By Zoe Spilker
Herald Contributor
Recently 23 Ohio high school seniors found out they had been awarded the WGA’s Chick Evans Scholarship, a full, four-year housing and tuition scholarship and the nation’s largest privately funded scholarship program, including Cincinnati residents:
• Philip Bachman (Roger Bacon High School)
• Margaret Happ (Archbishop McNicholas High School)
• Alejandro Hernandez (Mt. Healthy High School)
• Michael Peck (Roger Bacon High School)
• Matthew Rechtin (La Salle High School)
• Maxwell Wilson (Walnut Hills High School)
Each caddie has a unique story to tell, reflecting the scholarship’s four selection criteria: a strong caddie record, excellent academics, demonstrated financial need and outstanding character. The full tuition and housing college scholarship is valued at an estimated $120,000 over four years.
Currently, a record 1,045 caddies are enrolled at 19 universities across the nation as Evans Scholars, and more than 11,320 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars since the program was founded by famed Chicago amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans Jr. When the 2020-2021 selection meeting process is completed this spring, an estimated 300 caddies are expected to be awarded the Evans Scholarship.
They will begin college in the fall of 2021 as Evans Scholars, with most attending either The Ohio State University or Miami University, where they will live in the Evans Scholarship House.
Scholarship funds come mostly from contributions by 32,500 golfers 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 third of four PGA TOUR Playoff events in the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup competition, are donated.