Seventeen caddies from the state of Indiana have been awarded the Evans Scholarship, a prestigious full housing and tuition college grant offered to golf caddies, following an online selection interview held Jan. 27.
Locally, Anne Conway of Carmel, a student at Carmel High School, and Michael Lupke of Fishers, a student at Cathedral High School, were selected as two of the 17 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 2022 as Evans Scholars, with Conway attending Purdue University in West Lafayette and Lupke attending Indiana University in Bloomington. The Evans Scholarship is valued at more than $120,000 over four years.
“These young men and women are part of an exceptional incoming class of New Scholars from around the nation,” said WGA Chairman Joe Desch. “They represent what the Evans Scholars Program has been about since 1930.”
The Evans Scholars selection interviews are being held with applicants nationwide through the spring. When the 2021-22 selection meeting process is complete, an estimated 315 caddies from across the country are expected to be awarded the Evans Scholarship.
The Western Golf Association, 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 1,070 caddies are enrolled at 21 universities across the nation as Evans Scholars, and more than 11,500 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars since the program was founded by famed Chicago amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans Jr.
“These young students have each shown excellence in the classroom, in their communities and on the golf course,” said WGA President and CEO John Kaczkowski. “We are proud to welcome them to the Evans Scholars family.”
Scholarship funds come mostly from contributions by nearly 35,000 supporters across the country, who are members of the Evans Scholars Par Club program. Evans Scholars Alumni donate more than $17 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 2022, the BMW Championship will be held Aug. 16-21 at Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Del.
To learn more about the WGA and ESF, visit wgaesf.org.
My friend,then 17, was an invitee to lunch at an Indy CC specifically to be ‘checked out’ by Chick and J. Clark Espie (reknown senior amateur). He had no clue who Evans was or why he was having lunch with them. Later, he was offered the scholarship, but declined. Evans was born in Indianapolis. His family moved to Illinois as a youngster.