Local caddies awarded Evans Scholars scholarships
An elite group of 104 caddies from the Chicago-area will be attending college this fall as recipients of the prestigious Chick Evans Scholarship, a full, four-year housing and tuition college scholarship awarded to golf caddies through the Evans Scholars Foundation.
"As a kid, I believed I'd be able to go to college, but after my mother's heart attack, college seemed like an impossibility," said Vivian Anochili, a Chicago high school senior. "I was terrified of putting any type of financial stress on my family for fear my mother would work herself sick again. So I got a job with the hopes that I could ease her burden."
After Anochili's mom suffered a heart attack, she knew she needed to take action in order to help her family get by while her mom recovered. She began caddying at Bryn Mawr Country Club, even though she knew nothing about golf.
Her hard work has paid off - she has been awarded the scholarship and will be attending Marquette University in the fall, making her dreams of college a reality.
"I never would have thought I could feel comfortable at Bryn Mawr," says Vivian, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Nigeria. "But over the past three years, my experiences as a caddie have helped shape me as a person. It has helped elevate my confidence and taught me the importance of dedication."
The Chicago-area caddies, part of a larger group of 247 national, newly awarded caddies, will begin school at leading universities this fall, where the foundation owns and operates an Evans Scholarship House. Universities include Northwestern University in Evanston, the University of Illinois in Champaign, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and others. A full list of the Chicago area students can be found below.
The Western Golf Association, headquartered in Golf, Illinois, has administered the Chick Evans Scholarship Program through the Evans Scholars Foundation since 1930. One of golf's favorite charities, it is among the nation's largest privately funded scholarship programs. The full college and tuition scholarship is valued at more than $80,000 over four years.
"Based on their excellence in the classroom and their service to their schools and communities, there is little doubt that these young men and women have earned this life-changing opportunity," said John Kaczkowski, WGA president and CEO. "We welcome them to the Evans Scholars family."
Currently, 870 caddies are enrolled in colleges across the nation as Evans Scholars, and more than 10,000 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars since the program was founded by the famed Chicago amateur golfer
"Each of these deserving Scholars epitomizes what our program has been about since its creation in 1930," said WGA Chairman Dennis O'Keefe. "Their dedication, hard work and sacrifice is humbling, and we are honored to be able to help them pursue their dreams."
Scholarship funds come mostly from contributions by 27,600 golfers across the country, who are members of the WGA Evans Scholars Par Club. Evans Scholars Alumni donate more than $8 million annually, and all proceeds from the BMW Championship, the third of four PGA Tour Playoff events in the PGA Tour's FedExCup competition, are donated to Evans Scholars. Visit www.wgaesf.org for more information.
The following Fox Valley area recipients were awarded the scholarship to various universities beginning this fall, as well as their hometown, high school, sponsoring golf or country club and awarded university.
• Aurora: Nicholas Pavlishin, Benet Academy, Stonebridge Country Club, Miami University
• Batavia: Nicholas LaRocco, Batavia High School, Naperville Country Club, Marquette University
• McHenry: Anthony Folino, McHenry West High School, McHenry Country Club, Marquette University; and Nicholas Kosmalski, McHenry West High School, McHenry Country Club, University of Illinois
• St. Charles: Nicholas Lombardo, St. Charles East High School, St. Charles Country Club, University of Illinois; and Maxwell Markowicz, St. Charles North High School, St. Charles Country Club, Miami University.