No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - NLU Podcast, Episode 346: Evans Scholars

Episode Date: August 26, 2020

The Evans Scholars Foundation has been sending caddies to college since 1930. Today's episode features three guests. First, we're joined by the president of the Western Golf Association, John Kackzowski to discuss the WGA's tie to the foundation, and background information on what it stands for and what it's accomplished. Second,  Evans Scholar alum and the founder of the Solich Caddie and & Leadership Program George Solich joins to discuss his humble beginnings, obtaining a scholarship through the foundation, the success he's found after college, and how he's developed his own caddie program. And lastly, a current Evans Scholar at Kansas University, Oscar Garcia discusses his ride from never setting foot on a golf course to being the co-chair of the Evans Scholars National Committee. No Laying Up is proud to support the Evans Scholars Foundation, and hope you find this episode as inspiring as we did.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm going to be the right club today. Yes! That is better than most. That is better than most. Better than most! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No-Ling, a podcast, Sully here. Today's episode is a little something different, something we've kind of wanted to do for a while, and that has put a spotlight on the Evan Scholar Foundation. Our first guest is actually John Kaskowski, who's the president of the Western Golf Association. He talks a little bit about the Western Golf Association's relationship with the Evans

Scholars. The history behind it, they've been sending the foundation's been sending caddies to college since 1930. The numbers are growing every single year and there's just so many incredible stories that come out of this organization on this foundation. And BMW, of course, a partner of ours is a big supporter of the Evans Scholars and the Western Gulf Association does run the BMW Championship that is happening this week at Olympia Fields and yeah we just wanted to get more information about this foundation out there and the three guests we have

like I mentioned John Kaskowski is the first one second one is George Solich if you recognize the name Solich he is the founder of the Solich Cadi and Leadership Academy. The organization that our event last year, we had an event at Common Ground where that organization does exist. Our event was to raise funds for that foundation or that academy, which again is training caddies to become caddies at bigger clubs and it's totally free and he gives you all the details as to how that works.

Then our last guest is Oscar Garcia, who is an Evan scholar himself, a current Evan scholar. And the profile of all these stories is just incredible. And George's had such a successful career in life, thanks to the Evan scholars. And he's very eager to give back to it. And then to talk to somebody like Oscar, who is currently an Evan scholar. And you can see the impact that golf and cattying has had on his life.

And it's, it just got me all pumped up. So I'm happy to share it with you guys. Cali was a big part of last year's No Lying Up event this summit, which again supported the so much cattying leadership academy. In addition to supporting numerous youth oriented golf programs around the country, Cali is a proud supporter of birdies for the brave. If you're not familiar with that, it was founded in 2004 by Phil and Amy Mickelson

in collaboration with Glen Cohen with the purpose of providing direct services for military members, veterans, and their families ranging from financial aid and rehabilitation programs to housing, counseling, education scholarships, and career development. So if you go to calwaygolf.com slash customs,

scroll to see a set of custom wedges being blind auctioned to raise funds for birdies for the brave. CalA's got a monthly program that rotates, support to various charitable organizations, and if you scroll through the gallery on the page, you'll see the past wedges and causes and whatnot. So check out the wedges supporting birdies for the brave at CalAGolf.com slash Customs.

And yeah, for anyone that, you know, for a parents that are listening to this episode, if you've got a, you know, a young kid or a teenager that is looking for some kind of career to get into or some kind of summer job or anything like that, listen to this episode and one, let me know what you think of it and two, consider sending it to your child's way if they are looking for ways to pay for college

if they have financial need. This program is a great way to get some very, very valuable experience and who knows you could end up with a college scholarship and go on to have a very successful career. So if you have any questions about the foundation or anything, please reach out to me. Sally at nolangup.com. Without any further delay, here's our first guest, John Kaskowski. So, John, can we start with maybe a bit of a history lesson on the Western Gulf Association starting with the name

and why that may be confusing for some people? I may or may not be included in that group, but what is the Western Gulf Association and how you came to be involved with it? Sure, that's an interesting question because it is confusing in some regards. So the Western Gulf Association was started in 1899. And so if you go back in the history books, you know, the United States Gulf Association was started in 1895.

So a few years earlier and there was a group of people based in Chicago that thought really that maybe the rules of golf and golf administration was a little bit too east coast centric. So they decided to start their own organization which was called the Western Golf Association which was a group of founding clubs. Based mainly in the Midwest but the reason why it was called the Western Golf Association is you think of the times 1899, you know, basically the train from the East Coast stopped in Chicago more or less. And so that was the West. And so the Western Golf Association was formed in 1899. And we ran our first two tournaments, the Western Open and the Western amateur in 1899. And it's been very successful ever since. And this is what has eventually become the BMW championship if I understand that right.

Correct, yeah, we, when we entered into our agreement with BMW and I think that goes back to 2007 was the first year and it's been an incredible partnership with BMW. Part of it was that the name of the tournament changed. It was always title sponsor's name, Western Open, whether it was Motorola or AdVill and ultimately we made the decision in conjunction with BMW to call it the BMW Championship. So the history of the tournament remains the same, the names different and of

course the formats a little different. Well, what is, you know, in the course of this episode, you know, we're talking to some Evan scholars as well, but I want to kind of get your background as to what caused you or how you got And of course, in this episode, we're talking to some Evan scholars as well, but I want to kind of get your background as to what caused you or how you got involved in the Western Gulf Association and what your path to the WGA was. You know, it's funny. I'm a perfect example of staying in touch with people and ultimately trying to be in the right place at the right time.

So I grew up in suburban Milwaukee and grew up playing public golf. So quite honestly, I had no idea what a Cady was or what Cady programs were. It just wasn't in my universe back then and I went to school at the University of Wisconsin Actually lived across the street from the Evan scholars house at the University of Wisconsin So got to know a couple of the Evan scholars and put it in the back in my mind. I'm like that's interesting a scholarship program for caddies. And quite frankly, maybe kind of forgot about it as I went into my early career, I worked for Cooper's and Lyberth. As a consultant, Cooper's and Lyberth was part of the big eight, I guess, at the time, and moved to Chicago and shortly realized that wearing a tie every day, riding the train to work every day,

probably wasn't going to be it for me. And I ended up going to school to get a master's and sports administration from a school called St. Thomas University. This was in the 1990s. So the sports administration wasn't really going to do great back then. It was a few universities around the country offered it.

And now, schools like Northwestern offer it. So maybe I was before my time. But I always had in the back of my mind, I thought, boy, would be cool to get in the golf business. I like playing golf. I knew a couple people that were involved in tournament golf, and specifically the LA Open. And so I went out to the LA Open as a fan, if you will,

and I got to meet the tournament director this guy named Greg McLaughlin. And got to know him. Greg and I became friends. He became a contact and fast forward. I had a couple of jobs in the golf industry. I worked for the American Junior Golf Association for five years.

And Greg called me up. He was now the tournament director of the Western Golf Association. He said, Hey, we've got this job opening. Would you like to look at it? I thought it'd be a great opportunity for me to to move back to Chicago. If anything, I could move back to and I lived in Atlanta at the time. If anything, I could move back to an area where they could pronounce my last name correctly. You know, it's kind of tough in Atlanta to say Kaz Kowski. Greg said,

would you like the job? Ultimately, I took it. Greg left two years later to run the Tiger Woods Foundation and he subsequently now runs the first T national organization. This is the part where I was right place, right time. I replace Greg is the tournament director in the year 2000. our CEO at the time was a guy named Don Johnson. He retired in in 2010 and they selected me to be his replacement. So it's been a great run. I've been with Western golf for 22 years now. It's been wonderful. So how many tied this into the Evan Scholars, right? I mean, to me, they're one and the same the Western Gulf Association has been linked to, you know, the Evans Scholars Foundation. I guess, take me there for how long and what

is the actual link and why are they so closely tied? So, as we talked about, the Western Golf Star in 1899, it was really Chicago based. And Chick Evans was a great amateur player, you know, in the early 1900s and the best one of the best amateur players in the world and and check knew about Cadyn because Chick Evans Cadyd as a young man went to Northwestern for a year and had to drop out of Northwestern because quite frankly he couldn't afford it ended up playing amateur golf and you know check one the 1916 US Open in the US amateur in the same year. So first got to do that and instead of turning professional in losing his amateur status, Chick did a series of instructional recordings,

phonographic records and he ultimately put that money he got for those recordings into a trust and that was the basis of the Evans Scholars Foundation. He wanted to provide scholarships to Caddy's so Caddy's would never so they could afford college and wouldn't have to drop out like Chick-Dead. So this was a 1916 Chick went to several organizations and asked them to run it. This Caddy Scholarship program and finally 14 years short years later, he convinced the powers to be at the Western Golf Association to form the Evan Scholars Foundation in 1930. So the two organizations have been tied at the hips since 1930. We sent two Evan

Scholars to school in 1930 on a full scholarship and since then we sent over 11,000 young men and women to school on an Evan Scholarship. Well, I imagine that challenge has changed so greatly throughout the years. And I know you've only been with the organization. You've been with the organization a long time, but obviously it doesn't date back as far as the days when college tuition was not nearly what it is now. So can you kind of give us an idea as to not only how many more people are being sent to college on a yearly basis but also how much bigger that challenge is and what that, you know, what that,

I see the estimated value of an Evan scholarship is $120,000. I think that's important perspective when you tell us exactly how many people are currently enrolled in college through the Evan Scholars program. Well, and yeah, that's exactly right. You know, the two things that, you know, there are a few things that are certain in life these days, and it seems to be college tuition increases one of them. I'm old enough to remember that, you know, I could make enough money in the summer to pay for my college tuition. I think it was $700 a semester. Now, the cost of college has increased exponentially and it makes it even more difficult for families to afford a college education. I don't think anyone would argue that, especially for first-generation college students. An education is so important and it's a key to your success in life and we feel strongly that, you know, they have in the Scholar Foundation, you know, provides those opportunities to deserve a young man and women and in the scholarship is, it's a full tuition and housing scholarship. So whether you attend, you have to attend one of our partner universities, but what a relief that is if you can imagine

you get into let's say the University of Michigan or the University of Illinois and you don't have to worry about how you're going to pay for it. All you have to worry about is getting that degree and doing well in school and then getting that first job and the rest hopefully the rest of your life is set. And not only that, you have an entire network of other Evan scholars that have come before you and the ones that you are going to school with. I went to Miami University and I see on this info sheet I've been provided here, it's one of the highest number of current scholars.

I do remember just kind of thinking about that. Wow, what an awesome program it is. Because I think back to my fraternity days and the people I got to know through that and how I still have a lot of link to the guys that I went to school with that I didn't know previously. And that's the same for everyone that comes into the Heaven Scholars program.

You have all this link, a similar background and a whole network available to you of people you can be in contact with once you do have that degree. Yeah, that's kind of the secret sauce for us and there are a lot of scholarship programs out there. And you know have that degree. Yeah, that's kind of the secret sauce for us. And there are a lot of scholarships, a lot of great scholarship programs out there. And you know, some involve caddies. But we think the true, you know,

what really sets our program apart is the opportunity to live together. Men and women, Evan Scholars, living in the same house for four years. And not only do you as a freshman, get some mentorship opportunities from your from upper classmen but ultimately you can you can build these relationships that last forever. I mean one of my favorite stories of these two heaven scholars didn't really know each other at

the University of Indiana. They both go their separate ways after college and are in in totally different careers and they somehow come together and say, you know what, I think we'd be good together in terms of being business partners and they ended up working to get forming their own business and sold a years later and both have been tremendously successful but very generous back to the program as well.

So it really is a lifelong program and the relationships you make at the house, whether it's my Amy Vohayo or any one of her other schools, they last a lifetime. It seems to me that you know, a lot of, even a lot of caddies that are growing people that have grown up as caddies are not maybe even fully aware, at

least when they go to start out being a caddy, they're not doing it to necessarily become an Evan scholar, become something you, you hopefully you potentially learn about. But what is it, I guess, what does it take to be selected as an Evan Scholar and kind of what is how competitive is that environment getting? Sometimes people say they have a scholarship is one of the great untold stories of engulf and which probably is kind of drives me crazy because I wish more people knew about it.

It is a competitive scholarship program, no doubt. I mean, it is first and foremost, it's a scholarship program where you have to caddy. You have to be a regular and consistent caddy. And I would tell you that an average Evan Scholar recipient, so someone who's awarded Evan Scholar caddy on average four years and 160 times. So that's a regular caddy.

They're out there most days in the summer working to get a loop. And then secondly, they have to be very strong academically. They have to have, they have to excel in college prep courses. And they have to be able to get into one of our part of universities, which are pretty tough academic schools. I would tell you that on average, the scholars excel in academics. They usually have something like a 3.8 GPA. Their ACT test is somewhere in the neighborhood of 27 to 28. So these are high

achievers. And then you also have to have financial need. Everyone in some way, shape or form, has financial need, but college is super expensive, as we know. And family struggle every day to not only pay for college, but meet the cost of living their lives. And there's a financial component to the Evan Scholarship that is pretty, is very important. And then finally, you have to be involved in school,

outside of school, involved in character building activities, whether it's sports, whether it's volunteer work, those type of things. We feel kind of adds to the overall application of Evan Scholarship. So given idea, we get about 1,000 applications a year. We award roughly 300 scholarships scholarships a year maybe 285 So, you know, that sounds like pretty good odds right that you know one third of the people that apply get the scholarship

But it's super competitive because we look at all those different things caddy record versus Academic record versus your financial need and in your character. So we have seen applications actually increase year over year for the last 10 years. So that's very encouraging that maybe the word is getting out. I fully admit to not being totally well-versed in all of the financial aid options that are there for college. But this program seems, so maybe it's just because I work in golf too, and I'm closely tied to it,

but it seems so accessible. Like you said, a third of people applying for it, that's a lot of people getting through on scholarship, and it seems like this is such an incredible opportunity that as much as we can do to get the word out to people that, you know, if you're looking for financial aid to come, you know, for, you know, an educational experience, this seems to be something that, you know, if you are willing to show up and work and work hard and do all the things that are required of you, you won't not only get a great experience out of the Cadi program, but I can also have those resources are going to likely be available for you if you achieve all these things.

That's right. And, you know, I look at it and we look at it as an organization. We want to promote Cadi in first and foremost, right? We want to promote youth Cadi and the great things that youth caddy can lead to, you know, not only, um, does, is it a good job, you know, caddies make good money, but if you think about, if you're a 14, 15, 16, 17 year old kid, caddy, what other summer job do you get to spend four hours with a doctor, a lawyer, a, you know, a business person in here and about life, right? It's an incredible opportunity, as opposed to work

in a ice cream shop or, you know, at the park district. It's, even if you don't get the heaven scholarship, Cateen can be life changing. And, you know, our goal is to get more kids Cateen and ultimately award more heaven scholarships. So we want to grow the program beyond the 1045 kids that are currently in school. What is the caddy environment like in this day and age?

I mean, do you see clubs and courses being more receptive towards having caddies? Are they having trouble getting enough caddies? I guess what is the golf cart done to caddy programs across the country? And how do you just assess the overall, the environment around cadding around the country as how do you just assess the overall the environment around counting around the country as you see it? Yeah, I would say that you know

caddy and around the country has stabilized right? Caddy programs have stabilized. I think it and it all depends where you go. I would tell you that you know in the Chicago Leand area you know caddy programs have never been stronger. I mean more kids apply than they can actually take on as caddies. I do see in maybe smaller cities, you know, in the Midwest and around the country that, you know, they don't maybe their private club system is in as robust as bigger cities like Chicago or the New York metropolitan area or some other areas around the country that, you know, they, some of the smaller caddy programs at local clubs might be decreasing or declining.

But having said that, I think there's been a little bit of a resurgence with quite frankly, you know, this, the kind of, the push back to more traditional golf architecture, the idea that walking's important to the game, everything that Mike Kaiser has embodies that places like band-in dunes or sand valley seems to be my mind taken. It's got some traction around the country and I point to yeah, caddy programs are difficult to manage for sure because golf carts don't talk back to you and they're always on time and but at the end of the day there's not a better experience to play golf

than if you have a young person caddy for you, in my mind. So I think Chris, ultimately, our applications are up, you're over here for the Heaven Scholarship. So that tells me caddy programs that have kids are stabilized for sure. Well, how can people, if they want to get involved in the program, either on the donating side or on the caddy supporting side, what are ways that people can get involved with the Western Golf Association and the Evans Scholars Foundation?

I would say that first and foremost, if you ever have the opportunity,'re at a club or a golf course that has the potential to start a caddy program, we can help you do that. We have a full-time staff that's all they think about every day is how do we increase the number of youth caddy opportunities in this country? And it's funny, caddy programs are totally different than they were, you know, let's say even say 10-15 years ago, you know, you hear stories of 50 kids showing up and maybe only 20 got out. And so the other 30 had to go home without Cadi. Well, you know, technology, whether it's, you know, whether it's email, texting, app-based scheduling systems, it's made it easier for Cadi programs to be managed. So we can help clubs, individuals, you know, start a Cadi program, but certainly, a couple other ways that people could help is identify a young person within their network that you think would qualify for the

Evan Scholarship on the idea that they have good grades, they have financial need and great character, and then get them Cadi. Try to help them find a golf course near them that has a caddy program, and our program literally is we have applicants from all over the country and Canada, so you shouldn't be tied by geography in terms of getting someone started caddy, and of course we've got like any charity. We have an incredible donor base that's been generous to us with the idea that you know the money that you donate to the Evan Scholars foundation goes to support young men and women in education. And that's really hard to argue that you know education is an important for a young person especially first-generation college students

and we have over 30,000 families around the country that make an annual gift to the Evans Scholars Program and with that we use that money to provide more scholarship opportunities for more caddies. Well we'll get you out of here on this before we bring in our next guest but with all your experience with the Western Gulf Association what is you are do you have a go-to success story that you'd love to tell the one of the ones that maybe has inspired you the most of maybe somebody that's come through the program

or something you've seen. I would tell you that, you know, it's stories like, and I'll give you several quick ones, stories like a gentleman named Tom Falk who rose from the Cadiyard to become the CEO of Kimberly Clark or Sam Allen who rose from the Cadiyard to be the CEO of John Deere. But ultimately one of my favorites is a woman named Mary Petrovich who was the first woman Evan Scholar ever at the University of Michigan. Her dad died when she was super young.

I'll say she was probably 10 or 12 but ultimately she helped raise her siblings, which was something like seven or eight siblings, while she's going through high school, while she's caddy, and while she's helping her mom, you know, kind of get through this. The first time she didn't have to share a bed with a sibling was when she went to college at the Evan Scholars' house. So this is an incredible opportunity of somebody who used the scholarship to herd me and it just ended up working in the auto industry, went to Harvard Business School, sold a company she started and then ultimately went into the private equity world. But Mary has been tremendously successful and the cool thing about her, she's also a

big golfer. Love the game, love to take caddies, and has been tremendously generous back to the Heaven's Scholar. So it's a full cycle story in that she's received the scholarship. She gives back to the program and then mentors students to try to achieve like she did. So, but literally, there's, I mean, it's amazing. There's everyone I meet.

There's 11,000 of those stories. You know, it's hard to pick just one. Yeah. No, that's what I'm having a lot of fun doing this and chatting about it and bringing this to life because it's really, it's inspiring stuff it really is. And I think it's so cool what you guys have dedicated so much time and effort to and how many how many lives have been changed because of it. So thank you very much, John, for joining us. We're going to turn it over here to George here shortly. But yeah, thank you very much for your time and sharing some of your insight. I loved it. Love being with you. And thanks for having me on before we bring in our next guest. We want to check in with our friends at Ray Khan. Now listen, in this copy, they say that the every day, E 25 earbuds are their best

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and someone that has gone on to be very successful and also give back a lot to the Evans Scholars and his own the Solage Cadi and Leadership Academy, which we talk about in this interview, that's George Solage, he sits on the board of directors at the Western Golf Association and the Evans Scholars Foundation. He also started the Colorado Golf Foundation

and is a true success story of the program and we get into some of his background from a working class family that he got into cadding and got an Evans Scholarship and has been able to have a successful career and as you'll hear as well, turn that back to giving back to the game and to the Evans Scholars and supporting a lot of other people

and hopes that they can find the success that he's had. So with the only further delay here is George Solich. So, I'd like to dive into your background if we can. I know we touched a bit in the intro of what you've done in recent years, but Evan Scholler's had a big impact on you, getting to where you are, and in a position to give back.

So, can we just start right from the beginning? What is your, I guess, your caddy experience as a kid, and how that helps shape things in your life? Yeah, caddy and really brought me into golf. I started as a 12-year-old at the Broadmore Golf Club. My older brother, Duffy, he was also an heaven scholar, dragged me to the caddy yard and thought it was a great job and I was so sure, but turns out he was right once. Anyway, we both got to see the great game of golf play out. And early in our lives, we came caddies,

and then we're fortunate enough to both get the oven scholarship at the University of Colorado. And I've said it many times. It was a real fork in the road, and it really changed my life. So it's been involved ever since. And I'm a huge fan of what this program does. And I'm a huge fan of cating and creating catey organizations and really boosting catey organizations at clubs.

And it's a great way for young people to learn real-life relationships. You out there with gulfers that you like and some that you don't. There's days you do a good job, there's days you do a bad job. You get up early, you work hard, you do the things that are more real life in this job and it's just that it's just a great representation of the game of golf to well a two-part question here for the next one is what was your relationship with the game of golf like before you started cadding and second part is

why is it a great job i hear people say that a lot i personally never been a caddy i did work at golf courses growing up uh... in the car barn uh... not a place it was good enough to have caddies but i hear people say that for so many different reasons i think i understand but in your and your mind what what is it about caddie in that uh... provide such great opportunities your first question is where were you in the game of golf before you start

caddie and i was nowhere i didn't even know anything about golf very little and it just gives you this incredibly great up close and personal uh... view of of the game of golf is a caddy is a young kid and and if you you know for me i was uh... i love playing sports and mostly team sports football basketball baseball so golf was was you know not in the crosshairs at all I love playing sports and mostly team sports and football, basketball, baseball. So golf was not in the crosshairs at all.

And yet, cadding really just got the juices flowing about what a great game it is and what how cool it would be to learn how to play golf. So I think I picked up my first club, you know, about 11 or 12 and you know, never put it down. So I think number one, cadding really is great introducing kids to the game. But number two, why is it such a great job? Well, you get to be outdoors all day, which is pretty phenomenal, particularly if you live in Colorado. You get to be outdoors all day, which is pretty phenomenal, particularly if you live in Colorado. You get to be with successful people.

And you get to be out for four hours with, again, highly successful people in many respects. And it's interesting, as I said, some you like, and some you don't. So it's really real world. and they have bad days on the golf course and they have good days on the golf course and you get to experience both of those but I think you know when you come into a caddy job you don't really know the game of golf if if you came in like I did and you have to learn all that so

there's a lot of pressure there's a lot of of, you know, am I doing the right thing? Am I staying out of the way? Am I only talking when I need to be able to talk? But, you know, so great, great exercise, great, great introduction to the game of golf, great introduction to, you know, adult relationships and interaction between people. And it's, for me, you know, I mowed lawns and I did dishes

and I did all the other jobs you could do as a kid, but there's nothing that really compared if you love sports, if you love to be outside, if you really were looking for this opportunity to experience work in an adult environment. There was also good competition relative to being a caddy. I know that the broadmore we used to rate caddies and we had a couple hundred caddies back then.

It was really a robust caddy program, but you'd rate the caddies one through 50. And you'd wear a button where you were in that caddy ranking. So there was competition, and you got ranked based upon your scores or your ratings from your players that you played with. So it kind of was real world from that standpoint too. You know, the better you performed, the better you did, the more money you made. And, you know, I think you, maybe it was a good early lesson in capitalism that I didn't really realize at the time, but it's still stuck with me.

I think a lot of the lessons that I learned in the Cadiyard and, you know, work ethic has really stuck with me and it made an impact. Yeah, I'm thinking of another job as a kid, where you do get to spend four-ish hours, almost interning for the day or assisting someone that is very successful, that likely has a lot of contacts, that you don't do that mowing lawns you don't have that kind of uh... hands-on experience with uh... like you said successful people but for what was your experience like i guess caddy is kid what what specifically would you say that you learned on that job that uh... you probably couldn't have learned

somewhere else well i would say initially it was a confidence check you know, could you do it? You know, it was intimidating. Some of these guys that you were counting for, you would hear their reputations, you know, and so you would go, oh geez, am I up for that? And I think it was a confidence builder as you went. I mean, you were a crummy as a cat cat, you first started, let's face it. I mean, I

can remember, you know, even if you get trained, in which we do, you know, we really do great training today versus what we did back then. But I think as you learn the game and as you learn how to be a good cat of your confidence builds, you start enjoying it, and it really gets fun. It really does. I know when I've been out as a golfer with a caddy, with a young caddy, either at Cherry Hills or Castle Pines or Solace Caddy and Leadership Caddy, any of those, when you're out with them and they're doing a really good job and you're having a conversation with them, you know, you're talking to these young kids and they're talking to you and you're asking about life and what their hopes and dreams

are, you know, what their challenges are. I mean, you don't get that at any other job. So it's like the ultimate mentorship program at an early age. It's really fun for me as a golfer now to be able to have caddies that have that kind of fire and interest and that confidence because you don't start out that way. The rookie caddies are timid and and maybe not so you know not so sure themselves and and there you know it over time

they just you can just see a blossom and develop and and and that's what that's what the job does and that's what the game of golf does and for perspective again on this i i come from a solid background i didn't i wouldn say I needed anything as a kid. I had access to golf yet, you know, I also worked at a golf course. And so my perspective on it's a little bit, you know, I, I feel like I've benefited so much from golf. And I, when I, when I talk about golf to non golfers, I'm very enthusiastic about all

the things that the sport can provide you yet at the same time. Part of me wonders if that group is that it's helping the most is just a bit closed off. And that's where something like Evan Scholler's, the Sohch Cadi and Leadership Academy and other similar organizations get me so hyped that it is truly inviting people of all backgrounds to reap the rewards that come from the game of golf.

So in your mind, we talked a little bit about the academy experience and whatnot, but you're so experienced in business and in golf. What is the game of golf capable of bringing to people? And why is it such a crucial sport for business and the success of so many people all around the world? That's an awesome question you know i mean for me is i chart back you know even to the caddy are

golf has been in every fabric and every point in my life has had a major impact whether it's you know business relationships or pure friendships uh... not to mention how i was fortunate enough to get to college. So it has really been, for me, it's affected every bit of my life. I came from a great family, but lower middle class, college wasn't guaranteed

and being able to get a job that eventually led to a full-right scholarship was kind of a wow, you know, so the connection to golf was so early and and then it just kept blossoming. And for me, I've been able to accomplish you know major deals in business because of relationships in golf. And it's not just been once, it's been many times. And I look at how people carry themselves in the game by and large. It's a game of honor. It's a game of individual performance, unlike team sports,

which I love and grew up with. But golf is super challenging from a mental standpoint and a physical standpoint. But it's got this one-on-one, two-on-two, you know, four-on-four kind of interaction that is so powerful, and that it really, I think it has tremendous, I think it has tremendous appeal for all walks of life. When I was growing up as a kid in the Cadiyard, there was a whole bunch of diversity. I think there still is.

I think the opportunity for kids to get into golf, whether it's through the Cadiyard or somewhere else, it's just a great game and it's a hard game. It's challenging as can be, but as I said, it's a game of honor. And you only do as well as you can do and the work you put in and the integrity of keeping score and being honest and not cheating. It's just a phenomenal game. I think the appeal across the world is pretty evident. I don't know what I do without golf in my life, frankly, it's been that powerful.

I'm right there with you. I think golf and baseball, especially grown up as kids taught me so much about handling adversity and basically just being tough. Like in life, there's going to be a lot more nose than yeses in golf. There's a lot more things that go wrong than go right, especially as you're beginning out and trying to get better and better and better and better. I always say there's probably four out of five rounds you walk off the golf course thinking you didn't get as much out of as you possibly could. And it's hard to explain what kind of lesson that kind of teaches you about the rest of life.

But this is obviously led for you led to great success post college and whatnot. But that isn't where things kind of stop with you as far as your relationship, of course, with Evan Scholars and the other in the Solage Cadi and Leadership Academy. Take us through, once you are achieving some successes in life, how you came back around to being on the other end of supporting the Evan Scholars and giving back and what that timeline looked like. I think at an early age, after college,

as I went into the workforce, I realized those connections with both the Evans-Guller family, the Western Gulf Association, and golf in general, just kept flourishing. And I felt just like the right thing to do to be able to give back to the organization that gave me so much and really set me on the path that I was on. So I think I joined the board of the Western Gulf Association even back in my 30s.

So I was young and interested and cared about the program, cared about it growing, and cared about, you know, caddy programs continuing to grow. And that wasn't a given. There was a time in the 90s where caddy programs were really kind of dying on the vine in many areas, and particularly in Colorado. So we really worked hard to make sure that the clubs, whether they were private or public courses, have the opportunity to have caddy programs. And I think, is the Western Gulf Association and Evan Scholars' foundation has evolved and gotten better and better.

They realize that it's the full conveyor belt here. Not only do you have to raise money to provide scholarships and get good kids and put them in the right places to be successful in universities, but you also have to develop from the ground up these caddy programs that are very synergistic with building the game of golf as well as building young men and women who want to be caddies and want to get the oven scholarship to have the places and opportunities to be able to do that. So the involvement I've had both with Western Golf and the oven scholars foundation as

well as the Colorado Golf Association with the Solace Cateon Leadership Academy have been very rewarding. I was fortunate enough to be the chairman of the BMW Championship. When we brought it here to Colorado at Cherry Hills, I was fortunate enough to do that. It was really a wonderful part of my golf experience because the 100% of the proceeds from the BMW Championship, the Old Western Open, obviously, go to the Evans Scholars Foundation. So it was really, really a highlight for me to be able to do that and see the great things to that tournament does not only for the scholarship, but just to how great it is to be a part of something that need on the golf scene.

So that was fun. And today, as I look back on my career, we continue to work really hard to make sure that kids are having the opportunity to be in caddy programs. programs and and the so let's cut in leadership academy at common ground and and now at uh... several other clubs are achieving that here and i know we're we're doing that all across the country in different in different ways so pretty aren't exciting yep well i was exactly what i was going to go next in uh... not to lead you directly into it but the name of you know the so let's caddy and leadership

academy i think speaks to the goal of it and but the name of you know the so much caddy and leadership academy I think speaks to the goal of it and that the goal isn't just to become a great caddy So what are the goals? Can you tell us about the organization? We had a chance to experience it Last year at our event that we had out at common ground called the summit proceeds of which went directly to the so much caddy and leadership academy And we had an absolute blast with our caddies. And I should remember her name, I forget her name, but by the end of the round, she was speaking our language, which is very weird. And that one of our guys, when he really wants to pound

an iron shot, he calls it the Nuky Boy. And by the end of the round, she was saying, yeah, I think it's the Nuky Boy 9. And we were just so impressed with the humor and the relationship that they had with uh... the players they're cutting for but tell us about the academy and what the goals are in some of the uh... success stories you've had over the last several years you know i can't believe we're in

our eight year i think with the solace cady and leadership academy and i think the year you know the original uh... thought i get i called edmate who's our executive director of the Colorado Golf Association. I think it was a golf world cover that had a Cadi camp and it was the Nantucket Cadi camp. I called Ed and I said, I don't know if we need to do exactly this, but this is something

we ought to think about here. And instead of building buildings for a golf house or spending all the money to do that, let's build the program. Let's make this the place that we have a caddy program where kids from the inner city can come and not only get a great job, but have the opportunity to give a scholarship. So I think we're up to 19 or 20 Heaven Scholars during that period that are graduates of

the program. It's been fabulous. It's been great to see and it's been, you know, we started from nothing. And you know, we've been partnering with the Western Gulf Association and Heaven Scholars Foundation all along. The idea that you can create a program like that at a public golf course was really rewarding, because what we do is we train them at common ground

for two years, and then we send them off to other clubs for the remaining two years, and they get a great variety of interaction with a lot of different people. Whether they go on to receive the Evan Scholarship or not, I'm really quite confident that it was a very positive influence on these young people's lives. The leadership aspect is what we're really proud of. You know, they learned financial literacy, whether they're there, which if you look at a lot of the schools anymore, they don't even teach that.

And they learned something that we were really proud of, called the Code of the West. And there was a book written called the Cowboy Code that we've always admired. And we actually asked the author if we could use the code of the West is the 10 codes that we teach the kids. Live each day with courage, take pride in your work, always finish what you start, do what has to be done, be tough, but be fair. When you make a promise, keep it right for the brand, talk less, same war. Remember that some things aren't for sale and nowhere to draw the line.

And then we ask the kids to create the 11th code. Those codes are better than the first 10th every time. So it's a big part of what we hope will stick with these kids, whether they, again, whether they get the heaven scholarship for the don't uh... it's important piece of the work we do so we're very proud of that and that's not to say the benefit for the actual golfers been uh... you know visiting common ground golf club the caddy to to hire a caddy uh... uh... out there is that you're not hiring them it's free correct

it is the way that we have the structured the program it's a grant so we've in doubt the grant so we we uh... we paid well you can think of almost like a scholarship grant to to teach the kids out of caddy and then for the golfer uh... the the base fee is is uh... is paid for through the grant and all we would ask the golfer to do is tip them. So the idea there was, sorry, that we didn't want to create a program that created an unnecessary burden of expense back on the golfer, but we wanted to create a program that the golfer had a little bit of skin in the game and we had skin in the game. And it would flourish, the program would flourish because it didn't compete with golf carts, it was in addition to.

And so it's really worked out well. well and the the the grand piece uh... the kids have to fulfill a certain number of loops per year and they have to fulfill uh... the leadership classes so it's it's uh... it kind of all works hand in hand it it it uh... it just hits the mark i said understand that there have been other kind of caddy programs around the country that have popped up using the the soul which academy is as an example could that's could take us through some some of the where those might be and kind of how those

are flourished as well. Yeah, well, the most nearest one to common ground is Meridian Golf Club. My good friend Paul Obato is the head pro there started it there and I think we have 12 or 15 kids there now. In the western slope in Colorado in Grand Junction, we have we have 12 or 15 kids there now. In the western slope in Colorado, in Grand Junction, we have a satellite. We also have one in Northern Colorado in Greeley. And it's gone, you know, we don't really have,

we don't care if it's called the Solage Cating Leadership Academy or whatever. We want to be able to provide that blueprint to whoever wants to take it and run with it. And out in Wisconsin, they've used our blueprint and have it out there. John Ashworth out at Goat Hill in California. We gave him the blueprint from the start and some funding. And he's been able to put together a program out there.

He's got a Boys and Girls Club facility really close to Goat Hill, so he's been able to kind of draw on that. So, you know, it's not a one size fits all to every place in the country, but it's a good blueprint that you can tweak and take however you want to really promote Cadi programs. And again, I know western golf is taking this you know really seriously and have their own development of caddy programs throughout the country and i think that'll be something that we're gonna be able to hopefully participate in and help them

we carry one flag here and so game of golf and it's the oven scars foundation and helping kids and and And that's, so whatever the name is, it really doesn't matter. Well, we'll get you out of here on this, as long as you've been a part of these programs, I've imagined you've come across some pretty cool stories from people that have found success, maybe after graduated from Evan Scholars or things you've seen

at the Solage Cadi Leadership Academy. What's your go-to story? What's your go to the story that maybe you're most proud of of of the effect you have your your your help or the heaven scholars are the leadership academy has had on a person's life maybe well i guess i would say it would be uh... you know that of six degrees of separation kind of story when i was

fourteen we always to sit in the caddy yard with our Cadi bibs on our buttons for our, you know, rank is a Cadi. And, you know, I think it was 14 or 15, but I, Dallas Thomas, the Cadi master, came out of the Bromwell Golf Club and grabbed four of us and brought us in the back and said, hey, listen, today you guys got to be on your best. You're going to be getting for some really important guys. I want you to just do a really good job and get out there and hustle and show us off well.

And of course, you're 14. You don't know. You're thinking while it's a football player, a famous golfer or somebody that you know only it was four guys that, of course, none of us knew. The guys' names were Jack Vickers, Jimmy Vickers, Bobby Vickers, and one of their guests. And of course, Jack Vickers is the founder of Calfs of Pines Golf Club and a fabulous guy and a fabulous golf. And I had no idea who he was and I got to Caddy for Jack and he was a wonderful gentleman and just really enjoyed the day.

But I didn't know who he was and didn't from that day or that day after, but certainly later I found out. Jack Vickers was the Jack Vickers who founded Castle Pines and brought the PGA tour to Castle Pines for 21 years from the international. Certainly I got to know Jack as I became a member later of Castle Pines Golf Club, which was a great honor, very humbled by that. And now I serve as Chairman and President succeeding Jack at

Castle Pine. So can you imagine a 14 year old kid meeting Jack Vickers as caddy on the golf course and then today 40 45 years later I'm serving as his successor at the club that he built. That's the kind of story that Cady and Golf have all over the country. And it's just, I consider myself very fortunate, lucky to have picked up that bag and then a Cady back when I was 12 years old. Awesome. That's a fantastic story. George, thank you so much for your time and for helping shine some light on all you've done with the Evan scholars and how that's

impacted you and I know listeners will have enjoyed hearing your story. Great well thanks for taking the time to hear it but we'll look forward to hearing it on the podcast. Last up from our Evan Scholars guest is Oscar Garcia he is from Indian Hills Country Club in Kansas City. He's currently a senior at the University of Kansas and the chapter president, co-chair of the Evans Scholars National Committee and one of the top two current leaders

of the Evans Scholars program. The Evans Scholars has allowed him to achieve the American dream his great-grandparents are all immigrants from Mexico and we get into his whole story of how he'd never been on a golf course before cadiing and how the Evans Scholars has hopefully changed his life into the future and how he's developed a love of golf so without any further delay this is last interview of this episode this is oscar garcia

alright oscar so tell me about what yet i guess how you got started in cation how do you uh... first heard about it or you know what was your relationship with the game of golf like before uh... before you started cation as well honestly i i did not play golf i never even been on the golf course prior to caddy training. So to give you some backstory, I was 13 years old in eighth grade and I really wanted a pair of baseball quits. Some nice new Nike baseball quits. They were a little bit too expensive. So my mom suggested I get like a summer job or just find some means to pay for those baseball quits and wasn't really wanting to cut grass wasn't you know didn't want to just do chores

and get my money that way. So I kind of explored the option of I got on my bike one day and just kind of rode around my neighborhood to all the little local businesses and tried to ask if they would hire a 13 year old kid and of course nobody wanted to just have legal reasons and you know all that good stuff. So my mom had mentioned to me you know your uncle had catty of the country club back in the 70s and you know we don't know she didn't know that club so I had a catty program or not so I thought to reach out and I gave him a call and they had ceased you know doing the catty program but they recommended I call the study country club called the Indian Hills.

So I gave Indian Hills Country Club a ring, which is in Kansas City, where I'm from, can be in the league, they just happened to have caddy training four days from the time that I called them. So I went in pretty naive, showed up to caddy training, my white polo and my caddy shorts, and had never been on a golf course,

had never swung a golf club, and within that week I kinda just fell in love with the game. I really just like being out there. I made a lot of mistakes when I initially started out there. I just didn't have a lot of knowledge. But here we are eight, some years later. And golf is my favorite sport. And I credit everything I have now to the game.

So it's definitely been just a great story for me. I've just come in from not having any knowledge to learn about today. Well, there's a ton of, uh, really good, positive and inspiring stuff we can draw from there, but I'm immediately drawn to, I need to hear what some of your mistakes were that you made right off the bat. Yeah, for sure. For sure. So my first loop, I'll never forget, uh, loop as in, you know, round or whatever, you know, that's this caddy speaker for around. But my first loop was for a gentleman named Jim,

like he is an engineer there in Kansas City, super nice guy, kind of a staple member at our country club and somebody who just treats casually well is a really big supporter of the Evan Scholar program. But I'll never forget, I'm on the first tee and he gives me, you know, he had his driver off the first tee. I take his head cover, put it in my caddy bed, but at my towel, you know,

it got everything just squared away. I was trying to do as good of a job as possible. And I dropped his head cover. And it was a nice leather one from another one of these, one of the other club in Kansas. And we get to the whole three and he, you know, he asked me, hey, I'll see what you might put in the cover on my, you know, my driver don't want it to get dinged up.

So I started shuffling around looking for it. And I knew instantly that I dropped it somewhere. So at one point, I had to switch the bag over to him. So I had to give him the bag. And he started carrying his own bag. And I had to sprint back to the first toll. And finally, I was able to find the head cover and meet him up. But embarrass would be an understatement

for that. Some other mistakes, just like standing and sh- like shadow lines, I was not really wearing my shadow and I didn't really know that players didn't like, you know, 14 year old boys shadow and they're putting line. So I had to get called out on that a few times, but those are just a few of the stories from this first couple weeks there. Well, when you look at it from an outside perspective, it is kind of like some of these things for golfers are silly.

Like why would you? Why would you know that as a 14 year old that wasn't familiar with golf? But for me personally, I think a lot of people listen to podcasts too. They grew up playing the game or maybe they may even be somewhat new to the game, but for you to come into the game through cadiying, what, what's something? I guess that you learned about golf that you were surprised. I don't know if that's the right way to ask that, but kind of something you weren't expecting to get out of the Cadi experience that you ended up getting.

So I was a baseball player growing up, played basketball, baseball, football, you know, did all those things. And golf is just such a different sport. And I think, you know, the main takeaway that I took from cadding and just from golf in general is how much of it can cross apply to just life in general, treating each other with respect, and just the way you conduct yourself out there on the golf course sometimes, just in a professional manner, at least for me as a young teenage kid, being able to interact with some of these gentlemen who are really successful what they do and

get into just talking to these guys for four or five hours out there on the rounds. I think that a lot of favors for me. Just going forward into my college experience and the way that I conduct myself in crowds now. If you meet a caddy, if you meet any Evan Scholar, you'll instantly be able to tell that these kids have been talking to adults for a long time and really just know how to conduct themselves. So I think the biggest takeaway for me was just how much socially you can gain from the game

and golf, and it's so different from basketball and baseball where you're out there on the field with the team. And everything's just centered around the game. Whereas golf, there's so many different aspects that go into it, and you can have conversations out there. And you can make some really great relationships with a lot of into it and you can have conversations out there. You can, you know, if that's some great, you made some really great relationships with a lot of the guys and women that I caddy for. So it's just one of those things that I wasn't expecting to take away from golf, but this really helped me here in my academic

career and just, um, life going forward. Well, how did you learn about the Evan scholarship? I mean, when did you, I imagine that your first day of caddie, you know, losing head covers, you didn't know this existed. I guess when did it become clear that this was going to be an option for you and and kind of what, what, what does it take to, I guess, earn the scholarship? To go just on, on my story, the first week during that initial caddy training, they gave us some literature, just some pamphlets from the Western Gulf Association regarding the Evan scholarship.

And you know, at the time, I was 13 again, and I really wasn't even thinking about college, I just decided what a high school I was getting to attend. So that was the last thing on my mind, but it definitely was something that, you know, I got introduced to early. And then going forward, I was able to make some really good connections with some of our Evans scholarship directors at my country club.

And from there, they kind of just walked me through, you know, the process of walk me through you know the process of applying and you know getting a scholarship but to go back to how the process starts really it's just cadding for more than two years it's kind of the first criteria that you have to meet so by the time I've gotten to my senior year of high school that fall I've been cadding it would have been my fifth summer so cad counting for two years is the first parameter, having a nice standing high school record academically and leadership-wise is another thing

that they really look for, demonstrating some sort of financial need. It doesn't have to be anything crazy, but just definitely showing some financial need and that the Evans scholarship could really help you and your family send you to college. And just having a really good character, just being somebody who is respected at your club and stuff like that.

Directors and members of our club were able to distinguish who is going to be a good candidate and who may not. From there, they just kind of help you walk through the steps and get you applied and get letters of recommendation. It's a whole process. It takes a couple months, and then ultimately by the spring of your senior year, you should find out if you're gonna be an oven star

or not going for it. Well, when I was your age, my dad always told me, he always just said, like yeah, that's a common phrase amongst the adults in the room, which is, it's not what you know, it's who you know, and I didn't really, I mean, I knew kind of what he was getting at there, but I didn't really fully understand it.

Do you feel like this program has kind of maybe given you an inside track and understanding what all that means? It definitely does, you know, and just going back to some of the connections I've made from the people that have caddy for those, you know, a lot of these people have helped me write letters of recommendation and have, you know, referred me to the internship I had this last summer and stuff like that. So I would say yeah it really is about about who you know and making those connections. A lot of it is also just selling yourself and just being able to go out there and I went on every loop and just try to make it as good as possible. Trying to really connect with whoever I'm counting for, trying to just make that experience for them as positive as

possible and just making sure that I'm doing my part to make a round go as smoothly as possible. But yeah, definitely, the relationships that I made and some of these people have just been fantastic from Western Golf to being able to to Cadi in the program of the BMW Championship last year. I've just golf has really provided me with a lot of, you know, interesting and fantastic relationships that I otherwise would not have had. What pro did you draw in the program last year?

I had Charles Howell. How great I was on. Yeah, he's the mom. He, uh, that was a great experience. It actually fun story. We were on, you familiar with Madinem, I'm sure, but I'm trying to remember what the par three is on the back nine, but he actually had a hole in one while it was on his bag. And that was the first hole in one I'd ever get a part of. So that was a, there's a video on Instagram somewhere. We had a hole in one. So he gave me the ball for that. And yeah, he's a big guy. It really was just a surreal experience being able to be out there on this grounds and

in County for a real pro. So that was a good time. What's your golf game like these days now? Golf games rough. I got to play a decent amount. It interned for the American Junior Golf Association this summer. So I got to play a decent amount and bought the courses that we were able to get to. I actually played yesterday with a couple of Evan Scarb buddies in mine in Kansas City. So, games are bad once the money yesterday. So, I stopped keeping strokes, but we had a little match play game going on.

So, not too bad, it could be better. Any other parting thoughts? You've shared some great insights to what the Evan Scholars has meant to you, but anything we possibly would have missed along the way and anything else you could say about the program. You know, nothing really. I just, you know, if anybody's listening, he was listening, you know, the age of 18, I would definitely,

I always tell people working at a golf course is the greatest summer job that you can have, whether you know, you're working in the background, working, you know, as a caddy, you know, working at the halfway house gym, whatever, just being out there and getting to interact with the game of golf. There's so many life lessons you can take away from the game. It's done so much for me. And if you happen to be at a club that sports Evan Scholars, definitely make that a goal.

I always tell people even if one is in to receive the Evan Scholarship, just cadding in general, just teaches you so much about life. And you can make some good money on the side. So I definitely recommend getting out there to your local course and getting a job there. That's what I'm hoping comes to this. I don't think we have a lot of 13, 14-year-old listeners

to the show, but I'm hoping this gets sent to some of them and it may be turned and inspired to get into the catty life. So Oscar, thanks so much for sharing your insight and I hope you cross paths in the near future. Of course, yes, thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Cheers. Get a nice club. Get the right club.

Be the right club today. Yes! That is better than most. How about him? That is better than most. Better than most. Better than most. Expect anything different.

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