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DULUTH — When Caden Cole started caddying at Northland Country Club before his sixth-grade year, he was offered an invaluable piece of advice: If you stick with it and keep your grades up, one day the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship could be in your future.
As fate would have it, the words of wisdom proved prophetic.
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The East High School senior was one of seven caddies across the state to receive the prestigious scholarship earlier this month, awarded on behalf of the Western Golf Association.
“I was just so excited,” said Cole of his immediate reaction. “I was just really thankful for all the people that helped me get to that point, and I just couldn’t wait to share it with the rest of my family.”
Cole was one of 160 caddies from across the state to apply for the highly competitive scholarship award valued at $125,000. Each applicant was required to include recommendations, along with an essay on how caddying has impacted their life.
After being one of eight individuals invited for an in-person interview at Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, Cole learned five days later that he had been picked as a result of his excellence in academics, strong caddying record, and outstanding character.
He is the 46th caddie from Northland Country Club to receive the full-tuition and housing scholarship award since its inception in 1930. Luke Schottenbauer, a 2023 Marshall School grad currently attending the University of Minnesota, was the most recent recipient of the award.
“A lot of people gravitate towards him — caddies and members alike,” said Northland Country Club Head Golf Professional Connor Bergman of Cole. “I’d say the biggest thing that people appreciate from him is his work ethic and his ability to know when to have fun and know when to be serious on the golf course.”
“He does a phenomenal job of walking that line of being a good supporter and cheerleader and, also, knowing when to when to kind of sink into the background.”
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After working alongside Cole for the past three summers in the bag room at Northland Country Club, Bergman was as thrilled as anyone to see him recognized with the award.
“He’s a first-class person,” he said. “His actions over the course of his time here at East have shown that, so it’s nice to see him recognized and be given an opportunity really to kickstart his life in such an amazing way.”
Cole is a 3.93 GPA student who has been involved with a variety of extracurricular activities during his time at East, competing for the varsity golf and hockey teams the past three years.
He is also a National Honor Society member who has volunteered his time with special needs students in adaptive gym class among other efforts to give back.
“He takes on a bunch of roles at the schools, whether it’s announcements in the morning or doing the sports report or whatever it might be,” said East head golf coach Michael Swanson.
“He likes to get out there and have a positive influence on the culture and the community around the school.”
Cole will attend the University of Minnesota next fall where he will study architecture, while also striving to walk on to the Gophers hockey team. While the odds may be stacked against him, East head coach Steve Pitoscia knows Cole is never one to bet against.
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“He’s one of those kids that when he puts his mind to something he accomplishes it a lot of times,” said Pitoscia. ”…He’s a great teammate and a good kid to represent your program.”
“I don’t think there’s any reason why anybody should tell him not to try to do it…I don’t think he’d listen to them anyway.”
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