Evans Scholars Foundation
| Founded | 1930 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Chick Evans |
| Location | |
|
Area served
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United States |
| Mission | Award full college scholarships to caddies of modest means |
| Website | www |
The Evans Scholars Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Golf, Illinois that provides college scholarships to golf caddies. Operated by the Western Golf Association, the Evans Scholars Foundation has helped more than 10,400 caddies graduate from college since its creation in 1930.
The Evans Scholars Foundation was founded in 1930 with money earned and donated by famed amateur golfer Charles Chick Evans.
In 1916, Evans rose to fame by becoming the first amateur golfer to win the Western Amateur, Western Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open. As a result of those wins and other victories, Evans was given several thousand dollars in royalties for recording golf instructions for the Brunswick Record Company. In addition, he received royalties from a golf book written in 1921. If he accepted this money, he would have lost his amateur status. Evans' mother suggested he put the money to good use by sponsoring a scholarship fund for caddies. Evans himself was unable to finish his schooling at Northwestern University. Evans said his mother "wouldn't think of accepting my money unless we could arrange it to be trusted to furnish educations for deserving, qualified caddies." He also said his mother "pointed out that the money came from golf and thus should go back into golf. It was all her dream — her idea." Evans went to the Western Golf Association, an organization that conducted national golf championships, to get their support for his scholarship. The WGA initially declined Evans' request, stating that it was a golf organization interested only in running championships, most notably the Western Open. In 1929, Evans successfully lobbied the WGA to manage the scholarship on his behalf with the help of his longtime friend and prominent Chicago tax attorney Carleton Blunt. In 1930, Evans' dream became a reality when two caddies, Harold Fink and Jim McGinnis, were named the first two recipients of the Evans Scholarship and enrolled at Northwestern, the same university where Evans himself had once been a student. Until World War II, all Evans Scholars attended Northwestern, and, in 1940, the first Evans Scholarship House was established on the Evanston campus.
After Evans' initial investment in the Foundation had run out, Blunt, an avid golfer and philanthropist, agreed to continue to help raise money to send more caddies to college. The organization didn't seek outside funding until 1949, relying solely on the generosity of the Western Golf Association's Directors.
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