speech at a CU Evans Scholars house function. “He believed in a bunch of poor caddies — and it turned out so well.”

And now, at least 12 more Colorado caddies will get to share in the experience, following in the footsteps of more than 10,400 Evans Scholars alums nationwide, plus roughly 935 currently in school. It’s now estimated that the scholarship is worth an average of more than $100,000 if renewed for four years.

On Monday, the Illinois-based Western Golf Association/Evans Scholars Foundation, which administers the Evans Scholarship, announced the new recipients from Colorado, who will begin school at CU in the fall semester. The finalists for the scholarship were interviewed by a group of about 130 people on Jan. 18 at a selection meeting at Cherry Hills Country Club, home to the largest caddie program in the state.

The WGA has long partnered with the CGA and CWGA in supporting the scholarship at CU. The Evans Scholarship, awarded to high-achieving caddies with significant financial need, is a flagship program for both the CGA and CWGA. Through CGA and CWGA bag-tag sales and Par Club contributions, Colorado donors fully fund the year-to-year scholarship costs at the CU Evans Scholars house.

To qualify for an Evans Scholarship, applicants must have excellent caddie records and academic results, show strong character and leadership, and demonstrate financial need.

The new recipients include 10 young men and two young women. Of the dozen, three caddied at Cherry Hills, three at Denver Country Club and two at Boulder Country Club. A record-tying four new Scholars started caddying at the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course before graduating to Denver CC or Cherry Hills CC. Four recipients reside in Aurora.

Overall, they’ve averaged a 3.625 grade-point average and a 27.4 ACT score. Six are members of the National Honor Society.
 
“Each of these deserving Evans Scholars epitomizes what our program has been about since its creation in 1930,” said WGA chairman David Robinson. “Their dedication, hard work and sacrifice is humbling, and we are honored to be able to help them pursue their dreams.”

Here’s the rundown of the dozen new Evans Scholars from Colorado:

— Ayanna Hwang of Aurora, Smoky Hill HS, caddied at Cherry Hills Country Club.

— Isaiah Monroe of Denver, Cherry Creek HS (2016 graduate), caddied at Cherry Hills Country Club. Was a freshman at Metropolitan State University of Denver in the fall.

— Ian Sevier Barrios of Aurora, Regis Jesuit HS, caddied at Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course and at Cherry Hills Country Club.

— Joshua Garcia of Denver (pictured at top), Faith Christian Academy, caddied at Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course and at Denver Country Club.

— Kalil Miles of Aurora, Aurora Central HS, caddied at Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course and at Denver Country Club.

— Madison Rivas of Aurora (left), Overland HS, caddied at Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course and at Denver Country Club.

— Quinton Kelly of Littleton, Dakota Ridge HS, caddied at Bear Creek Golf Club.

— Richard J. Biggs of Lakewood, Bear Creek HS, caddied at Lakewood Country Club.

— Dietrich Berning of Longmont, Silver Creek HS, caddied at Boulder Country Club.

— Elias King of Lafayette (below), Fairview HS, caddied at Boulder Country Club.

— J. Creek Kamby of Edwards, Battle Mountain HS, caddied at Country Club of the Rockies.

— Jack Cohan of Basalt, Aspen HS, caddied at Roaring Fork Club.

At least two of the above will be the first in their family to go to college.

The 12 averaged 112 caddie loops, with Cohan accumulating 200 and Barrios 180.

“Based on their excellence in the classroom and their service to their schools and communities, there is little doubt that these young men and women have earned this life-changing opportunity,” said John Kaczkowski, WGA president and CEO. “We welcome them to the Evans Scholars family.”

The Evans Scholarship, one of the nation’s largest privately funded scholarship programs, was established in 1930 by Chick Evans, winner of the 1916 U.S. Open and two U.S. Amateurs.

Nationwide, there are Evans Scholars at 20 universities, 15 which feature E.S. houses. The scholarship has produced 10,412 graduates, including about 450 from CU since the 1960s. Roughly 270 scholarships are expected to be awarded for the incoming class of 2017-18.

Over the last 87 years, the Evans Scholarship has provided more than $348 million worth of tuition and housing to caddies. The scholarship costs for Evans Scholars in 2016 were $17.6 million.

Evans Scholars typically excel academically, with a cumulative college GPA of 3.2, and a 95 percent graduation rate. In the fall semester, the CU Evans Scholars averaged a 3.3 GPA.Ӭ

For those interested in donating to the Evans Scholars Foundation, CLICK HERE.
 

Short and Sweet: This month’s Evans Scholars Selection Meeting was the ninth of an anticipated 15 that will be held nationwide during this academic year. The number of people in attendance at Cherry Hills — about 130 — was among the most for any selection meetings the WGA holds. … Among those in attendance at Cherry Hills was WGA president and CEO John Kaczkowski, along with numerous WGA directors, staff and supporters; Evans Scholar alums; several staffers and leaders from both the CGA and CWGA; and some head golf professionals and others from the Colorado golf industry. … Almost 60 caddies currently reside at the CU Evans Scholars house, with about a quarter being young women. The CU house underwent a $6 million renovation and expansion, with the project concluding a year ago… A record 780 caddies applied for the Evans Scholarship this academic year, including 34 in Colorado. … Former WGA chairman Jim Bunch, a Denver resident, recently was recognized for having served as a WGA director for 25 years.
 

It may be a coincidence that University of Colorado students Peter and Allie Evans and their family share their surname with Charles “Chick” Evans, but it seems altogether appropriate.

After all, founding the Evans Scholarship cemented the legacy of Chick Evans, who won a U.S. Open and two U.S. Amateurs, then created a scholarship that fully pays for college tuition and housing for high-achieving caddies with excellent grades, strong character and significant financial need. Over the last 87 years, more than 10,400 caddies have graduated through the program, including about 450 from CU.

And few, if any, families have seen the benefits of the Evans Scholarship more than that of Peter and Allie Evans (pictured above at the CU E.S. house).

You see, there are 13 siblings in the Evans family, and to date, seven (including Peter and Allie) have received the Evans Scholarship. Officials from the Evans Scholars Foundation/Western Golf Association, which administers the scholarship nationwide, say no records are kept regarding which family has produced the most Evans Scholars. But it’s safe to say that the Evanses are at — or near — the top of the list. And the family’s youngest sibling, a high school junior who has caddied at the WGA Caddie Academy in the Chicago area, will likely apply for the scholarship in the fall.

“One of my earliest memories is visiting my sister (Colleen) at the Marquette Evans house when I was probably 4 or 5 years old,” Peter said in a recent interview — along with younger sister Allie — at the CU Evans Scholar house. “It was a family tour day or family weekend or something. I definitely didn’t fully understand what the Evans Scholarship was, but I remember it being really cool visiting my sister Colleen. It was a fun, family thing.”

The annual Colorado-based Selection Meeting for the Evans Scholarship will be held this week at Cherry Hills Country Club, and within a couple of weeks thereafter the next new class of CU Evans Scholars will be announced.

If anyone can relate to what is at stake at such meetings — the latest information from the Evans Scholars Foundation reports that, nationally speaking, the average value of an Evans Scholarship if renewed for four years is $100,000 — it is the Evanses.

Their father caddied as a youngster and Allie said their mother indicated she had some distant relatives who attended Northwestern University on an Evans Scholarship. All but one of the Evans siblings caddied during their formative years, and roughly 10 of the 13 applied — or will apply — for the scholarship. Five have graduated from various universities thanks to the Evans Scholarship:

Colleen (2003 Marquette grad), a nurse practitioner.

Paul (2010 Illinois grad), a health consultant.

Joe (2014 Northwestern grad), who works in finance.

Kevin (2015 Northwestern grad), a health consultant and analyst.

Tim (2016 Marquette grad), a CPA-to be working with an acconting firm.

And now Peter and Allie are studying at a fourth E.S. university — CU — with Peter being a junior and Allie a freshman in Boulder. Two of the older Evans siblings — Paul and Dave — live in the Denver area.

“I don’t think any of us felt entitled to it,” Allie said of she and her siblings receiving the scholarship over the course of the last 20 years. “For me personally, I felt pressured to get it. It was very nerve-racking. But knowing about the scholarship your whole life and actually having it are completely different. I knew it was going to be good, but it’s definitely better than I ever thought it would be. … It’s a ridiculously incredible thing I’ve been given.

“It’s pretty crazy how many people (the ESF/WGA) have helped and how it continues to grow. It’s pretty impressive and it’s making a huge difference. I know there are people a lot less fortunate than I am (financially who have received the scholarship). It’s a huge deal for me, so I can’t even imagine how it is for people who literally have nothing to get college for free.”

Added Peter: “I don’t think (the good fortune of being awarded an Evans Scholarship) wears off for anyone. I feel very, very blessed and lucky to be here.”

After a $6 million renovation and expansion project that wrapped up a year ago, the CU Evans Scholar house is home to nearly 60 Scholars. Most of the Scholars at CU caddied at Colorado courses, but some come from out of state, primarily from the Chicago area. The Evans family originally lived in Illinois, but moved to Little Rock, Ark., in 2008. Five of the siblings received the scholarship after caddying at The Alotian Club in Roland, Ark., including Peter and Allie. (The older Evanses caddied at Inverness Golf Club in Palatine, Ill.)

The Illinois-based WGA has long partnered with the CGA and CWGA in supporting the scholarship at CU. Through CGA and CWGA bag-tag sales and Par Club contributions, Colorado donors fully fund the year-to-year scholarship costs at the CU Evans Scholars house.

Many siblings have received the Evans Scholarship over the years — both at CU and the other 19 universities that feature Evans Scholar programs. At CU, for instance, Jack Haake in the late 1970s and early 1980s was one of five siblings to have earned an Evans Scholarship, with his brothers going to Northwestern (2), Marquette (1) and Illinois (1).

But the Evanses have taken it to the next level.

“I know at my (selection) interview, there was a mention of, ‘Wow, it’s got to be a record,’ but I’ve never really looked into it,” Peter Evans noted. “It’s always been a cool thing where (almost) everyone in our family has caddied. You’re always happy for your siblings to see that their hard work has paid off.”

Peter and Allie Evans not only ended up as CU Evans Scholars together, but they’re additionally linked because Peter is the current vice president of new scholars at the house, while Allie is one of those new scholars. In other words, Peter has been responsible for seeing that Allie and the other E.S. newcomers start off on the right foot as Evans Scholars.

“If they’re not doing something well, I can always use the ‘I’m telling mom’ excuse,” Peter said with a chuckle.

Seriously, though, Peter, Allie and the other new Evans Scholars must have done something right as the newcomers posted an average GPA of 3.47 in their first semester in the program, which is one of the best academic averages in house history for an incoming class.

In some ways, things have come full circle for the Evanses. As youngsters, they grew up in a house with 13 kids and two parents.

“It was definitely crazy at times,” Peter said. “Growing up in Illinois especially, we got to know all of our family pretty well. We definitely had a lot of bunk beds and everything.”

And it wasn’t unusual for four or five kids at a time to to be caddying during the summer.

Nowadays, Peter and Allie are living in a house with roughly 60 people — again, with bunk beds and all.

And, of course, there are caddies everywhere.

“In high school I had the chance to visit my older brothers at Northwestern or at Marquette for a weekend or something,” Peter said. “I kind of got to see the friendships they had formed. It was a very tight-knit group and it seemed liked everyone got along really well, so I really bought in to the whole family aspect of the scholarship well before I even applied. I was definitely motivated all through high school to caddie a lot and study hard to get it.”

Not only did Peter receive the scholarship, but at Cherry Hills during the 2014 BMW Championship — a tournament that has all its proceeds go to the Evans Scholars — he was given the Chip Beck Evans Scholars Award, presented based on academic achievement, extracurricular activities and caddie record. TV golf analyst Gary McCord introduced Evans as the Beck award winner during a dinner at Cherry Hills.

“One thing that was really cool for me was caddying for the (Monday) donor day at the BMW Championship my freshman year,” Peter said. “No one in my family had done that before — been to a pro event — so that was really cool to see that. Everyone there was passionate about giving back to the scholarship. The fact that that whole tournament is for the benefit of the scholarship is really cool. It showed for me that everyone is very impressed and enamored by what the scholarship has to offer, including big-name golfers. Regular spectators at the tournament, if they heard I was an Evans Scholar, they would talk to me for like 15 minutes and were very excited.”

And that excitement translates into ongoing opportunities for Evans Scholars — whether they’re named Evans or not.
 

About 180 people attended the dinner program and 116 golfers played in the tournament, which dates back to the early 1980s, which it was founded as the Par Club Tournament.

Forty-seven current University of Colorado Evans Scholars, who benefit from the Evans Cup of Colorado, helped out at Monday’s event, and some recent alums of the program also lended a hand. The CGA, a major supporter of the Evans Scholarship, had some of its staff assist as well.

Joe Ellis, the president and CEO of the Denver Broncos, was the keynote speaker at the dinner, doing a Q&A with local TV sports anchor Vic Lombardi.

The Broncos organization brought the Lombardi Trophy, awarded to the team for winning the Super Bowl in February, to the Evans Cup. Many of the attendees used the opportunity to have photos taken with the trophy, including the CU Evans Scholars (pictured).

The full tuition and housing Evans Scholarship is awarded to high-achieving caddies with limited financial means.
 

Joe Ellis, president and CEO of the Denver Broncos, will be the keynote speaker at the dinner program that follows the noon shotgun start. There will be photo opportunities with the Lombardi Trophy the Broncos won at the Super Bowl in February.

Current and former Evans Scholars are expected to be on hand during the day on Oct. 3. The full tuition and housing Evans Scholarship is awarded to high-achieving caddies with limited financial means. Proceeds from the Evans Cup of Colorado support the Evans Scholars Foundation.

A silent auction also will be held as part of the festivities.

The Oct. 3 tournament will be a qualifier for the 2017 BMW U.S. Final, with the top team finisher in the two-person best-ball format earning a spot in the event at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

For pricing and registration information for the Evans Cup, including an option to attend the dinner program only, CLICK HERE.

For more information, contact Courtney Fields at 224-260-3788 or fields@wgaesf.org.