It may be a coincidence that University of Colorado students Peter and Allie Evans and their family share their surname with Charles “Chick” Evans, but it seems altogether appropriate.
After all, founding the Evans Scholarship cemented the legacy of Chick Evans, who won a U.S. Open and two U.S. Amateurs, then created a scholarship that fully pays for college tuition and housing for high-achieving caddies with excellent grades, strong character and significant financial need. Over the last 87 years, more than 10,400 caddies have graduated through the program, including about 450 from CU.
And few, if any, families have seen the benefits of the Evans Scholarship more than that of Peter and Allie Evans (pictured above at the CU E.S. house).
You see, there are 13 siblings in the Evans family, and to date, seven (including Peter and Allie) have received the Evans Scholarship. Officials from the Evans Scholars Foundation/Western Golf Association, which administers the scholarship nationwide, say no records are kept regarding which family has produced the most Evans Scholars. But it’s safe to say that the Evanses are at — or near — the top of the list. And the family’s youngest sibling, a high school junior who has caddied at the WGA Caddie Academy in the Chicago area, will likely apply for the scholarship in the fall.
“One of my earliest memories is visiting my sister (Colleen) at the Marquette Evans house when I was probably 4 or 5 years old,” Peter said in a recent interview — along with younger sister Allie — at the CU Evans Scholar house. “It was a family tour day or family weekend or something. I definitely didn’t fully understand what the Evans Scholarship was, but I remember it being really cool visiting my sister Colleen. It was a fun, family thing.”
The annual Colorado-based Selection Meeting for the Evans Scholarship will be held this week at Cherry Hills Country Club, and within a couple of weeks thereafter the next new class of CU Evans Scholars will be announced.
If anyone can relate to what is at stake at such meetings — the latest information from the Evans Scholars Foundation reports that, nationally speaking, the average value of an Evans Scholarship if renewed for four years is $100,000 — it is the Evanses.
Their father caddied as a youngster and Allie said their mother indicated she had some distant relatives who attended Northwestern University on an Evans Scholarship. All but one of the Evans siblings caddied during their formative years, and roughly 10 of the 13 applied — or will apply — for the scholarship. Five have graduated from various universities thanks to the Evans Scholarship:
Colleen (2003 Marquette grad), a nurse practitioner.
Paul (2010 Illinois grad), a health consultant.
Joe (2014 Northwestern grad), who works in finance.
Kevin (2015 Northwestern grad), a health consultant and analyst.
Tim (2016 Marquette grad), a CPA-to be working with an acconting firm.
And now Peter and Allie are studying at a fourth E.S. university — CU — with Peter being a junior and Allie a freshman in Boulder. Two of the older Evans siblings — Paul and Dave — live in the Denver area.
“I don’t think any of us felt entitled to it,” Allie said of she and her siblings receiving the scholarship over the course of the last 20 years. “For me personally, I felt pressured to get it. It was very nerve-racking. But knowing about the scholarship your whole life and actually having it are completely different. I knew it was going to be good, but it’s definitely better than I ever thought it would be. … It’s a ridiculously incredible thing I’ve been given.
“It’s pretty crazy how many people (the ESF/WGA) have helped and how it continues to grow. It’s pretty impressive and it’s making a huge difference. I know there are people a lot less fortunate than I am (financially who have received the scholarship). It’s a huge deal for me, so I can’t even imagine how it is for people who literally have nothing to get college for free.”
Added Peter: “I don’t think (the good fortune of being awarded an Evans Scholarship) wears off for anyone. I feel very, very blessed and lucky to be here.”
After a $6 million renovation and expansion project that wrapped up a year ago, the CU Evans Scholar house is home to nearly 60 Scholars. Most of the Scholars at CU caddied at Colorado courses, but some come from out of state, primarily from the Chicago area. The Evans family originally lived in Illinois, but moved to Little Rock, Ark., in 2008. Five of the siblings received the scholarship after caddying at The Alotian Club in Roland, Ark., including Peter and Allie. (The older Evanses caddied at Inverness Golf Club in Palatine, Ill.)
The Illinois-based WGA has long partnered with the CGA and CWGA in supporting the scholarship 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.
Many siblings have received the Evans Scholarship over the years — both at CU and the other 19 universities that feature Evans Scholar programs. At CU, for instance, Jack Haake in the late 1970s and early 1980s was one of five siblings to have earned an Evans Scholarship, with his brothers going to Northwestern (2), Marquette (1) and Illinois (1).
But the Evanses have taken it to the next level.
“I know at my (selection) interview, there was a mention of, ‘Wow, it’s got to be a record,’ but I’ve never really looked into it,” Peter Evans noted. “It’s always been a cool thing where (almost) everyone in our family has caddied. You’re always happy for your siblings to see that their hard work has paid off.”
Peter and Allie Evans not only ended up as CU Evans Scholars together, but they’re additionally linked because Peter is the current vice president of new scholars at the house, while Allie is one of those new scholars. In other words, Peter has been responsible for seeing that Allie and the other E.S. newcomers start off on the right foot as Evans Scholars.
“If they’re not doing something well, I can always use the ‘I’m telling mom’ excuse,” Peter said with a chuckle.
Seriously, though, Peter, Allie and the other new Evans Scholars must have done something right as the newcomers posted an average GPA of 3.47 in their first semester in the program, which is one of the best academic averages in house history for an incoming class.
In some ways, things have come full circle for the Evanses. As youngsters, they grew up in a house with 13 kids and two parents.
“It was definitely crazy at times,” Peter said. “Growing up in Illinois especially, we got to know all of our family pretty well. We definitely had a lot of bunk beds and everything.”
And it wasn’t unusual for four or five kids at a time to to be caddying during the summer.
Nowadays, Peter and Allie are living in a house with roughly 60 people — again, with bunk beds and all.
And, of course, there are caddies everywhere.
“In high school I had the chance to visit my older brothers at Northwestern or at Marquette for a weekend or something,” Peter said. “I kind of got to see the friendships they had formed. It was a very tight-knit group and it seemed liked everyone got along really well, so I really bought in to the whole family aspect of the scholarship well before I even applied. I was definitely motivated all through high school to caddie a lot and study hard to get it.”
Not only did Peter receive the scholarship, but at Cherry Hills during the 2014 BMW Championship — a tournament that has all its proceeds go to the Evans Scholars — he was given the Chip Beck Evans Scholars Award, presented based on academic achievement, extracurricular activities and caddie record. TV golf analyst Gary McCord introduced Evans as the Beck award winner during a dinner at Cherry Hills.
“One thing that was really cool for me was caddying for the (Monday) donor day at the BMW Championship my freshman year,” Peter said. “No one in my family had done that before — been to a pro event — so that was really cool to see that. Everyone there was passionate about giving back to the scholarship. The fact that that whole tournament is for the benefit of the scholarship is really cool. It showed for me that everyone is very impressed and enamored by what the scholarship has to offer, including big-name golfers. Regular spectators at the tournament, if they heard I was an Evans Scholar, they would talk to me for like 15 minutes and were very excited.”
And that excitement translates into ongoing opportunities for Evans Scholars — whether they’re named Evans or not.
