Anthem Member Hopes to Change Lives Through Caddying

For Chris Anderson, being a caddie at Portland Golf Club starting at age of 11 was a life-changing experience. Not only did he get to hang around golfers who became role models, but due to his diligence in school and on the course, three members suggested he apply to receive a Chick Evans caddie scholarship as a senior in high school and he was successful. – By Brian Hurlburt, Las Vegas Golf Insider.

Anderson received a full-ride, four-year scholarship to the University of Oregon, where he graduated in 1970 with an accounting degree. Anderson is now a member of Anthem Country Club and has lived in Las Vegas since the eighties. He retired from construction management and now helps his wife with her real estate business and is also the new director of the Western Golf Association in Southern Nevada, the group that organizes and awards the scholarships.

“All I can say is receiving the scholarship was life-changing for me and now to be a part of helping change the lives of others is very meaningful,” Anderson says.

The Evans Scholarship is a full tuition and housing college scholarship for deserving golf caddies. Each year, more than 900 students nationwide attend college on a four-year scholarship awarded by the Evans Scholars Foundation, which was established by famed amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans Jr. Candidates must demonstrate strong records of caddying, academics and leadership, as well as financial need. In 2017, a record 965 caddies are enrolled at 19 universities nationwide. Since 1930 when the first two Evans Scholars enrolled at Northwestern.

Asni Solomon, a Colorado Evans Scholar at Northwestern University, said the following: “The Evans Scholarship changed the course of my life. It helped shape who I am as an individual and remarkably changed my whole future. I am so thankful to have earned this full-ride scholarship; it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

To date, a youth from Southern Nevada hasn’t earned an Evans Scholarship, but that is mostly due to the fact that there are no youth caddie programs available in the valley. Anderson and other Evans Scholarship alumni are working to change that and are discussing it with area course management to implement a program.

But Anderson says area youth can apply for an annual summer academy program that allows them to meet the requirements of the scholarship, which are good grades, financial need and a certain amount of actual caddie rounds. Each summer, the caddies in the academy are housed in the Evans House on the Northwestern University campus and spend seven weeks in the Chicago area.

According to Anderson, last summer, Reality Belue-Welch, an honors student at Faith Lutheran High, became the first female from Southern Nevada to attend The Caddie Academy in Chicago sponsored by the Western Golf Association and the Evans Scholars Foundation. Anderson says he believes 10 or 12 students have applied for the caddie academy but notifications about acceptance haven’t been sent out yet.

Anderson  says the WGA also organizes the Western Amateur and he is working with local high school coaches and other golf officials to ensure that the top junior golfers and other amateurs have the opportunity to play in the prestigious WGA events, should they meet the high standards needed to play.

To learn more or help with his vision of a caddie program in Southern Nevada, email Anderson at chris70anderson@gmail.com. For additional Evans Scholarship information, visit www.wgaesf.org.