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.
 

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.
 

After being out of the house for a semester while it underwent a $6 million renovation and expansion (CLICK HERE), they moved back in earlier this month. … Then they started up school for the spring semester. … After activating 13 of their members last week, they elected new leadership for the house on Monday. … And on Thursday at Colorado Golf Club, a selection committee will interview finalists for the E.S. class that will enter the house in August.

Suffice it to say there’s been no lack of happenings for the CU Evans Scholars lately.

The Scholars at CU have long been a flagship program for both the CGA and CWGA. The Illinois-based Western Golf Association/Evans Scholars Foundation, which administers the Evans Scholarship nationwide, is a longtime partner of 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.

Since the 1960s, more than 440 CU alums have been produced by the Evans Scholars program, which provides high-achieving caddies with significant financial need full tuition and housing scholarships that are now estimated to be worth an average of $80,000 each.

The new executive board and other leaders (pictured above) who were elected this week by the CU Evans Scholars — along with where they caddied — are:

President — Jordan Gillmore (Lakewood CC)

Executive VP — Asni Solomon (Solich Caddie Academy at CommonGround GC)

VP of New Scholars — Peter Evans (The Alotian Club in Roland, Ark.)

Administrative VP — Dalton Anderson (Cherry Hills CC and Solich Caddie Academy at CommonGround GC)

VP of Finance — Kobe Padilla (Denver CC)

VP of Communications — Andrea Pickford (Green Valley Ranch GC)

House Manager — Tim Johnson (Roaring Fork Club)

Social Chair — Alex Atwater (Shinnecock Hills GC in Southampton, N.Y.)

Athletic Director — Soren Fuchs (Denver CC)

Over the last year, Cameron Payseno gained an added appreciation for the Evans Scholarship for caddies.

Payseno, a caddie at Lakewood Country Club, didn’t receive an Evans Scholarship when he first applied for it a little more than a year ago. So he and his family paid his way to the University of Colorado for his freshman year as he reapplied for the scholarship.

“Paying for the first year of college was eye-opening,” Payseno said recently. “It showed me the value of this scholarship. After paying for it, this is BIG.”

Payseno will soon find out just how big as he and 10 other Colorado caddies were recently awarded full tuition and housing Evans Scholarships to the University of Colorado, starting with the fall semester. The scholarship is estimated to be worth more than $80,000 if renewed for four years.

The Illinois-based Western Golf Association partners with the CGA and CWGA in supporting the Evans Scholarship at CU. The Evans Scholarship 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.

Three of this year’s Evans Scholarship recipients caddied at Cherry Hills Country Club, which hosted last September’s BMW Championship, a PGA Tour playoff event that generated a record $3.5 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation. Two of the new Evans Scholars received their starts as caddies through the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course before “graduating” to other clubs. And one is the first prospective Evans Scholar who caddied at Colorado Golf Club.

All 11 recipients recently went through in-person interviews at Denver Country Club, where more than 100 people (left) served as the selection committee.

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

Here are the 11 Coloradans who have been awarded Evans Scholarships at CU:

— Joshua Aguilar-Wynn of Aurora, caddied at Cherry Hills CC and the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround GC, attended Cherry Creek High School.

— William Butler of Centennial, caddied at Cherry Hills CC, attends Arapahoe HS.

— Geovani Castillo of Denver, caddied at Green Valley Ranch GC, attends Denver School of Science & Technology at Green Valley Ranch HS.

— Kade Hiller (left) of Haxtun, caddied at Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club, Haxtun HS.

— Rachel Knobbs (pictured at top) of Colorado Springs, caddied at Broadmoor GC, attends Cheyenne Mountain HS.

— Keane McClintock of Centennial, caddied at Cherry Hills CC, attends Cherry Creek HS.

— Michael O’Hearne of Boulder, caddied at Boulder CC, attends Boulder HS.

— Cameron Payseno of Lakewood, caddied at Lakewood CC, 2014 graduate of D’Evelyn HS, attends CU.

— Dominic Perea of Denver, caddied at Denver CC and Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround GC, attends Denver Center for International Studies HS.

— Rene Rosa of Silt, caddied at Roaring Fork Club, attends Glenwood Springs HS.

— Arthur Zabronsky of Parker, caddied at Colorado GC, attends Douglas County HS.

The group includes athletes who have won state high school titles (Aguilar-Wynn in football and Knobbs in golf), and one (Hiller) who has a brother, Kent, who is currently an Evans Scholar at CU.

The new Scholars cover virtually all parts of the state, from Roaring Fork in Basalt in the west, to Ballyneal in Holyoke in the north and east, to Broadmoor in Colorado Springs in the south. Eight come from the greater Denver/Boulder metro area.

“These young men and women are the embodiment of dedication, sacrifice and perseverance,” said Bob Webster, the WGA state chairman for Colorado and a CU Evans Scholar alum. “They have all worked tremendously hard to put themselves in this position, and are more than deserving of this life-changing gift.”

The addition of the 2015 recipients will likely bring the overall number of caddies at the CU Evans Scholars house to more than 50, with roughly one-quarter being young women.

The incoming CU Evans Scholars are among the top students in their high school classes, with an unweighted grade-point average norm of 3.72 and an average ACT entrance exam score of 27.5. One of the Evans Scholar recipients, Zabronsky (left), earned the best possible score on the ACT (36). Six have been members of the National Honor Society.

As for caddying, the average number of rounds recorded by the new Scholars is 113. Hiller racked up 190 loops at Ballyneal.

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

Nationwide, there are Evans Scholars at 19 universities, 14 at which there are occupied E.S. houses, mostly in the Midwest. The scholarship has produced 10,009 graduates, including 434 from CU. Approximately 870 Evans Scholars are currently enrolled across the country, and about 250 scholarships are expected to be awarded for the incoming class of 2015-16.

Over the last 85 years, the Evans Scholarship has provided more than $319 million worth of tuition and housing to caddies.

Evans Scholars typically excel academically, with a cumulative GPA of 3.2, and a 95 percent graduation rate.


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

Over the last year, Cameron Payseno gained an added appreciation for the Evans Scholarship for caddies.

Payseno, a caddie at Lakewood Country Club, didn’t receive an Evans Scholarship when he first applied for it a little more than a year ago. So he and his family paid his way to the University of Colorado for his freshman year as he reapplied for the scholarship.

“Paying for the first year of college was eye-opening,” Payseno said recently. “It showed me the value of this scholarship. After paying for it, this is BIG.”

Payseno will soon find out just how big as he and 10 other Colorado caddies were recently awarded full tuition and housing Evans Scholarships to the University of Colorado, starting with the fall semester. The scholarship is estimated to be worth more than $80,000 if renewed for four years.

The Illinois-based Western Golf Association partners with the CGA and CWGA in supporting the Evans Scholarship at CU. The Evans Scholarship 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.

Three of this year’s Evans Scholarship recipients caddied at Cherry Hills Country Club, which hosted last September’s BMW Championship, a PGA Tour playoff event that generated a record $3.5 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation. Two of the new Evans Scholars received their starts as caddies through the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course before “graduating” to other clubs. And one is the first prospective Evans Scholar who caddied at Colorado Golf Club.

All 11 recipients recently went through in-person interviews at Denver Country Club, where more than 100 people (left) served as the selection committee.

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

Here are the 11 Coloradans who have been awarded Evans Scholarships at CU:

— Joshua Aguilar-Wynn of Aurora, caddied at Cherry Hills CC and the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround GC, attended Cherry Creek High School.

— William Butler of Centennial, caddied at Cherry Hills CC, attends Arapahoe HS.

— Geovani Castillo of Denver, caddied at Green Valley Ranch GC, attends Denver School of Science & Technology at Green Valley Ranch HS.

— Kade Hiller (pictured at top) of Haxtun, caddied at Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club, Haxtun HS.

— Rachel Knobbs (left) of Colorado Springs, caddied at Broadmoor GC, attends Cheyenne Mountain HS.

— Keane McClintock of Centennial, caddied at Cherry Hills CC, attends Cherry Creek HS.

— Michael O’Hearne of Boulder, caddied at Boulder CC, attends Boulder HS.

— Cameron Payseno of Lakewood, caddied at Lakewood CC, 2014 graduate of D’Evelyn HS, attends CU.

— Dominic Perea of Denver, caddied at Denver CC and Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround GC, attends Denver Center for International Studies HS.

— Rene Rosa of Silt, caddied at Roaring Fork Club, attends Glenwood Springs HS.

— Arthur Zabronsky of Parker, caddied at Colorado GC, attends Douglas County HS.

The group includes athletes who have won state high school titles (Aguilar-Wynn in football and Knobbs in golf), and one (Hiller) who has a brother, Kent, who is currently an Evans Scholar at CU.

The new Scholars cover virtually all parts of the state, from Roaring Fork in Basalt in the west, to Ballyneal in Holyoke in the north and east, to Broadmoor in Colorado Springs in the south. Eight come from the greater Denver/Boulder metro area.

“These young men and women are the embodiment of dedication, sacrifice and perseverance,” said Bob Webster, the WGA state chairman for Colorado and a CU Evans Scholar alum. “They have all worked tremendously hard to put themselves in this position, and are more than deserving of this life-changing gift.”

The addition of the 2015 recipients will likely bring the overall number of caddies at the CU Evans Scholars house to more than 50, with roughly one-quarter being young women.

The incoming CU Evans Scholars are among the top students in their high school classes, with an unweighted grade-point average norm of 3.72 and an average ACT entrance exam score of 27.5. One of the Evans Scholar recipients, Zabronsky (left), earned the best possible score on the ACT (36). Six have been members of the National Honor Society.

As for caddying, the average number of rounds recorded by the new Scholars is 113. Hiller racked up 190 loops at Ballyneal.

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

Nationwide, there are Evans Scholars at 19 universities, 14 at which there are occupied E.S. houses, mostly in the Midwest. The scholarship has produced 10,009 graduates, including 434 from CU. Approximately 870 Evans Scholars are currently enrolled across the country, and about 250 scholarships are expected to be awarded for the incoming class of 2015-16.

Over the last 85 years, the Evans Scholarship has provided more than $319 million worth of tuition and housing to caddies.

Evans Scholars typically excel academically, with a cumulative GPA of 3.2, and a 95 percent graduation rate.


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

CommonGround, which is owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA, will host a PGA Tour Player Short Game Clinic on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at approximately 5 to 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the general public.

At CommonGround’s new Community Putting Green, two PGA Tour players from the BMW Championship field will give tips on the finer points of the short game and how they approach it. The participating Tour players have yet to be determined; they’ll be finalized Sept. 2 after the BMW Championship field is set. The top 70 players from the FedExCup playoff standings following the Deutsche Bank Championship (Aug. 29-Sept. 1 in Norton, Mass.) will qualify for the BMW Championship at Cherry Hills. The BMW Championship, set for Sept. 4-7, is the third of four FedExCup playoff events.

CommonGround, a Tom Doak-designed public course which opened in 2009, served as the second stroke-play course for the 2012 U.S. Amateur that Cherry Hills hosted. It is the home of the acclaimed Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy. George Solich — for whom the Academy is named, along with his brother, Geoff — is the general chairman of the BMW Championship at Cherry Hills.

The Short Game Clinic at CommonGround will be emceed by Jerry Walters, longtime host of the “In the Fairway” radio show which airs on Saturday mornings on 102.3 ESPN. Walters is also a putting and short game instructor.

CommonGround is located at 10300 East Golfers Way in Aurora, near the intersection of Havana and 1st Avenue.

“One of our goals this year is to have a great partnership with the BMW Championship, and this (clinic) is a way to celebrate the great success of the event,” said CGA executive director Ed Mate. “We also want to celebrate our partnership with the Western Golf Association and the Evans Scholarship, and to showcase our mission at CommonGround — ‘A place for all and all the game teaches.'”

The Illinois-based WGA runs the BMW Championship and administers the Evans Scholarship, which fully pays for college tuition and housing for worthy caddies who qualify. One of the 14 Evans Scholar chapter houses nationwide is located at the University of Colorado, and the CGA and CWGA partners with the WGA in supporting the Evans Scholars at CU. The Evans Scholarship is a flagship program for both the CGA and CWGA.

In fact, it was a call from the WGA’s Jeff Harrison that led to the PGA Tour Player Short Game Clinic at CommonGround. He asked officials from the CGA and CWGA if they would be interested in having two PGA Tour players at the course for such an event. The associations couldn’t say yes quickly enough, and given that they have such a vested shared interest in caddies with the WGA, some of the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy caddies will be on hand and in uniform for the clinic on Sept. 3.