(GLENVIEW, IL) — The Western Golf Association (WGA) and its acclaimed Evans Scholars Foundation (ESF) have experienced significant growth on the East Coast in recent years as the organization works to create new youth caddie opportunities at premier golf clubs, partner with new universities and local golf organizations to send caddies to college, and host the BMW Championship, a PGA TOUR FedExCup playoff event.
Over the past five years, the organization has worked tirelessly to provide more opportunities for students in the East Coast to become eligible for the Chick Evans Scholarship – a full housing and tuition college grant for high-achieving caddies with financial need. As a result, Evans Scholar applicants from the East Coast have more than doubled, and students awarded the Evans Scholarship from the region have doubled in four years. Currently, there are 90 Evans Scholars from nearly 50 golf and country clubs in the East Coast.
WGA and ESF staff will continue this momentum working with leaders at top golf and country clubs from Boston and New York to South Florida to establish or grow youth caddie programs for students who eventually could apply for the Evans Scholarship.
“The growth of the WGA in recent years has truly been unprecedented, and particularly on the East Coast, we are seeing increased excitement and momentum around youth caddying from our partner clubs and organizations,” said WGA Chairman Joe Desch. “We strongly believe that caddying is the best summer job that a young person can have, and the skills learned on the golf course provide a foundation for lifelong personal and professional success. Caddying also provides an opportunity to earn a full scholarship to college through the Evans Scholars Program.”
The WGA is the recognized authority on youth caddying and – as it continues to experience dramatic growth from coast to coast – has boosted its resources and launched numerous youth caddie initiatives as part of its expansion plan in the East. These efforts are part of the organization’s long-range plan to increase the number of Evans Scholars in school annually to 1,500 by 2030.
This summer, the WGA will run youth caddie programs at three municipal golf courses in the East. Returning for the second season are programs at the University of Maryland Golf Course in College Park, Maryland, and at Langston Golf Course in Washington, D.C., home for the oldest African American men’s and women’s golf clubs in the United States and part of the National Links Trust. In its first season, a pilot program with a dozen high school students will begin at Charleston Municipal Golf Course in South Carolina. Participants are local youth who come from under-served areas and caddie regularly throughout the summer.
In New York, leaders have seen significant increases in activity around youth caddying, with Evans Scholars coming from top clubs and championship venues across the state and region, including Shinnecock Hills, Winged Foot, Friar’s Head, Oak Hill and Sebonack. Many more young people are expected to receive Evans Scholarships in the coming years through additional awareness and work with partner organizations.
The ESF and New Jersey State Golf Association’s (NJSGA) Caddie Scholarship Foundation have formalized a long-term partnership to expand youth caddie opportunities and provide more life-changing Evans Scholarships to New Jersey students. Both organizations will jointly raise funds to send NJSGA Evans Scholars to Rutgers University beginning this fall – and to establish an Evans Scholarship house on campus in the coming years.
Last year, in conjunction with the BMW Championship held at Caves Valley Golf Club outside of Baltimore, Maryland, ESF leaders announced the inaugural class of Evans Scholars at the University of Maryland, who began school in the fall of 2021. The Caves Valley Golf Foundation is helping to fund a new Scholarship House on campus, which will open in a few years.
The 2022 BMW Championship – which features the top 70 professional players in the world - will be held in August at Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware, following its Maryland run - and again highlighting the WGA’s growing presence on the East Coast.
The WGA’s other partner organizations include the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust, the West Penn Golf Association, the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund, the Long Island Caddie Scholarship Fund and the Westchester Golf Association Caddie Scholarship Fund.
Another notable caddie effort includes helping expand the youth program at Sankaty Head Golf Club in Nantucket, Mass., home to one of the country’s oldest caddie camps. This spring, the ESF had its first Evans Scholar from Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina and its second Evans Scholar from Seminole Golf Club in South Florida.
A few notable hires are helping the WGA and ESF with these new efforts. Jack Druga, the longtime golf professional at the famed Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Long Island, New York, is a VP who is working with PGA professionals to build youth caddie programs, focusing on the Met NY (Long Island and Westchester Counties), South Florida and Western Pennsylvania, where he grew up, caddied and began his professional career at Oakmont Country Club.
The addition of Druga, along with Ed Brockner – former First Tee Metropolitan New York Executive Director – who joined the team in 2021 as the VP, East Region Development – will allow the WGA to boost efforts on the East Coast in the areas of recruitment, training and mentoring of diverse, promising youth who could someday be finalists for the Evans Scholarship.
To learn more, visit wgaesf.org.
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