Five Connecticut caddies have won the prestigious Westchester Evans Scholarship, a full tuition and housing grant awarded to some of the most highly regarded universities in the country. The five are:
–Haley Bernier of Monroe, who attends Lauralton Hall and caddied at Brooklawn C.C. She will attend Penn State.
–Isiah Merced of Shelton, who attends the Aerospace/Hydrospace Engineering & Physical Sciences High School at the Fairchild Wheeler Campus, who also caddied at Brooklawn. He will attend Miami of Ohio.
–John Kane of Trumbull, who attends Fairfield Prep and caddied at the Country Club of Fairfield. He will attend the University of Michigan.
–Jack Zona of New Milford, who attends Kennedy Catholic and caddied at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Westchester. He’ll study at Marquette University.
–Caroline McMullen of Stamford, who attends Lauralton Hall and caddied at Wee Burn Country Club, will attend Notre Dame.
The scholarship represents a partnership of Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholars Foundation and the Westchester Golf Association’s Caddie Scholarship Fund. Westchester Evans Scholars are chosen on the basis of strong caddie records, excellent academics, demonstrated financial need and outstanding character. Candidates must meet the qualifications of both organizations in order to earn the scholarship. The Evans Scholarship is valued at $120,000 over four years at one of 18 universities nationwide.
There have been 17 Evans Scholarships awarded to Connecticut caddies in the past decade, eight to Brooklawn caddies since 2014. This year there are 23 recipients on the East Coast, from Washington D.C. to Vermont.
“We are proud that for over 60 years, the Westchester Caddie Scholarship Fund has provided aid to every candidate with financial need, and now, through our partnership with Evans, we have been able to provide the opportunity of a full scholarship,” says Ben Kirschenbaum, former president of the Westchester Caddie Scholarship Fund.
The New York City selection meeting was one of more than 20 such meetings the Evans Scholars Foundation has held across the country through the spring. When the 2018-19 selection meeting process is completed by April, an estimated 280 caddies are expected to be awarded the Evans Scholarship.
Established by famed amateur golfer Charles Chick Evans Jr., the Evans Scholars Foundation provides full housing and tuition scholarships to high-achieving caddies across the country. Currently, a record 985 caddies are enrolled in 18 universities across the nation as Evans Scholars. The Program, which is supported by the Western Golf Association, is funded by contributions from more than 32,000 Evans Scholars Par Club members, including Evans Scholars Alumni, as well as proceeds from the BMW Championship. Since the Program’s inception in 1930, more than 10,830 caddies nationwide have graduated as Evans Scholars.
Founded in 1956, the Westchester Golf Association Caddie Scholarship Fund is a nonprofit organization that provides financial-need-based scholarships to caddies and others who work in service to golf at local participating golf and country clubs in the Bronx, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties of New York and Fairfield county of Connecticut. Today it has 289 recipients and a four-year tuition commitment of $4.0 million.
The CSGA through its Windy Neale Scholarship Fund this year awarded 15 scholarships to caddies and other golf club and course employees. Since its inception it has awarded $3.25 million to 576 recipients.
To learn more about these scholarships, visit the following web sites:
Evans Scholarship: www.wgaesf.org.
Westchester Golf Association Caddie Scholarship: www.caddiescholarship.org.
Widdy Neale Scholarship: www.csgalinks.org/content/csga/the-csga-scholarship-fund
