They come from Pueblo and Boulder, from Carbondale and Overland Park, Kan. — and all types of places in between — and they’ll all be happy to call the University of Colorado’s Eisenhower-Evans Scholar house home starting in the fall.
Eleven new Evans Scholars were chosen for the CU chapter house following interviews at a meeting attended by about 80 selection committee members in late February at Columbine Country Club.
The full-tuition-and-housing scholarships for caddies, estimated to be worth more than $50,000 each for in-state students if renewed for four years, will go to eight men and three women. Here are the recipients, with the clubs at which they caddied:
Cody Amen (Bear Creek GC), Laura Baines (Boulder CC), Kevin Flahive-Foro (Colorado GC), Jesse Funk (PICTURED – Green Gables CC), Aaron Guereca (City Park GC, First Tee of Denver), Gage Henrich (Pueblo CC), Trevor Hill (Denver CC), Joelle Rickard (Glenmoor CC), Michael Rockhold (Indian Hills CC near Kansas City), Estefania Vigil (Roaring Fork Club) and Kasey Wachtendorf (Club at Flying Horse).
Green Gables caddie Jesse Funk begins his interview with Paul Sullivan, Co-Scholarship Chairman for the Western Golf Association
Three clubs — Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Pueblo Country Club and the Club at Flying Horse in Colorado Springs — are represented by Evans Scholarship winners for the first time.
High school grade point averages for the incoming CU Evans Scholars range from 3.5 to 4.1. One of the group, Vigil, comes from a family of nine and is planning to be the first in her family to graduate from college. Another, Flahive-Foro, was a captain of the Regis football team and hopes to walk-on as a quarterback at CU. Another, Guereca, partnered with former Masters champion Craig Stadler for the 2008 First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, and he collects shoes. All in all, it’s a diverse bunch.
Twenty-four Colorado-based candidates applied for the scholarship — compared to 29 in 2008 and 24 in 2007 — with 10 being approved. Each recipient demonstrated a strong caddie record for a minimum of two years, excellent academics and outstanding character, and showed financial need.
The Evans Scholarship is one of the largest privately-funded college scholarship programs in the country. Scholars at the CU house are funded through the Colorado Golf Association, Colorado Women’s Golf Association and Western Golf Association. A total of $422,523 was raised for the scholarship through the CGA and CWGA in 2008.
The Evans Scholarship was established in 1930 by Charles “Chick” Evans, a former caddie himself who went on to win the U.S. Amateur twice and the U.S. Open once. A total of 8,790 men and women have graduated from the program — most from one of the 14 chapter houses located at major universities across the country. All of those chapters averaged at least a 3.13 GPA during the last school year.
The CU Evans House is currently home to 38 Scholars. With eight seniors expected to graduate this year, the number of Scholars will likely jump into the 40s starting in the fall.
