Considering he was receiving a golf-related award on Sunday evening, Armando Duarte didn’t used to have the most positive attitude about the game.

“Before I started (caddying), I never knew anything about golf,” the 15-year-old sophomore from Regis Jesuit High School said. “I thought golf was the most boring sport ever. Now, I’m back to playing it. I tried out for my high school team. I didn’t make it but I’m still playing. I think it’s a great thing to do. I got all that from caddying.”

And, specifically, from doing so as part of the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy, which on Sunday celebrated its seventh season with an awards barbecue at CommonGround Golf Course, the CGA-owned facility where the Academy started in 2012.

Over the seven golf seasons since, the Solich Academy has put together some impressive numbers:

— Now with three sites for the program around the state — CommonGround, Meridian Golf Club in Englewood and Lincoln Park/Tiara Rado in Grand Junction — the Academy has produced more than 8,500 caddie loops over the seven years. That includes a record total of more than 1,500 in 2018, with 46 caddies participating. There were 888 loops at CommonGround, 419 at Meridian and 215 in Grand Junction.

— This fall, a record-tying four Solich Academy caddies became Evans Scholars — three at the University of Colorado and one at Northwestern — after being awarded the full tuition and housing scholarship earlier in 2018. All told, 17 Solich kids have earned Evans Scholarships, almost all at CU.

— Then there are the 10 key elements of the “Code of the West”, which are key parts of the “leadership” aspect of the Solich Academy: 1) Live each day with courage; 2) Take pride in your work; 3) Always finish what you start; 4) Do what has to be done; 5) Be tough, but fair; 6) When you make a promise, keep it; 7) Ride for the brand; 8) Talk less and say more; 9) Remember that some things aren’t for sale; 10) Know where to draw the line.

— And on Sunday, at the season-ending awards barbecue at CommonGround, nearly 150 people showed up for the festivities — caddies, their families, and supporters and organizers of the program.

That included one of the two people who lent their name and foundational support to the Solich Academy — brothers George and Geoff (Duffy) Solich. Both caddied themselves as teenagers — at The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs — and subsequently were awarded Evans Scholarships at CU. They’ve long been successful Colorado-based oilmen and philanthropists.

“What always stands out to me is the family support these kids have,” Duffy Solich said after Sunday’s festivities. “It’s really cool to see all these people here.”

Indeed, the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy continues to blossom. The program promotes the use of caddies by paying their base fees through an educational grant, with participating golfers having the option of adding a tip.

And, as noted earlier, there’s also a hearty leadership aspect to the Academy. Each youngster who participates not only caddies but is required to attend weekly leadership classes and do community-service work each summer.

“I think it’s an amazing program,” said CGA co-president Joe McCleary, who has regularly helped train some of the Solich Academy caddies over the years. “It’s just a great program for the kids. It provides a lot of learning opportunities and I think it’ll make a difference in their lives.

“I’ve said it before: The golf course (at CommonGround) is a laboratory for a variety of programs, and this is one of those perfect programs that fits right into the laboratory.”

And that lab has produced kids like Duarte, who on Sunday was named “Caddie Leader of the Year” at CommonGround for 2018.

“I get discipline out of the program,” he said. “This is pretty much a first job for a teenager like me. It teaches us how it is to have a job.

“Many of my golfers really gave me confidence to open myself up more to new people because I was a really shy person. That was really good for me.”

At all the Colorado courses, the Solich Academy is a flagship program for the CGA, which devotes considerable resources in nurturing and managing it. CGA executive director Ed Mate, like the Soliches, attended CU on an Evans Scholarship. Also playing key roles in the Academy’s success from the assocation are manager of caddie development Emily Olson, director of youth programs Erin Gangloff and director of development Ryan Smith.

The CGA raised almost $40,000 for the Solich Academy this year through two trips that were generously donated by the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon — with one being raffled off and the other being awarded through an auction.

BMW, a presenting partner of the CGA, is also the exclusive partner for the Solich Academy at CommonGround.

Besides CommonGround, Meridian, Lincoln Park and Tiara Rado, courses in southeast Wisconsin and in Oceanside, Calif., have taken the Solich Academy template and used it at their facilities, with tweaks as necessary.

“There’s room for people to take the ball and run with it” regarding expanding the program’s concept, Duffy Solich (left) said.

The normal pattern in the Denver metro area is for Solich caddies to spend two years at CommonGround or Meridian, then graduate to other programs around the area such as those at Cherry Hills Country Club, Denver Country Club, Lakewood Country Club, etc.

“It’s so gratifying to go to these other courses and see caddies who have graduated from here thrive at these other courses,” Duffy Solich noted.

Meridian came on board by establishing a Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy chapter four years ago. And now the Englewood-based club is up to 11 caddies who this year produced 419 loops, a season-high for the course. Paul Lobato, the longtime PGA head professional at Meridian, has shepherded the program at the club, and is trying to take it up a notch or two. Lobato and his team at Meridian spend 10 hours working with the kids before ever sending them out to caddie.

“I think we’re holding the kids to different expectations — that we expect them to get better each time out — to raise the level from being just bag carriers and sherpas to being more of a true caddie,” Lobato said.

Lobato finds it very gratifying to see the results — not only at his course, but for the Solich Academy program in general.

“It seems that caddying is very much back in vogue,” he said. “People are requesting them, people are interested in them. They’re interested in kids not only as caddies but as golfers and students and things like that. It is fun to see the growth of it.

“Caddies only used to be at certain places, but now they’re becoming a lot more common around town. Everybody is kind of getting their foot in the door. We just need to bust the door open and get stronger caddie programs with better caddies and people requesting them more.”

Here are the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy awards that were presented on Sunday:

Caddie Leader of the Year
CommonGround — Armando Duarte
Meridian — Tara Simone
Grand Junction — Chloe Manchester

Congeniality Award
CommonGround — Anthony Montoya-Olivas
Meridian — Kimberly Helfer
 
Rookie of the Year
CommonGround — Lindsi Reyes
Meridian — Antonio Vasquez

Most Improved Caddie
CommonGround — Jaziel Guerrero
Meridian — Aidan McMahon
Grand Junction — Kalea Potter
 
3D Award (Dedication-Determination-Desire)
CommonGround — Simon Seyoum
Meridian — Logan Douglass
 

Executive director Ed Mate likes to say, only half-jokingly, that the “C” in the CGA organization he represents not only stands for Colorado, but for Caddie.

There are numerous reasons there’s some truth in that for the CGA and for Mate.

As he noted in a recent interview with We Are Golf, “Caddying embodies some of the most important and fundamental attributes of our sport that make it great. Golf is a game of a lifetime and caddying puts young and old together to share it. Golf promotes health and wellness and caddies make it more enjoyable for adults to walk and gets kids outside and away from their video screens. Golf is a social game; show me a group of four golfers with four caddies and I will show you eight people having a great time.”

In addition, the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy is a cornerstone initiative at CommonGround Golf Course, which is owned and operated by the CGA.

But the association’s commitment to caddying extends well beyond CommonGround. That was evident on Monday, when the CGA conducted its annual Caddie Summit for the seventh time, in this case at Denver Country Club. Clubs and courses with caddies programs from around the state met to exchange ideas, chat about subjects integral to caddying, see caddie trends in Colorado and listen to a few topic-appropriate speakers.

And this year, featured was a high-quality VIDEO — produced by Columbine Country Club — which focuses on the value of caddying and the full tuition and housing Evans Scholarship for caddies. It was filmed at Columbine and at the University of Colorado Evans Scholars house. Columbine had a once-thriving caddie program which produced numerous Evans Scholars before that program largely went by the wayside. But it’s been resurrected in the 21st century and is once again successful.

The CGA sees enough value in this annual Caddie Summit that it — through the Colorado Golf Foundation, which supports Colorado-based programs and organizations that use golf to build important life skills and character — awards a caddie grant of $500 to each club which attends with multiple representatives.

On Monday, 19 of the more than 20 caddie clubs/courses in Colorado were expected to participate in the Summit. Overall, nearly 70 people were in attendance, after 50 being the norm in recent years.

“If anybody sat through this session and was asked how do you measure the health of caddie programs and the enthusiasm, it’s the highest it’s ever been — absolutely,” Mate said. “The video we saw from Columbine, the attendance today, the energy level … we’re on the upswing for sure.”

Indeed, the Caddie Summit seems to be paying dividends — or at least helping the cause. The number of caddie/forecaddie rounds in Colorado — which is tracked by a survey the CGA sends to caddie clubs and courses — has been trending up in recent years. In 2017, that number hit almost 40,000 as a total of 39,919 were reported.

“The more loops for the kids, the more summer jobs — healthy jobs — there are for youths,” said Janene Guzowski, who chairs the CGA Caddie Development Committee and has been a director for the Western Golf Association (which administers the Evans Scholarship) for about eight years. “In the end, it can lead to a scholarship if everything else falls into place and they apply for an Evans Scholarship and have all the qualfications.

“For me, the more kids that are on the course learning how to talk to adults and being on time at 7:30 in the morning, learning accountability … it’s all good. It’s better than flipping burgers or mowing lawns.”

The fact that the CGA tracks the number of caddie rounds in Colorado puts it in better position than many states, said Tim Orbon (left), the manager of caddies and scholarship development for the WGA. “That data is awesome.”

Though the number of caddie loops has headed upward in the Caddie Summit survey, Mate is reluctant to draw any conclusions at this point. But he likes the fact that the data is being gathered.

“It’s too short a line to really see a trend,” said Mate, himself a former caddie — at Denver Country Club — and an Evans Scholars alum. “We’re asking the right questions and we actually have a number. If you don’t have a number, how do you measure? You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Let’s track it and get our clubs to report rounds consistently.”

Orbon was the keynote speaker for Monday’s Caddie Summit, providing updates on the Evans Scholarship, the new “Carry the Game” youth initiative designed to create lifelong golfers through caddying, and on the WGA’s Caddie Academies. At the Academies, for seven weeks each summer, participants caddie at courses in the Chicago area while living together in a community. Orbon also gave some tips on how to build caddie programs and make them thrive.

“When you have a speaker like Tim, whose enthusiasm and passion for caddie programs is really intoxicating, that was like a coach motivating a team,” Mate said. “The whole day is about getting people enthused, and I think we accomplished that for sure.”

Orbon was one of two WGA staff members on hand for Monday’s Caddie Summit. Director of the West Region Bill Moses was also in attendance. Moses was planning to visit the CU Evans Scholars house in Boulder later in the day.

Sixty-two caddies were on the Evans Scholarship at CU starting the school year, among the 965 current Evans Scholars nationwide.
 

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.”
 

The turnout on Sunday evening for a season-ending awards barbecue at CommonGround Golf Course was a testament to the ongoing success of the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy.

A large event tent was full of caddies and their families, program supporters and organizers, and all the adjacent tables outside were occupied, while another group of people were standing as they took in the festivities. It was one of the most well-attended season wrapups for the program that was founded in 2012.

“After six years you’d think coming to these barbecues would get like, ‘Ho, hum.’ It’s not. It’s the same excitement as the first year,” said Geoff (Duffy) Solich, who along with brother George lent their name and their support to the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy. “There’s great turnout. Probably 80 percent of the kids and their parents are here. You don’t see that in many programs.”

And what’s not to like? Six seasons after the unique program made its debut, it has produced about 7,000 caddie loops for Colorado kids. It’s given them continual leadership training and guidance as an integral part of Academy. It’s provided various clubs in the Denver metro area with well-trained caddies. It’s had 13 of its best caddies go on to earn full-tuition and housing Evans Scholarships at the University of Colorado. And, perhaps most importantly, in some cases it’s helped turned sometimes-aimless boys and girls into highly motivated young men and women with high character.

“The uniqueness of the Leadership Academy here is what I think makes it special,” Duffy Solich noted after the barbecue. “I played nine holes before coming over here today and I had a (caddie) who was a CommonGround kid (from the Solich Academy) who has spent two years at Cherry Hills and is applying for the (Evans) Scholarship. I said, ‘OK, tell me what was the most memorable thing from all the time at CommonGround? What stuck with you the most?’ Without skipping a beat (he said), ‘I love the Leadership Academy. I learned so many things there.’ It wasn’t about caddying or getting a hot dog at the turn. That’s what got his attention. That’s a unique difference that this has that others (caddie programs) don’t.”

Indeed, there are things that set the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy apart. Notably, it promotes the use of caddies by paying their base fees through an educational grant, with participating golfers having the option of adding a tip.

But don’t get the impression that the word “Leadership” in the academy title is a mere afterthought — a throw-in to make it sound better. Each of the caddies who are part of the program are required to attend weekly leadership classes and do volunteer community-service work each summer. Included is learning the key elements of the “Code of the West”: 1) Live each day with courage; 2) Take pride in your work; 3) Always finish what you start; 4) Do what has to be done; 5) Be tough, but fair; 6) When you make a promise, keep it; 7) Ride for the brand; 8) Talk less and say more; 9) Remember that some things aren’t for sale; 10) Know where to draw the line.

And, of course, the teenagers further learn life lessons through caddying itself. 

“The two years you spend here learning character traits, learning the Code of the West, learning how to get up early and learning how to work hard are invaluable,” George Solich told the caddies and their parents. “The ‘want to’ is what really counts. We’ve all got to have that ‘want to’. We’ve all got to make as much effort as we possibly can. Caddying really taught me early on that if you’re going to put in a day, you might as well get up early and get going. Not only did it teach me how to love the game of golf, but it taught me hard work.”

George and Duffy Solich were both caddies at The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs as teenagers. They both earned Evans Scholarships at CU and have become successful oilmen and philanthropists. (In photos congratulating the caddies, George is pictured at left and Duffy at right.)

The Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy has been such a success at CGA-owned-and-operated CommonGround Golf Course that it has expanded and become a model for other programs to emulate. Meridian Golf Club launched a chapter three years ago, and Grand Junction (at Lincoln Park and Tiara Rado) did this year. And more expansion may be on the way in coming years.

At all the Colorado courses, the Solich Academy is a flagship program for the CGA, which devotes considerable resources in nurturing and managing it. CGA executive director Ed Mate, like the Soliches, attended CU on an Evans Scholarship. Also playing key roles in the Academy’s success from the assocation are manager of caddie development Emily Olson, director of youth programs Erin Gangloff and director of development Ryan Smith. The CGA held a Bandon Dunes raffle this year that raised about $31,000 for the Solich Academy. BMW, a presenting partner of the CGA, is also the exclusive partner for the Solich Academy at CommonGround.

Besides CommonGround, Meridian, Lincoln Park and Tiara Rado, courses in southeast Wisconsin and in Oceanside, Calif., have taken the Solich Academy template and run with it.

“It’s the system that works,” George Solich said. “We’ve put together a really good system and organization.”

The normal pattern in the Denver metro area is for Solich caddies to spend two years at CommonGround or Meridian, then graduate to other programs around the metro area such as those at Cherry Hills Country Club, Denver Country Club, Lakewood Country Club, etc.

“The top caddies at Cherry Hills all came from here,” said George Solich, a member at Cherry Hills. “The training really works well. By the time we get done with them, they’ve got 75-80 loops and a little more confidence. They’ve gone through the leadership (training). They’ve got a little more swagger than they used to have. That’s what really makes it work.”

This season, 35 caddies finished the year at CommonGround, chalking up 959 loops, a total which may increase the remainder of this month. At Meridian, where PGA head professional Paul Lobato has been a driving force for the program, there’s 13 caddies who did 391 loops this year. And in the first year in Grand Junction, four kids accumulated 130 loops.

At Meridian, the loop totals are up more than 15 percent compared to 2016.

“Probably the best part of my job — the part of the job I have most fun with — is to see kids (progress),” Lobato said. “That first day of caddie training, we can barely walk down the fairway with a bag on our shoulder. Kids are very meek, very quiet (and) hardly will even say hello to you. Then midway through the summer you can see them getting better and more confident, coming out of their shells a little bit. So it’s very gratifying.”

Likewise at CommonGround, which sits in a diverse area at the intersection of Havana and 1st Avenue.

“What I really love about CommonGround in particular is we’re able to take kids from walks of life that have never been on a golf course and change their lives — either through the (Evans) Scholarship or otherwise,” George Solich said. “Not even 10 percent of the kids in this program are going to get the scholarship, so the goal is to impact the kids that don’t get the scholarship AND the kids that get the scholarship. Impact their work ethic, their character, their understanding of how to communicate and deal with adults — all the stuff we all learn from caddying.

“It’s really cool to be able to see how much impact (the program) has. … It’s exactly what we hoped.”

Notable: During Sunday’s festivities, the CommonGround Men’s Club presented a contribution to the Solich Academy — via the Colorado Golf Foundation — for $3,600. Giving the check to Mate was Andy Harwood from the Men’s Club, a CU Evans Scholar alum. (They’re pictured at left.)

“In the six years this program has been around, I don’t think George or I or Ed or Emily or Erin could have ever envisioned the amount of support and backing (we’ve gotten) from a lot of friends in the Colorado golf community. It’s really taken off,” said Duffy Solich. …

Quincy Slaughter of Aurora, a veteran of the Solich Academy, caddied over the summer at the Sankaty Head Caddie Camp in Nantucket, Mass., which was the inspiration for the creation of the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy after George Solich read about it in a magazine. Sankaty Head has operated since 1930. Caddies who are selected from all over the U.S. and abroad to come to the camp spend part of each day caddying at Sankaty Head Golf Club. They bunk at the campgrounds, located between the 11th, 12th and 13th holes at the course. …

As part of Sunday’s barbecue, caddie award winners for 2017 were announced:

Caddie Leader of the Year (CommonGround)
Kyle Arbuckle
 
Caddie Leader of the Year (Meridian)
Davis Helmerich

Congeniality Award (CommonGround)
Helina Seyoum
 
Congeniality Award (Meridian)
Aidan McMahon

Rookie of the Year (CommonGround)
Helmuth Grohmann
 
Rookie of the Year (Meridian)
Nate Hancock

Most Improved Caddie (CommonGround)
Jayce Aguilar-Wynn
 
Most Improved Caddie (Meridian)
Sam Murray

3D Award – Determination, Dedication, Desire (CommonGround)
Quezdon Ivey
  
3D Award – Determination, Dedication, Desire (Meridian)
Tara Simone

At the beginning of the training session for the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course, some of the first-year caddies are a bit raw, to put it mildly. Many may have no idea how to carry a golf bag, much less the difference between a putter and a wedge.

“Basically, you’re teaching them what a tee box is, a flagstick, a fairway, the rough and the green,” said one of the trainers, Janene Guzowski (pictured at bottom), who chairs the CGA’s Caddie Development Committee. “Most of these kids, maybe they’ve watched Tiger Woods a few times, but they’ve never actually been on a golf course carrying a bag. Believe it or not, carrying a 25- or 30-pound bag 18 holes for a lot of kids is a huge challenge.”

But by the end of a nine-hole training session on the Kids Course at the CGA-owned and operated facility in Aurora, some of the newcomers already are handing their trainers their putters immediately after their shots stop on the greens, and are getting the basic gist of not walking in a players’ putting line.

It’s a work in progress, to be sure, but considering this is the first time on a golf course for a fair number of these prospective Solich Academy caddies, it’s a positive first step toward what could become a life-changing venture.

Thirty-eight boys and girls took part in Wednesday’s first on-course training session for the Solich Academy, which is entering its sixth season at CommonGround, its third at Meridian Golf Club and its first at Lincoln Park and Tiara Rado Golf Courses in Grand Junction. Most of the kids participating in the program at CommonGround are from the area surrounding the golf course at First Avenue and Havana.

“I’m really impressed,” said another trainer, Tom Woodard (pictured at top with two caddies), a Colorado Golf Hall of Famer who as a teenager earned a full-ride Evans Scholarship for caddies to the University of Colorado. “The kids are super smart, they have good manners, they’re polite. That’s the one thing I noticed more than anything.

“I had two kids who had never been on a golf course. You start from A and go through Z (regarding training). After nine holes you could see how much experience they gained — little things like carrying the bag and cleaning the clubs and watching the ball and where to stand and making sure you don’t step in lines and holding flags against the pin. It’s amazing how much you can go over in nine holes.

“But one thing I try to share with them is, it’s a process. You’re going to make mistakes and get frustrated, but it’ll get better. You’ll catch on really fast.”

The Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy is one of the flagship programs at CommonGround, which takes pride in hosting numerous such initiatives that benefit the community and the game. Also on site are Community and Wellness Programs and the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program, among other things.

Founded in 2012, the Solich Academy — named for former caddies and current oilmen and philanthropists George and Duffy Solich — creates opportunities for boys and girls to build leadership skills and develop character through caddying and Academy programming.

The Solich Academy promotes the use of caddies by paying the base caddie fees through an educational grant, with participating golfers having the option of adding a tip. In addition to the caddying, a major component of the Academy is that all of the caddies are required to attend weekly leadership classes and do volunteer community-service work each summer. Ideally, some of the participants will become good candidates for the Evans Scholarship.

“The way I look at CommonGround is it’s a lab for a lot of different programs related to golf, and this is one of them,” CGA president Joe McCleary (pictured in second photo from the top) said regarding the Solich Academy. “We also have a chapter down at Meridian and we’re now into Grand Junction. And the model has been used for other places around the country. How can anyone argue with what we’re doing? I think it’s awesome, and I love being a part of it.”

Between the two existing Solich Academy sites, CommonGround (almost 1,100) and Meridian (about 330) produced more than 1,400 caddie loops for participating youngsters in 2016. Over the past five years, CommonGround and Meridian have generated almost 5,400 loops, with CommonGround on its own racking up almost 4,800. And 13 Solich caddies have gone on to earn full-tuition and housing Evans Scholarships at CU.

The normal pattern is for Solich caddies to spend two years at CommonGround (or Meridian), then graduate to other programs around the metro area such as those at Cherry Hills Country Club, Denver Country Club, Lakewood Country Club, etc.

Wednesday’s training group included both first- and second-year caddies, but mostly newbies. Almost three dozen trainers — which included leaders of the CGA and CWGA, Colorado PGA professionals, friends of CommonGround and others — volunteered their time to help teach the nascent caddies the basics.

Last week, the prospective 2017 Solich Academy caddies began their training by attending video sessions. The next couple of weeks, a much smaller group of trainers will run the caddies through “intensive situation training”, where they’ll learn about raking bunkers, work around the greens and other specifics.

Wary of overloading the kids with too much information too quickly — giving them the “firehose” approach, as CGA executive director Ed Mate calls it — Mate prefers to mainly emphasize keeping up and where to stand during this week’s first on-course session.

“That makes it so much more enjoyable — just enjoying the conversation and getting to know (the caddies) — rather than getting them distracted by giving them the firehose,” he said.

Following situation training for the remainder of April, the prospective Solich Academy 2017 roster may be winnowed a bit based on absences or lack of interest on the part of a few kids. Then the remaining youngsters will be taken out on the CommonGround championship course twice in May by a group of about eight trainers before getting their first official loop of the season, probably starting around Memorial Day weekend.

“We’re really going to drill them on the most important things: keeping up, and being pro-active on the putting green and not just standing back twiddling their thumbs,” Mate said. “The new kids will be so much better off because they will have caddied two rounds on the big course before they go to their first live loop.”

Of course, while the kids can reap potentially large dividends through participating in the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy, the trainers tend to get a lot of fulfillment out of it as well.

McCleary, for instance, has served as a trainer all six years the Academy has existed. And his youngest daughter, Sydney, participated in the program the last two years and plans to caddie at Cherry Hills this summer.

“These are great kids and to see them grow and move on is special,” he said. “And it’s rewarding when you go to the Evans Scholars Selection Meeting and you see kids from this program making their way up to that and getting the scholarship. The Selection Meeting is one of my favorite events every year. I’ve been to that longer than we’ve had this program.

“But I love doing this. That’s just the best way to put it.”
 

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy should be in full blush as it embarks on its sixth season.

These days, the Academy is not only thriving at the course at which it started — the CGA-owned and operated CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora — but its ideas are taking root both statewide and in a few locations elsewhere.

Currently, the seeds are being planted on the Western Slope, at Lincoln Park and Tiara Rado Golf Courses, where the city of Grand Junction recently agreed to host a Solich pilot program, starting this year.

CGA executive director Ed Mate said the plan is for four youngsters to caddie at the two Grand Junction municipal courses this golf season, and to participate in the accompanying Cowboy Ethics leadership program and to do volunteer work.

“We got great response from the city,” Mate said. “They’re totally on board. They want to support it. They feel it will be a real opportunity for a few kids. It’s exciting to be able to take our flagship program to that part of the state.”

Founded in 2012, the Academy — named for former caddies and current oilmen and philanthropists George and Duffy Solich (pictured below) — creates opportunities for boys and girls to build leadership skills and develop character through caddying and Academy programming. George Solich originally suggested the idea after reading a magazine article about a caddie camp in Nantucket, Mass.

The Solich Academy promotes the use of caddies by paying the base caddie fees through an educational grant, with participating golfers having the option of adding a tip. In addition to the caddying, a major component of the Academy is that all of the caddies are required to attend weekly leadership classes and do volunteer community-service work each summer. Ideally, some of the participants will become good candidates for the Evans Scholarship for caddies at the University of Colorado.

Frank Wilkinson, a longtime Grand Junction resident and a member of the volunteer CGA Board of Governors since 2009, has spearheaded the effort to bring a Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy chapter to western Colorado. He’s seen how the Solich Academy has thrived at CommonGround and, over the last couple of years, at Meridian Golf Club in Englewood, and believes a scaled-down version will be ideal for his hometown.

Between the two existing Solich Academy sites, CommonGround (almost 1,100) and Meridian (about 330) produced more than 1,400 caddie loops for participating youngsters in 2016. Over the past five years, CommonGround and Meridian have generated almost 5,400 loops, with CommonGround on its own racking up almost 4,800. And 13 Solich caddies have gone on to earn full-tuition and housing Evans Scholarships at CU.

Based on the program’s goal of getting each caddie 30 loops or more each summer, the hope is to produce 120 loops or so in 2017 at the Solich Academy pilot program in Grand Junction.

“I’ve heard awesome, awesome stories about the kids who have participated in the program at CommonGround” from fellow CGA Governors and the association staff, Wilkinson said this week. “We anticipate we’re going to be successful. (If so), it can become a template for what can be done in other places around the state” — particularly at public courses that might be interested in small-scale programs.

Among Grand Junction residents, besides Wilkinson, who have helped the Solich Academy become a reality at Lincoln Park and Tiara Rado are a variety of amateurs, PGA professionals and city employees: Rob Schoeber, director of Grand Junction Parks & Rec; Mike Mendelson, the head professional overseeing the two courses; Doug Jones, golf superintendent of GJ Parks & Rec; Rick Ott, men’s club president at Lincoln Park; and Dan Sommers, instructor at Lincoln Park.

“We’re going to need all these guys to continue to provide input to make this a success,” Wilkinson said.

Mate and Wilkinson made a recent presentation to Grand Junction officials that cemented the deal to bring the Solich Academy to the Western Slope.

“As the meeting developed it was interesting to see how they became engaged in the idea and starting seeing the benefits,” Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson, who calls Lincoln Park his home course, is a member of the men’s club at both Tiara Rado and Lincoln Park.

“Frank Wilkinson couldn’t be more passionate about kids and caddying,” Mate said. “He’s been lobbying for this for several years.”

Men’s club and women’s club events on weekdays at the two courses figure to create caddie loops, along with weekend events. Solich Academy advocates plan to engage such groups — via email blasts and the like — to make it known that caddies are available, and those advocates will also be the ones to coordinate arragements for specific loops.

“There’s going to be a learning curve for the players,” Wilkinson said. “Like myself, I haven’t taken a caddie very often. But both of these golf courses, the terrain is very amenable for this. They’re not very hilly.”

While Grand Junction will be the third active Solich Academy chapter in Colorado — Fort Collins Country Club at one point also featured Solich caddies — there are also several programs in other states that saw what was being done in Colorado and tried to create something similar, according to Mate.

That includes the Caddie & Leadership Academy of Southeast Wisconsin, launched by Phil Poletti, a Western Golf Association director who Mate calls “kind of the pied piper of caddie and leadership academies”; Goat Hill Park golf course in Oceanwide, Calif., started by John Ashworth of golf clothing fame; and the Golf Association of Philadelphia. Of those, the Wisconsin program most closely mirrors the Solich Academy model, down to the Cowboy Ethics leadership training. The Northern California Golf Association Youth on Course Caddie Academy also includes subsidized used of caddies, but no leadership training element.

“It’s a really good model,” George Solich said of the Solich Academy in September. “The goal is to have it at a lot of different places across the country that can benefit kids and give them an opportunity.

“We have some good momentum. It would be great to see it thrive (further). The Evans Scholars Foundation is moving this way too. They have a (WGA Caddie Academy) for girls in Chicago. John (Kaczkowski, president and CEO of the WGA) and I have talked (about) how does all this kind of fit together. I think the idea is, finding more kids you can give the opportunity to.”

Added Mate: “There are some organic things happening out there, which is great. We’re not saying our model has to be used.”

Whatever the case, the caddie academy idea is certainly gaining traction. And the Grand Junction pilot program is but the latest example, albeit a small one.

“This program is all about quality vs. quantity and about having the supply and the demand meet,” Mate said. “We don’t want to have 40 kids when there’s demand for four. But if there’s demand for 10 kids, we want to meet that demand. We’ll play that by ear. Knowing it’s a special person who takes a caddie, are there enough of those people out there to generate 120 loops for these four kids? If we achieve (that number), we’ve done well.”
 

On Sunday at CommonGround Golf Course, as the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy unofficially celebrated its fifth “birthday” with its annual post-season buffet and awards ceremony, Duffy Solich heard a comment from a caddie’s parent that was music to his ears.

“One of the parents told me tonight, ‘Whether my son gets an Evans Scholarship (a full tuition and housing scholarship awarded to selected caddies at the University of Colorado) or not, (the Solich Academy) has made him who he is,'” Solich recounted Sunday evening. “I’m like, ‘Wow. That’s the nicest thing you could say.’ Those are hidden benefits you don’t realize when we started this. Things mature and happen and grow.”

Indeed, the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy to which brothers George and Duffy Solich (pictured above, with Duffy at left) lent their name was a unique idea when it was launched at CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course in 2012. The Academy promotes the use of caddies in a major way by paying the base caddie fees, with participating golfers having the option of adding a tip. But in addition to the caddying, per se, a major component of the Academy is that all of the caddies are required to attend weekly leadership classes and do volunteer community-service work each summer. And after two summers in the Academy, the youngsters who are successful graduate to other caddie programs in the area. And, ideally, some will become good candidates for the Evans Scholarship at CU.

So, having just completed season No. 5, how successful has the Solich Academy been?

With more than 1,400 caddie loops in 2016 (1,095 at CommonGround and 330 at Meridian Golf Club, which came into the fold starting last year), the two Colorado sites have generated almost 5,400 loops over the five years. CommonGround on its own has racked up almost 4,800. And nine Solich Academy caddies have gone on to earn Evans Scholarships.

“What’s really great is the kids are getting a lot out of it whether they get the Evans Scholarship or not,” said George Solich, who provided the inspiration for the Academy after reading a magazine article about a caddie camp in Nantucket, Mass. “We’ve touched a lot of kids. It’s been an awesome start.

“It’s really in a great spot. And thanks to the CGA for all its work in managing it and running it. Thanks to the Colorado Golf Foundation for supporting it. We love what it does.”

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that many of the driving forces behind the Solich Academy were caddies themselves as youngsters, and quite a few received the Evans Scholarship at CU. That includes both George and Duffy Solich, CGA executive director Ed Mate, who was responsible for the execution of George’s original inspiration, and of major supporters such as Frank Nessinger. And even though he wasn’t an Evans Scholar, Paul Lobato, the PGA head professional who championed the idea of adding a Solich Academy chapter at Meridian Golf Club, caddied at Denver Country Club as a teenager.

Meridian’s program is much smaller than CommonGround’s, but likewise has gained grassroots support.

“It gets better every year,” said Lobato (below). “It started as a 9, now it’s a 10. Probably the most fun part of my job is seeing how (the caddies) grow, seeing how they get confidence talking to adults and getting better at their job. Some of the young kids come in really meek and quiet, then they start to gain confidence and get better and better and better. It’s really fun to see. It’s a great, great program.”

This year, between the two Colorado courses, there were 46 Solich Academy caddies — 36 at CommonGround at 10 at Meridian. In their leadership classes, they learn about “Cowboy Ethics” and the 10-point “Code of the West”: 1) Live each day with courage; 2) Take pride in your work; 3) Always finish what you start; 4) Do what has to be done; 5) Be tough, but fair; 6) When you make a promise, keep it; 7) Ride for the brand; 8) Talk less and say more; 9) Remember that some things aren’t for sale; 10) Know where to draw the line.

“We love what caddying does,” said George Solich, like Duffy a success in the oil and gas business and a philanthropist. “Not only can you make money, but you can be around successful people. You can learn about leadership, you can learn principles (of success) and you can learn hard work. And regardless of where you go in life, those qualities and characteristics will benefit you for years and years. They did us, for sure.”

The formula for success adopted by the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy hasn’t gone unnoticed. Besides what has germinated in Colorado, courses in southeast Wisconsin and in Oceanside, Calif., have taken the Solich Academy template and run with it.

“It’s a really good model,” said George Solich. “The goal is to have it at a lot of different places across the country that can benefit kids and give them an opportunity.

“We have some good momentum. It would be great to see it thrive (further). The Evans Scholars Foundation is moving this way too. They have a (WGA Caddie Academy) for girls in Chicago. John (Kaczkowski, president and CEO of the WGA) and I have talked (about) how does all this kind of fit together. I think the idea is, finding more kids you can give the opportunity to.”

Suffice it to say that in five years the Solich Academy has succeeded beyond what anyone foresaw.

“I would have guaranteed you none of us had this kind of expectations (five years ago),” said Duffy Solich. “It’s far exceeded anything we expected. There was nothing like it in the country that I’m aware of. And some of the byproducts that come from it are not something you could have ever planned on.”

This year, when BMW became a presenting partner of the CGA, it also became the exclusive partner for the Solich Academy at CommonGround. The PGA Tour’s BMW Championship, which just concluded in Indiana, has raised, from the tournament’s inception in 2007 through 2015, more than $21 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation.

Also new this year, a Solich Academy Invitational was held at CommonGround with the intention of giving supporters and potential supporters a first-hand experience with Academy caddies and the program overall.

While the Soliches, Mate, Lobato and others have provided big-picture guidance to the Solich Academy, the day-to-day operations have mainly been in the hands of Emily Olson, the CGA’s manager of caddie development; Erin Gangloff, the CGA’s managing director of programs; and the caddiemasters at the respective courses, Matt Tedeschi (CommonGround) and Melyzjah Smith (Meridian). Smith is one of 53 Evans Scholars currently living at the newly renovated scholarship house at CU.

“This program would not work without the four of them,” George Solich said. “It’s really neat to see that they actually own it. They’re accountable, they’re responsible. They’re thinking about new ways to make it better.”

Added Duffy Solich: “My first round out here (at CommonGround), Melyzjah was my caddie. I was totally taken by her and I thought we have to get this girl an Evans Scholarship. She was light on loops so she had to go to school on her own (at CU) for a year. She came back and got the Evans Scholarship and now she’s a leader at the Meridian Chapter. That’s a pretty good story.”

The fruits of the labor of Olson, Gangloff, Tedeschi, Smith and others are being seen at other major clubs in the Denver metro area that utilize Solich Academy graduates in their own caddie programs.

“Personally, I’d tell you the kids that come to Cherry Hills (Country Club) from the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy are always the best kids — because they’re trained, they know the deal,” George Solich said. “That’s one of the hard parts about clubs is training caddies. I think this model really works if we can send 15 kids a year to five or six other clubs.”

Besides the benefits of kids earning money through caddying — and possibly qualifying for an Evans Scholarship — the Academy’s leadership training and volunteerism remain equally important aspects of this whole initiative.

“I really, really love the Code of the West,” George Solich said. “It’s the perfect age to talk to these kids about character, which is what Code of the West really is. When you look at programs that are very successful, it’s all about character traits and moving that into a kid’s thought process. It really adds to the experience they get at a golf course.

“When we launched, I’m so glad we decided to do that along with the caddie program. It’s as meaningful as the hard work on the golf course and as the money these kids take home.”

As part of Sunday’s festivities, awards were given out to some of the oustanding Solich Academy caddies at CommonGround and Meridian:

Caddie Leader of the Year (CommonGround)
David Acevedo
 
Caddie Leader of the Year (Meridian)
Ricardo Angel-Lucero

Congeniality Award (CommonGround)
Sydney McCleary
 
Congeniality Award (Meridian)
Courtney Lopez

Rookie of the Year (CommonGround)
Kyle Arbuckle
 
Rookie of the Year (Meridian)
Davis Helmerich

Most Improved Caddie (CommonGround)
Dillon Zastrocky
 
Most Improved Caddie (Meridian)
Oliver King

3D Award: Determination, Dedication, Desire (CommonGround)
Eliannah Angel-Lucero

3D Award: Determination, Dedication, Desire (Meridian)
Fenton Dowling
 

The Colorado Golf Association (CGA) is proud to announce BMW as the organization’s exclusive automotive partner. Starting this year, BMW of North America and the Colorado BMW Centers become the newest presenting partner for the CGA and the exclusive partner for the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course.

The BMW Championship made a major impact on the Colorado golf scene two years ago at Cherry Hills Country Club. The penultimate event of the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs was named the PGA TOUR’s 2014 Tournament of the Year while raising a record $3.5 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation.

BMW will support many of the CGA’s initiatives, including the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program, Community Outreach and Wellness Programs, and the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy — all based at CommonGround, a course owned and operated by the golf association. The CGA’s mission is to represent, promote and serve the best interest of golf in Colorado.

“We’re obviously very excited,” said Ed Mate, Executive Director of the CGA. “The alignment of the BMW brand and golf is well known. This really came out of the 2014 BMW Championship, their desire to continue to be active in the Colorado golf community and our desire to line that up with our brand.”

The BMW Championship, formerly The Western Open, has raised more than $21 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation since the tournament’s inception in 2007. The foundation provides full tuition and housing college scholarships to high-achieving caddies with significant financial need.

“Building off of a successful 2014 BMW Championship at Cherry Hills, we are thrilled to expand our relationship with the Colorado golf community through this partnership with the Colorado Golf Association and the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy,” said Tim Rittenhouse, Experiential Marketing Manager at BMW of North America. “Colorado has a rich history in golf and we are excited to work alongside the CGA in such a prominent and passionate golf community.”

The partnership allows BMW and the CGA to create unique programming and experiences for CGA members while enabling BMW to expand its involvement and support of caddie programs across the country.

“Not only has BMW demonstrated a strong commitment to the Evans Scholars Foundation, it’s clear they are committed to helping raise the awareness of the important role caddies play in the game of golf,” Mate noted. “It’s great to have a partner that recognizes the opportunity caddie programs can give to hard-working kids and we’re excited to be a part of BMW’s growing commitment to the game of golf.”

George and Geoff “Duffy” Solich, for whom the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy is named, are Evans Scholars alumni from the University of Colorado, as is Mate. George Solich served as General Chairman of the 2014 BMW Championship at Cherry Hills. (He’s pictured at left applauding tournament winner Billy Horschel.) And Duffy Solich is the State Chairman for the Western Golf Association, the host organization of the BMW Championship that administers the Evans Scholars Foundation.

For more information about BMW, visit www.bmwusa.com or contact BMW Corporate Communications Manager Phil DiIanni at Phil.DiIanni@bmwna.com or at 201-571-5660.

For information on partnership and other sponsorship opportunities with the CGA, contact Director of Development Ryan Smith at rsmith@coloradogolf.org or at 303-974-2108.
 

Caddying may no longer be in its heyday, and Colorado isn’t one of its hotbeds, but that doesn’t mean it’s a relic of a bygone era in golf. It simply means that it needs consistent nurturing to maintain a significance presence in Colorado golf.

That’s part of the idea behind Colorado’s Caddie Summit, which was held for the fifth consecutive year on Thursday, this time at Colorado Golf Club in Parker.

About 50 people, many of them officials from golf courses and clubs in Colorado that feature caddie programs, attended Thursday’s Summit, sharing data, best practices and, of course, a love for caddying.

The Summit helps keep caddying a priority, so it doesn’t wither on the vine.

“To me, you’ve got to continue to put the effort in,” said Ed Mate, executive director of the CGA, which organizes the Caddie Summit. “Caddying is not the path of least resistance. It’s not like the things at a club that you don’t need to push, that you don’t need to promote; they’ll just be fine. You don’t need to promote golf carts. People are going to take them. And if you’re not careful, they’ll take them too much. So just to maintain (the amount of caddie activity there is in Colorado) is success because it’s not the path of least resistance.”

Mate points to the example of John Ogden, the head golf professional at Cherry Hills Country Club, which has the largest caddie program in the state, with about 180 “core caddies” racking up a joint total of roughly 12,500 rounds per year.

“John works every day pushing and promoting,” noted Mate, a former caddie who earned the Evans Scholarship for caddies at the University of Colorado.

Cherry Hills sets the standard for caddie programs in Colorado, but they come in all sizes. A total of 24 programs exist in Colorado, meaning about 10 percent of the courses in the state have one. They range from producing 50 caddie loops per year at The First Tee of Denver at City Park Golf Course to the 12,500 annual loops at Cherry Hills. Eight clubs had at least 1,000 caddie loops in 2015: Cherry Hills (12,500), Ballyneal (6,300), Colorado Golf Club (3,219), Castle Pines Golf Club (2,600), Maroon Creek Club (2,199), Denver Country Club (1,700) Columbine Country Club (1,500) and Eagle Springs Golf Club (1,400).

Most of the caddie programs are at private clubs, but some are at resorts, and a few are at public courses, including CommonGround (the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy), and The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch and The First Tee of Denver. The Solich Academy, which incentivizes taking caddies by paying for all of the caddies’ base fees, produced 970 caddie loops last year in its fourth season of existence. Spinoffs of the Solich Academy currently exist at Meridian Golf Club and at Fort Collins Country Club.

In all, the 24 caddie clubs in Colorado produced 37,913 loops in 2015, which was down about 1.4 percent compared to 2014. The average number of “core caddies” at the participating Colorado clubs and courses is 26. A dozen clubs have some “professional” caddies, but the majority of caddies at the state’s courses and clubs are teenagers.

As for the Summit, Mate believes it’s a very worthwhile annual event.

“It’s just sort of settled into a really good rhythm,” he said. “You’ve got to do this every year. My hope is that everyone comes away with a few notes that they’ll be able to try. But the main objective is just to keep it on the radar, to keep them accountable a little bit. ‘Oh yeah, we have a caddie program. Oh, I’ve attended this Summit, so I better do something about it.'”

To keep the Caddie Summit going strong, each caddie club or course that brings at least three attendees receives $500 from the Colorado Golf Foundation for its caddie program. Several years ago, the lead gift for the Foundation was provided by CU Evans Scholar alum George Solich.

Evans Scholarship a Big Incentive for Some: For some Colorado teenagers, besides caddying providing extra cash in the summer, it also brings with it the possibility of a full tuition and housing scholarship to the University of Colorado. The Evans Scholarship for caddies, potentially worth about $80,000 if renewed for four years, is awarded to selected high-achieving caddies with significant financial need.

The scholarship has produced 10,184 alums over the last 86 years, including 441 at CU. Approximately 910 Evans Scholars are currently enrolled across the country — including about 50 at CU — and roughly 260 scholarships are expected to be awarded for the incoming class of 2016-17, including 11 to Coloradans. The average grade-point average for Evans Scholars is 3.2, and the program graduates 95 percent of its caddies.

Nationwide, the Evans Scholarship spends about $16 million each year on scholarship and housing costs. And since the scholarship’s inception, the total cost has been about $330 million.

The CU Evans Scholars house recently underwent a $6 million renovation and expansion. A formal dedication for the house in Boulder is planned for April 16.

One of the CU Evans Scholar alums is Geoff “Duffy” Solich (left), who recently became the Western Golf Association’s state chairman for Colorado, succeeding Bob Webster. The WGA, which has long partnered with the CGA and CWGA in supporting and sponsoring the Evans Scholars at CU, adminsters the scholarship nationwide. The Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround is named for George and Duffy Solich.

Six Coloradans recently became new directors for the WGA, helping the association support the Evans Scholars Foundation and conduct its four championships, including the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship. The six incoming directors from Colorado are Don Law (Cherry Hills Country Club), Bob Lazzeri (Columbine Country Club), Eric Miller (Colorado Golf Club), Tim Morris (Denver Country Club), Frank Nessinger of Denver and Jeremy Stroiman (Boulder Country Club). Several of the newcomers are former Evans Scholars.

In all, the WGA has more than 500 directors.

Caddie Central: Colorado Golf Club is a hot spot on the caddie agenda in 2016. In January, it hosted the Evans Scholars selection meeting for Colorado. On Tuesday, the Caddie Summit took place at the Parker Club. And on Oct. 3, the Evans Cup of Colorado fundraising tournament for the Evans Scholars will take place at the club that hosted the 2013 Solheim Cup and the 2010 Senior PGA Championship.

It was more than a decade ago that former CGA president Dennis Lyon took Joe McCleary aside and asked if he’d be interested in serving on the association’s board of governors.

McCleary didn’t hesitate in saying “yes”. And now, it seems only appropriate that McCleary will be one of Lyon’s successors as president of the CGA. After all, not only was Lyon responsible for bringing McCleary on board, but both cut their teeth as golf course superintendents and both work (or worked) for many a year for the City of Aurora.

This week, a dozen years after Lyon — who was recently honored as Superintendent of the Century at the Century of Golf Gala — stepped down as CGA president, McCleary was named to the post, the top volunteer leadership position on the CGA board.

“I’ve always enjoyed being part of the CGA with all the things they’re involved in,” said McCleary (above), who’s expected to serve two consecutive one-year terms after taking over the presidency from Phil Lane. “I’m looking forward to it in too many ways to count.”

Speaking of too many ways to count, that comes close to indicating how many ways McCleary has served the CGA — and golf in general — over the years.

As the first golf course superintendent at Saddle Rock in Aurora from 1995-2011 — being heavily involved in the construction of the course and its maintenance for many years — he had plenty of interaction with CGA and the golf community. After all, Saddle Rock hosted the Colorado Open from 1998 through 2000, along with periodic CGA championships and USGA qualifiers over the years.

And in the early part of the new millennium, McCleary championed the independent study on the economic impact and environmental aspects of golf in Colorado, a report that has had a significant impact not only in the Centennial State, but nationally. The report — supported by the CGA, CWGA and the other Allied Golf Associations in Colorado — won national recognition from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and morphed into a program at the national level, the Environmental Institute for Golf’s “Golf Course Environmental Profile”.

“We proved what could be done” when you have the data, said McCleary (pictured at left with Lane).

McCleary, who received his MBA from CU-Denver, also is a past president of the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association. Since its inception, he’s served on the board that guides the CGA-owned-and-operated CommonGround Golf Course, and he’s also worked on the GCSAA’s government relations committee and the environmental programs committee. In addition, he’s served on the CGA youth programs committee, and most recently, he was the vice president on the CGA board.

“He has a lot of experience,” said CGA executive director Ed Mate. “He’s really been involved with the whole vision of the golf course on the (CommonGround) board. And as a superintendent he’s a great sounding-board.

“He’s been about as hands-on as any volunteer since I’ve been here. He’s also a leader, well-respected in the golf community. He’s always thinking and challenging himself to learn new things. He’s no sit-still type of guy. He’s always asking, how can we expand and be more relevant.”

Said McCleary: “I have a pretty well-rounded background related to golf, so that will serve me well. I understand things from a golf operations standpoint, from a legislative standpoint, from a superintendent’s standpoint and from a player’s perspective.”

McCleary, a Colorado resident since 1988, is now the stormwater operations superintendent for the Aurora Water Department after long working at golf courses (Lone Tree, Meadow Hills and Saddle Rock). But his interest in CGA programs runs the gamut.

For instance, he calls the selection committee meeting in which Colorado finalists for the Evans Scholarship for caddies are interviewed “one of my favorite things.”

“There are so many different things going on (with the CGA) and you interact with so many different people,” the 50-year-old said. “The golf course stuff (with CommonGround) is fun. And you’ve got the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy, and the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program. I’m engaged on a variety of different levels. CommonGround keeps me interested, but all the things do. There’s also interaction with the (CGA) staff and other governors. (The association) uses all the people’s expertise and experience to keep things moving forward.”

The CGA just celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding, so 2015 was a big year. But there are plenty of issues on the horizon that will demand attention from McCleary and the other board members (CLICK HERE to view the CGA’s volunteer leadership team).

McCleary said that among the top priorities are keeping the CGA and CommonGround Golf Course financially stable, working alongside the Colorado Golf Foundation, and furthering the CGA’s collaborative programs with other key players in the Colorado golf community. One of those programs is taking shape as 2016 dawns with the CGA and Colorado PGA joining forces to bolster junior golf in the state (CLICK HERE for more on that). 

“One of the biggest priorities is enhancing and continuing to develop relations with the other Allied Golf Associations within the state of Colorado,” McCleary said.