George and Duffy Solich, CU Evans Scholar alums and founders of Solich/Broadmoor Caddie & Leadership Academies, inducted into WGA Caddie Hall of Fame
By Gary Baines – 8/2024
CASTLE ROCK — It’s been nearly a half-century since George and Duffy Solich toted golf bags around the courses at The Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs. But it seems like you can never take the caddie out of them.
The two, who both earned the Evans Scholarship for caddies to the University of Colorado and went on to help found the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy and its Broadmoor counterpart, on Wednesday were inducted into the Western Golf Association’s Caddie Hall of Fame. Appropriately, the enshrinement took place at Castle Pines Golf Club during the BMW Championship, for which each is playing a pivotal role, George as the chairman and president of Castle Pines GC and Duffy as the tournament chairman.
“Being inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame is truly humbling when I think about the legends who came before me and paved the way — those who carried more than just a bag, but carried the spirit, tradition and honor of this great game,” said Duffy Solich, who graduated from CU in 1981 after being president of the Evans Scholarship house there. The entire direction of my life changed as a result of being a caddie and receiving the Evans Scholarship. Caddying has formed who I am, and it provides a great roadmap of service, hard work, trust, patience, teamwork and integrity.”
Younger brother George, a 1983 CU graduate and also a president of the Evans Scholar house in Boulder, likewise was thrilled with going into the Caddie Hall of Fame.
“What an honor to be inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame, especially alongside my brother Duffy,” George said in a text to Colorado Golf Journal. “The opportunity we received because of caddying and the great game of golf has been life-changing.”
In a media release, George also noted, “Caddying taught me a lot about staying humble and staying hungry over the years, and I’m very proud to receive this award.”
Both George and Duffy Solich went on to successful positions in the oil and gas business, which led to them becoming major philanthropists, giving much time, energy and effort into the Evans Scholarship and other caddie-related endeavors.
George, for instance, fully funded the cost of hiring a Colorado Golf Association staffer who would cultivate Colorado-based candidates for the Evans Scholarship. The scholarship provides full tuition and housing grants — worth an average of $125,000 over four years — to teenage caddies who achieve at a high level at caddying, in school and in extracurriculars, plus demonstrate significant financial need.
Over the years, more than 12,000 caddies nationwide have graduated from the E.S. program, with 1,130 more currently enrolled at 24 universities around the country. This coming school year, a record 340 caddies will begin their journey as new Evans Scholars. There are now 540 CU Evans Scholar alums, with about 55 caddies currently in the house in Boulder. And it all started with Chick Evans — an amateur who won a U.S. Open and two U.S. Amateurs — starting the caddie scholarship in 1930 with the help of the Western Golf Association.
The Soliches also lend their names and considerable support to the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy, which was founded in 2012, and for The Broadmoor C&LA, which debuted in 2020. The Academies promote the use of caddies through a subsidized system — by paying their base fees through an educational grant, with participating golfers having the option of adding a tip. Other key components are leadership and personal finance classes, and all participants do community-service work as part of the programs. The SCLA has produced 44 Evans Scholars over the years, and the BCLA eight.
Meanwhile, Duffy Solich was for many years the WGA state chairman in Colorado, and both and he George are WGA directors.
All of this fits in perfectly with the BMW Championship, where all the net proceeds from the tournament each year benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation. (Last year, $5.5 million went to the cause.) George served as the general chairman of the 2014 BMW Championship at Cherry Hills and played a crucial role in bringing the 2024 tournament to Castle Pines GC, where both he and Duffy are members. The WGA administers both the BMW Championship and the Evans Scholarship.
“Once a caddie, always a caddie,” noted CGA executive director Ed Mate, also a CU Evans Scholar alum. “As successful as they have been, they never lost sight of where it all started, so to be in the Caddie Hall of Fame, and for them to go in together, is just really, really cool.”
Since its founding 25 years ago by the Professional Caddies Association, the Caddie Hall of Fame has inducted more than 130 men and women. Starting in 2011, the Hall has been administered by the WGA. Among the inductees over the years have been Evans himself, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Francis Ouimet, Jim “Bones” Mackay, Steve Williams, Mike “Fluff” Cowan Carl Jackson and Joe LaCava.
“It’s our great honor to welcome George and Duffy Solich as the newest members of the Caddie Hall of Fame,” WGA chairman Steve Colnitis said. “They are uniquely deserving of this recognition, as caddying has underscored three significant periods of their lives – as youth caddies, as successful businessmen and as advocates for caddies and Evans Scholars. We’re grateful they’ve taken their achievements and turned them into opportunities for the next generation.”
The Caddie Hall of Fame is one of at least two Halls of Fame George Solich will be inducted into in 2024 as he’s scheduled to go into the Colorado Golf HOF on Dec. 1.
The Caddie Hall of Fame “highlights the tradition and importance of caddying by celebrating individuals who have devoted their lives to the game of golf through caddying or by supporting the role of caddies, and those who have used their experience as a youth caddie for future professional success.”
Wednesday’s induction was part of a special event recognizing the championship legacy of The International, a PGA Tour event held at Castle Pines Golf Club from 1986 through 2006. Among the close to 200 people in attendance were Castle Pines Golf Club designer Jack Nicklaus, the evening’s featured guest, and CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz, who served as emcee.
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