Fairway to college: Caddies earn Evans Scholarship – FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
The Evans Scholarship pays for college tuition and a place to live for almost 1200 caddies at universities across the country. Caddies have to work more than 100 rounds, get good grades, and do community service to qualify for the scholarship.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (FOX 9) – Getting through college leaves a lot of people holding the bag for four years of tuition, and room and board.
But here’s a little known fact: A lot of special sidekicks can get a degree for free, and a lot of Minnesota caddies are on a full ride.
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The drive starts every golf game. Staying on the short grass puts a golfer on the path to success.
But a series of decisions before the drive determines where it lands. Measuring the wind, choosing the club, and reading the greens help avoid traps.
And that’s where a caddie makes a good golfer better.
"I've played here a long time but it's like my ability to read greens is deteriorated so I count on the caddies to read the greens," said Cal Simmons, a director at the Western Golf Association.
Simmons has played Interlachen Country Club for decades, and had his share of tournament success.
But he’s better with someone like Harrison Sand by his side.
"Harrison is a great caddie," Simmons said.
Harrison took up golf at the age of 3, following his brother’s footsteps into the game and eventually, into making money with it.
"I started caddying here because I thought it was a good job," Harrison said. "My brother started the year before me and he said how awesome it was to be working outside and on the golf course."
Regular pay, plus:
The job is now paying off in an even bigger way.
Harrison is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota on an Evans Scholarship.
"I like to think it's the finest scholarship you can get," said Simmons.
The Western Golf Association (WGA) gives out the scholarship named for Chick Evans, who won the 1916 U.S. Open in Minneapolis.
It’s a full ride for caddies who’ve worked at least 100 rounds, finished high school with good grades and extracurriculars, and have financial need.
Get it and go:
Almost 1,200 students are Evans Scholars at 22 universities this year, including more than 50 at the University of Minnesota.
Harrison and the rest of the caddies shack up at the Evans House about 10 blocks north of Huntington Bank Stadium for free — so they got that going for them, which is nice.
It’s women on one floor and men on the other two.
"It's awesome," Harrison said. "The group of guys there is really fun."
Over the course of four years in school, they all take leadership roles, and upkeep is a shared responsibility.
"There's a weekly house job," Harrison said. "Not too hard. It takes like 20 minutes."
So college life is basically a tap-in putt for Harrison these days, but only because he earned the Evans Scholarship.
"For my mom, having both my brother and I on the scholarship makes it able for us to go to such a good school and big school," he said. "Without it, I don't know if we're going to be able to go to University of Minnesota."
Be the ball:
WGA board members know golf may seem unapproachable for kids from financially distressed families, so they opened the Caddie Academy.
They recruit ninth graders in five cities, including girls in Minneapolis, give them a summer at the Evans House, and teach them how to caddie.
Most of them end up earning the scholarship.
It’s a long drive, but Harrison says he wouldn’t take a mulligan on the experience.
"It's a free scholarship," he said. "The only thing you have to do is caddy and you make money from that. You're not giving anything away, just some time in your days during the summers."
And the reward is a clean shot to start adulthood on the fairway.
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