Getting a caddie program to take hold in Colorado isn’t a simple proposition in this day and age. To get a large-scale one to take root at a public course on the Denver/Aurora city limits is exponentially more challenging.
But, as the folks at CommonGround Golf Course proved this year, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Thanks to the launching of a unique caddie initiative at CommonGround — one with the steadfast support of the CGA, CWGA and a couple of brothers who went to college on the Evans Caddie Scholarship — about 920 loops were completed this summer through the new Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy.
The Academy held its first “graduation” Sunday at the course — which is owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA — and more than two dozen teenagers received certificates for successfully completing a full summer of caddying and community service. (Pictured above, George, left, and Geoff Solich congratulate the graduates.)
All told, almost 100 people attended the festivities, which included a “Caddie Olympics” for the Academy grads (pictured below).
“I didn’t really expect so many golfers at CommonGround to say, ‘Yeah, I’ll not only train caddies, I’ll take caddies,'” said George Solich, who along with older brother Geoff lent their name and considerable financial support to the program. “It’s great how much enthusiasm the golfing community had about caddying. I would literally get e-mails from guys who took caddies saying what a great experience it was and that they were going to do it again. That’s probably the greatest surprise I had.”
The incentive the Solich Academy provided — paying all of the caddies’ base fee — resonated with enough golfers at CommonGround that kids who started in the program Memorial Day weekend finished the summer with anywhere from 13 to 45 loops. Fourteen teenagers, boys and girls included, accumulated at least 30 loops, and a couple eclipsed the 40 mark.
“I think it went fantastic for the first year,” said Geoff Solich, who like brother George caddied at the Broadmoor Golf Club and graduated from the Evans Scholarship program at the University of Colorado. “I don’t think anyone had the expectations for what we ended up achieving. It’s a great foundation for going forward.”
Besides providing kids — many of whom have significant financial need — a place to develop a strong work ethic and character and leadership skills, the Solich Academy will likely produce many candidates for the Evans Caddie Scholarship at CU. Evans Scholars, who must demonstrate considerable financial need, receive full tuition and housing at the university. The Evans Scholarship is a flagship program for both the CGA and CWGA.
Another aspect of the Academy will be the training of youngsters who can be sent in future years to other clubs with caddie programs in the metro area, including Cherry Hills, Lakewood and Bear Creek, among others.
CGA executive director Ed Mate, who along with the Soliches was one of the major forces behind the creation of the Academy, said about a dozen of this year’s “graduates” will be farmed out to other clubs next year.
Mate was among those who spent many hours nurturing the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy in its initial year. Besides formulating many of the plans that went into the initiative, he personally took Academy caddies on 15 to 20 rounds this year at CommonGround.
“This is one of the most gratifying things I’ve been involved with since I’ve been with the CGA,” Mate said. This first year “was a home run. If I had known when I started what I know now, I would think there’s no way we could pull it off because of the amount of work involved. When you start with 40 kids — all 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds — it’s like herding cats. Trying to train them, teach them the game, get them out here, deal with matching them up with loops, it took a huge amount of man hours. So to accomplish all that in the first year and to get it established as well as we did is really phenomenal.”
The Academy program will be a two-year proposition from now on as second-year returnees will help initiate newcomers. Next year, as many as 16 kids will return for their second year at CommonGround, and the CGA staff will “vet” good new candidates to supplement the ranks.
Though the Soliches, along with the USGA and other individuals, have committed financially to the program, Geoff Solich believes the Academy has what it takes to be self-funding.
“We had a couple of events out here with some friends of mine; we had 20 guys out here, and we could get 200 guys,” Geoff said. “This touches people. They can see the kids so it makes a difference.”
George Solich, like Geoff, is a longtime prominent figure in the oil and gas business, and he particularly like the “leadership” aspect of the Academy. That part entails each caddie doing community service by working with outreach programs such as Special Olympics, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, the Challenge Foundation and Goodwill Industries.
“When we were first talking about the business plan, I don’t know whose idea it was that we not only make it a caddie academy but a Caddie & Leadership Academy — where you do community service — but I think that really set it apart,” George Solich said. “That was really, really neat.”
