Ten high school seniors from Colorado have been awarded Evans Caddie Scholarships at the University of Colorado starting in the fall semester.
The full tuition and housing scholarships, worth more than $60,000 each if renewed for four years, are given out based on caddie record, academics, financial need, and character and leadership.
This year’s recipients — nine males and a female — averaged an unweighted grade-point average of 3.8 and an ACT score of 28, which ranks among the top 10 percent of all those who take the test.
The Evans Scholarship at CU is one of the flagship programs for both the CGA and CWGA, which co-sponsor it along with the Illinois-based Western Golf Association. Through CGA and CWGA bag-tag sales and Par Club contributions, Colorado donors fully fund the year-to-year scholarship costs at the Evans Scholars’ Eisenhower chapter house at CU.
This year’s incoming class of CU Evans Scholars includes two caddies each from Cherry Hills Country Club, Denver Country Club and the Roaring Fork Club in Basalt.
Here are the scholarship recipients and the clubs at which they caddie: Grant Cassell (photo at left) and Garrett Heidrick from Cherry Hills CC, Hunter Kessler and Connor Smith from Denver CC, Hector Morales (top photo) and Dylan Ahasic from the Roaring Fork Club, Eddie Fundingsland (bottom photo) from Columbine Country Club, Nick Tompkins from Lakewood Country Club, Kent Hiller from Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club in Holyoke, and Kelly Baines from Boulder Country Club.
Cassell and Kessler attend Arapahoe High School, and Ahasic and Morales go to Basalt HS. Heidrick is from Englewood HS, Smith from Regis Jesuit, Fundingsland from Ralston Valley, Tompkins from Wheat Ridge, Hiller from Haxtun and Baines from Fairview.
While applicants must caddie a minimum of 50 times to qualify for the Evans Scholarship, Ahasic achieved 200 loops at Roaring Fork and Hiller hit 180 at Ballyneal.
Meanwhile, off the golf course, among the 10 new CU Evans Scholars are eight members of the National Honor Society.
“I think this is the strongest, deepest class we’ve had in many, many years,” said Bob Webster, a member of the board of governors for both the WGA and the CGA.
Twenty-nine Coloradans applied for the Evans Scholarship in the current cycle, and finalists (pictured) were interviewed earlier this month at Colorado Golf Club in Parker by a selection committee that numbered more than 100.
Nationwide, about 620 caddies applied for Evans Scholarships, with 230 receiving them. CU is one of 14 universities — primarily in the Midwest — that are home to Evans Scholarship houses. The house at 1029 Broadway in Boulder has been home to the CU Evans Scholars since 1967.
The scholarship was founded in 1930 by Charles “Chick” Evans, a former caddie who went on to win a U.S. Open and two U.S. Amateurs. About 825 caddies are currently in the program, with 41 at CU entering 2012, including nine women. The scholarship has produced more than 9,400 graduates, with 400-plus coming from CU. More than 90 percent of Evans Scholarship recipients graduate from their universities.
Overall, the Evans Scholarship currently has an annual operating budget of more than $12 million, which makes it one of the nation’s largest privately funded scholarship programs. In addition to direct contributions, funding for the Evans Scholarship comes from proceeds from the BMW Championship, a PGA Tour playoff event. The 2014 BMW Championship will be held at Cherry Hills.
In 2011, the Evans Scholarship received 44 donations of $2,500 or more from Coloradans. Cherry Hills and the Roaring Fork Club were among the top fundraising clubs nationwide.
A program called the “Match Play Challenge” greatly spurred large donations last year. A group of six Match Play Partners, including CU Evans Scholar alum and WGA director George Solich, provided a combined $1.8 million in matching funds for gifts of $2,500 and larger. Colorado had the second-most donors in the Match Play Challenge of any state, with 44 contributors donating more than $175,000.
