8 Colorado caddies awarded full-tuition-and-housing Evans Scholarships to CU; 4 come from Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy, 3 from Broadmoor CLA
By Gary Baines – 1/27/2025
A couple of weeks ago at the Evans Scholars selection meeting in Colorado, Lauren Kachel of Colorado Springs was asked about the activity the event essentially revolved around: caddying.
“It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” she said. “Nothing else compares to caddying.”
While there are many things to like about the job — being able to work outdoors in often wonderful settings among them — the eight caddies who were the focus of the meeting at Cherry Hills Country Club certainly can add another.
How about earning a full-tuition-and-housing scholarship to the University of Colorado, worth an estimated $125,000 if renewed for four years?
That was indeed the upshot of the meeting as the eight Colorado teenagers earned themselves Evans Scholarships by virtue of caddying — and being outstanding students with plenty of extracurricular activities. Starting in the fall semester of the 2025-26 school year, the eightwill join the existing Evans Scholars in living in the E.S. house across the street from CU.
It’s little wonder why John Kaczkowski — the president and CEO of the Illinois-based Western Golf Association, which administers the Evans Scholarship — called the selection meeting “the greatest day for the Evans Scholars program in Colorado.”
After an ensuing period in which prized acceptance letters were eagerly received by the high-achieving caddies, the WGA formally announced the Colorado Evans Scholar recipients on Monday.
Lauren Kachel is one of three from The Broadmoor Caddie & Leadership Academy to earn an Evans Scholarship this month.
“Receiving this life-changing scholarship is a testament to this group’s outstanding leadership, academic excellence and commitment on the golf course,” Todd Gervasini, the WGA state chairman for Colorado, said in a release. “We hope their success as new Evans Scholars inspires more youth caddies across Colorado to see where the greatest summer job can take them.”
The CGA considers the Evans Scholarship one of its flagship program as it partners with the WGA regarding the scholarship in the Centennial State. Through Par Club contributions and CGA membership support, Colorado donors fully fund the year-to-year scholarship costs at the CU Evans Scholars house.
“There is not a state golf association as interested in caddie programs as the CGA,” CGA executive director Ed Mate said after the selection meeting.
In that regard, two caddie academies which are key programming efforts of the CGA play an ever-increasing role in creating a pipeline for the Evans Scholarship. Seven of the eight Colorado E.S. recipients this year were part of either the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy (four caddies) or The Broadmoor Caddie & Leadership Academy (three). Over the last three years combined, that makes 25 caddies from those CLAs who have earned Evans Scholarships. All-time, the Solich CLA has produced 48 Evans Scholars since its founding in 2012, while The Broadmoor CLA has had 11 since debuting in 2020.
The Solich and Broadmoor Academies promote the use of caddies by paying their base fees through an educational grant, with participating golfers having the option of adding a tip. The Academies also feature a robust leadership element, with each participating youngster not only caddying but required to attend leadership classes and do community-service work each summer.
More than 100 people attended the Evans Scholars selection meeting at Cherry Hills Country Club.
The SCLA caddies in many cases start their careers at the CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course or Meridian Golf Club before moving on to prominent caddie clubs in the Denver metro area. For this incoming class, three started at CommonGround and one at Meridian. Two in all moved on to Cherry Hills and one to Denver Country Club, with one staying at CommonGround throughout.
All eight recipients — four young men and fourwomen — will join a Colorado Evans Scholars program that has been in existence since the early 1960s, and which has featured a house dedicated to the program since the late ’60s.
To qualify for an Evans Scholarship — one of the nation’s largest privately funded scholarship programs — applicants must have excellent caddie records and academic results, show strong character and leadership, and demonstrate significant financial need. It isn’t unusual for some to overcome significant family-related challenges.
This month’s selection meeting at Cherry Hills CC — where more than 100 people were in attendance — is one of 21 being conducted this school year by the WGA. In Colorado, among those who attended the meeting were alums of the program, CGA leadership and staff, PGA professionals, WGA directors, some Cherry Hills members and others in the Colorado golf community.
Francisco Fernandez De La Torre listens to a question during the selection meeting.
This group of incoming CU Evans Scholars averages 113 caddie loops and a 3.8 grade-point average in high school. Joy Gregory and Kachel own perfect 4.0 high school grade point averages, and five recipients are members of the National Honor Society. On the course, Kachel has racked up 180 caddie loops. Kachel, who played on the golf team at Doherty High School, had now-three-time CGA Player of the Year Colin Prater as her coach during her first years in high school.
Here are the eight new Evans Scholars from Colorado:
— Francisco Fernandez De La Torre of Aurora and Aurora Central High School. A Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy caddie at Denver Country Club and CommonGround Golf Course.
— Joy Gregory of Colorado Springs and Evangelical Christian Academy. A Broadmoor Caddie & Leadership Academy caddie at The Broadmoor Golf Club.
— Jaxon Grunewald of Denver and George Washington High School. A Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy caddie at CommonGround Golf Course.
— Vivian Johnson of Denver and (Denver) East High School. A Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy caddie at Cherry Hills Country Club and CommonGround Golf Course.
— Lauren Kachel of Colorado Springs and Doherty High School and the University of Colorado. A Broadmoor Caddie & Leadership Academy caddie at The Broadmoor Golf Club. (Note: As a current CU student, Kachel will receive a three-year scholarship which starts in the fall of 2025.)
— Zakary Katz of Littleton and Ascent Classical Academy of Douglas County. A Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy caddie at Cherry Hills Country Club and Meridian Golf Club.
— Ezekiel Lambert of Colorado Springs and The University School. A Broadmoor Caddie & Leadership Academy caddie at The Broadmoor Golf Club.
— Azul Macias of Denver and Sheridan High School. Caddied at Columbine Country Club.
Two of the recipients are siblings of Evans Scholars — Johnson and Kachel.
Cherry Hills (59) and The Broadmoor Golf Club (58) have produced more Evans Scholar alums than any other courses in Colorado.
Mark Kelbel, until recently the director of The Broadmoor Caddie & Leadership Academy, takes a photo with the three 2025 Evans Scholar receipients from the BCLA: (from left) Kachel, Ezekiel Lambert and Joy Gregory.
Speaking of The Broadmoor — specifically The Broadmoor Caddie & Leadership Academy — Mark Kelbel, the CGA’s director of the BCLA in its formative years, recently stepped down from that position. He’s moving on to open City Golf COS in February in Colorado Springs, and he’ll also serve as director of golf instruction at The Broadmoor.
A record 1,190 Evans Scholars are currently in school nationwide, enrolled at 24 universities. Fifty-six of those Scholars are at CU. The WGA is hoping to have 1,500 Evans Scholars in school by 2030, the 100th anniversary of the scholarship. About 360 scholarships will be awarded during the current cycle.
Evans Scholars typically excel academically, with a cumulative college GPA of 3.3, and a 98.4 percent graduation rate. Forty percent of current recipients are first-generation college students in their families.
The annual costs for the E.S. program run about $37 million. Helping greatly in that regard this past year was a record-setting fund-raising year by the BMW Championship that was held at Castle Pines Golf Club in northern Castle Rock. With the Evans Scholars Foundation being its lone beneficiary, the BMW raised $10.2 million for the cause, nearly doubling the previous record for the event. Brothers George and Duffy Solich, both CU Evans Scholar alums, played pivotal roles in the event. Since 2007, more than $60 million in proceeds from the BMW Championship have helped fund the Evans Scholars program.
Vivian Johnson, interviewing at the club at which she caddied (Cherry Hills), during a light moment during the selection meeting.
The scholarship has produced 12,285 alums since being founded in 1930 by Charles “Chick” Evans, an amateur who won a U.S. Open and two U.S. Amateurs. Since the 1960s, a total of more than 550 Evans Scholars have graduated from CU.
Last fall, the Evans Scholars Foundation gained another feather in its cap as it was named the national scholarship provider of the year by the National Scholarship Providers Association.
For those interested in donating to the Evans Scholars Foundation, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com