In a year when eight caddies from Colorado have been offered Evans Scholarships at the University of Colorado, some history has been made.
For the first time in the 46 years the scholarship has existed at CU, African-American women have been awarded the full tuition and housing grants.
Asni Solomon (pictured at left), who caddied at CommonGround Golf Course, and Andrea Pickford, who worked at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, will be part of a group that begins studying at the Evans Scholarship house at CU in the fall semester.
The scholarship, worth more than $65,000 if renewed for four years, is a flagship program for the CGA and CWGA, which partner with the Illinois-based Western Golf Association in supporting the Evans Scholars 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. Another major funding mechanism for the scholarship nationwide is the WGA-run BMW Championship PGA Tour playoff event, which will be played at Cherry Hills Country Club next year.
Joining Solomon, who attends Bishop Machebeuf High School, and Pickford, a senior at Denver East High School, as incoming Evans Scholars at CU are six other caddies from Colorado golf courses:
Kaitlin Cahalane of Monument (Palmer Ridge High School, caddied at Castle Pines Golf Club); Zachariah “Zack” Jordan of Morrison (Golden High School, Lakewood Country Club and Green Gables Country Club); Jack Kamby of Edwards (Battle Mountain High School, Country Club of the Rockies); Nicholas “Cole” Krebs of Denver (Two Roads Charter School, Lakewood Country Club), Beckett Martin of Carbondale (Glenwood Springs High School, Roaring Fork Club); and Hunter Olsen (pictured at bottom) of Lakewood (Bear Creek High School, Bear Creek Golf Club).
While the other seven scholarship winners are currently seniors in high school, Jordan is already a freshman at CU.
All told, courses represented this year by the incoming Evans Scholars include five in the Denver metro area, and one each in Basalt, Edwards and Castle Rock.
Solomon, whose parents were both born in Ethiopia, is the first Evans Scholarship recipient from CommonGround, and Pickford (pictured at left) is the first from Green Valley Ranch and its First Tee program. CommonGround and GVR are among the few public courses in Colorado to have produced Evans Scholars in recent years.
The finalists for the Evans Scholarship went through selection interviews two weeks ago at Lakewood Country Club, where more than 110 people were in attendance, including Western Golf Association chairman Jim Bunch of Denver and WGA president and CEO John Kaczkowski.
Additional scholarships to CU, possibly including recipients from out of state, may be awarded in the spring.
To qualify for an Evans Scholarship, applicants must have excellent caddie records and academic results, show strong character and leadership, and demonstrate financial need.
Of the eight people awarded the Evans Scholarship to CU this year, Krebs led the way with 140 caddie loops.
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. There are now almost 10,000 alumni of the program, and approximately 835 Evans Scholars are currently enrolled, mostly at the 14 universities that have scholarship houses. Nationally this year, about 240 Evans Scholarships will be awarded.
There are more than 410 CU Evans Scholars alumni. The CU Evans Scholars welcomed their first female recipient in the early 1970s, and roughly one-quarter of the 40 current CU Evans Scholars are women.
Nationwide, the grade-point average for Evans Scholars is 3.25, and 92 percent of those who receive the scholarship graduate.
The eight caddies awarded Evans Scholarships to CU have an average high school GPA of 3.6 and an average ACT score of 27.
