Eighteen caddies from the state of Indiana have been awarded the Western Golf Association’s (WGA) Chick Evans Scholarship, a prestigious full housing and tuition college grant offered to golf caddies, following an online selection interview held Jan. 24.
Locally, Charles McGuckin and McKinley Woodward, both students at Carmel High School, were selected as two of the 18 scholarship winners.
Each caddie has a unique story that reflects the scholarship’s four selection criteria: a strong caddie record, excellent academics, demonstrated financial need and outstanding character.
They will begin college in the fall of 2023 as Evans Scholars, with McGuckin attending Purdue University in West Lafayette and Woodward attending Indiana University in Bloomington. The Evans Scholarship is valued at more than $125,000 over four years.
“Each student has demonstrated excellence in the classroom, on the golf course and in their communities,” WGA Chairman Joe Desch said. “We are thrilled for them to join an exceptional class of newly awarded Evans Scholars from across the nation.”
The Evans Scholars selection interviews are being held with applicants nationwide through the spring. When the 2022-23 selection meeting process is complete, an estimated 325 caddies from across the country are expected to be awarded the Evans Scholarship.
The WGA, headquartered in Glenview, Ill., has supported the Chick Evans Scholarship Program through the Evans Scholars Foundation since 1930. Known as one of golf’s favorite charities, it is the nation’s largest scholarship program for caddies.
Currently, a record 1,100 caddies are enrolled at 22 universities across the nation as Evans Scholars, and more than 11,800 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars since the program was founded by famed Chicago amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans Jr.
“These young students represent what our program has been about since 1930,” WGA President & CEO John Kaczkowski said. “We are proud to welcome them to the Evans Scholars family.”
Scholarship funds come mostly from contributions by nearly 36,000 supporters across the country, who are members of the Evans Scholars Par Club program. Evans Scholars Alumni donate more than $15 million annually, and all proceeds from the BMW Championship, the penultimate PGA TOUR Playoff event in the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup competition, are donated to the Evans Scholars Foundation. In 2023, the BMW Championship will be held Aug. 17 to 20 at the Olympia Fields Country Club in Illinois.
To learn more about the Western Golf Association and the Evans Scholarship Foundation, visit wgaesf.org.