As chairman of the Western Golf Association — one of the top golf organizations in the country — Denver resident Jim Bunch has many important responsibilities and attends many significant events.
But, in his mind, there’s nothing quite so satisfying as the meeting Bunch will participate in Wednesday (Jan. 30) at Lakewood Country Club.
On that date, about 100 people from the golf industry in the state will collectively interview finalists for Evans Caddie Scholarships to the University of Colorado. And seeing that the scholarship is the raison d’etre — the reason for existence — for the WGA, such meetings are high-water marks for the association, which administers the scholarship.
With full tuition and housing grants — each worth upwards of $60,000 if renewed for four years — on the line, the stakes are high. And the candidates’ stories of accomplishment and/or overcoming adversity are often inspiring.
“It’s the best day of the year without any question — and not just for the Evans Scholars but for me,” said Bunch (pictured above with an Evans Scholar at last year’s BMW Championship). “It’s very rewarding and makes you so glad you’re helping out. It’s a one-of-a-kind event; there’s not another organization that I know that does it like that. I look forward to it.”
Bunch, whose two-year chairmanship of the WGA will run through the end of this year, said he typically attends a handful of Evans Scholars selection committee meetings each year, and he’s a regular at the one in Colorado. Nationwide, the WGA conducts about 15 selection committee meetings, which leads to the naming of the new E.S. recipients at 19 universities and the 14 scholarship houses.
As chairman — the top volunteer leadership position at the WGA — since the beginning of 2012, Bunch is keenly aware of the importance of the scholarship, and what it means to the kids with financial need who receive it.
With nearly 10,000 alumni of the Evans Scholarship — which dates back to 1930 — it’s changed the lives of many young men and women who worked as caddies as youngsters. And with more than 800 students currently on the Evans Scholarship — including roughly 40 at CU — and given the skyrocketing cost of tuition, the pressure to increase the amount of money raised for the scholarship is constant. (Annual tuition and housing costs for the Evans Scholarship run about $12 million.)
In that respect, the Illinois-based WGA shares the responsibility in Colorado with the CGA and the CWGA, which both consider the Evans Scholarship one of their flagship programs. 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.
In recent years, because the WGA and its co-sponsors have been able to raise more money — supplemented substantially by the WGA-run BMW Championship PGA Tour playoff event — more scholarships have been offered. In fact, Bunch said about 240 new scholarships are expected to be awarded, an increase of about 30 from several years ago.
“We’ve had remarkably good results; all the news has been positive,” said Bunch (pictured at left). “We’ve been very successful at fundraising, and because the fundraising is better we’re able to offer more scholarships.”
And recipients typically make the most of the Evans Scholarship. The norm for grade-point average for Scholars is 3.25, and 92 percent graduate. Scholarships are awarded based on four criteria: excellent caddie record for a minimum of two years, strong academic achievement, financial need, and outstanding character and integrity.
In several respects, recent years have been particularly encouraging for the WGA, and subsequently for the Evans Scholarship, which is one of the largest privately-funded scholarships in the nation:
— The BMW Championship, the penultimate event of the PGA Tour playoffs, produces roughly 15 percent of the WGA’s annual revenue, and the 2012 tournament near Indianapolis was one to remember. The ever-popular Rory McIlroy won, and the top 10 finishers also included Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk. The BMW subsequently was named 2012 Tournament of the Year by the PGA Tour.
“We had an extremely successful BMW Championship,” Bunch said. “The leaderboard was A-plus, and the crowds and TV ratings were sensational. Our contract with BMW is up for renewal and we’ve had some positive momentum on that.
“We make enough at the BMW to cover all our overhead and administration, so the rest all goes to the scholarship. If people give $100, $250, $1,000 or $10,000, every cent goes toward tuition and room. And that’s very unique in the non-profit world.”
The 2014 BMW Championship, of course, will be played in Colorado at Cherry Hills Country Club, where CU Evans Scholar alum George Solich will serve as general chairman.
“It’s going to be fun to be following all that,” Bunch said of the tournament. “I won’t be chairman at that point, but I’ll certainly be in attendance.
“(Tournament organizers at Cherry Hills) are working very, very hard and they’re way ahead of other venues in terms of planning. It will be a great success financially and in other respects. I know people at the PGA Tour and from the TV networks are excited about it.”
— The Evans Scholarship is in the midst of expanding its reach. A 15th scholarship house will be added, possibly as soon as 2015, in the Pacific Northwest — at one of four universities: Oregon, Oregon State, Washington or Washington State. In addition, the plan is to start paying for some Evans Scholarships at yet another major university which will be announced at a later date.
— The Match Play Challenge, in which participants match donations of $2,500 and more to the Evans Scholarship, has been a big hit over the last couple of years, producing $10 million of additional money for the program.
— In its June 2012 annual report, the WGA said it received a record $16.4 million in contributions overall.
Bunch is the first to credit the leadership and the staff at the WGA for the success of the association.
“I’m honored to be playing the role I am, and it’s been a real delight to see a terrific leader like our (president and CEO) John Kaczkowski,” Bunch noted. “He’s done a sensational job, and I feel really good about him. And the staff does a remarkable job at every level. On all fronts, the organization is really doing well, which is fun for me. And I see it continuing in 2013 and beyond. From a personal standpoint, it’s very rewarding.”
Even after Bunch steps down from the chairmanship at the end of the year, the former USGA Executive Committee member will still play a major role with the WGA. Starting next year, he’ll be chairman of the board of trustees for the Evans Scholars Foundation.
