Grace Gillingham, a Big Foot High School student, is among 22 Wisconsin high school seniors awarded the Western Golf Association’s Chick Evans Scholarship offered to golf caddies.
Gillingham, of Delavan, is a caddie at Big Foot Country Club.
The scholarship is a full, four-year housing and tuition scholarship through the nation’s largest privately funded scholarship program.
WGA directors, Evans Scholars alumni and other program supporters interviewed each of the nominees at the selection meeting. Each caddie has his or her own story to tell 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, with recipients awarded to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Marquette University in Milwaukee, University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, or University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The full tuition and housing college scholarship is valued at an estimated $100,000 over four years.
The Pine Hills Country Club selection meeting was the sixth of more than 20 meetings the Evans Scholars Foundation will hold across the country through the spring. A record 965 caddies are enrolled at 19 universities across the nation as Evans Scholars, and more than 10,600 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars since the program was founded by famed Chicago amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans Jr. When the 2017-18 selection meeting process is completed by April, an estimated 275 caddies are expected to be awarded the Evans Scholarship.
