New York-area caddie awarded full college scholarship

Finalists interviewed at Union League Club in New York City

WESTCHESTER, NY – One student from the New York area has been awarded the Westchester Evans Scholarship, a prestigious full housing and tuition college grant offered to golf caddies, following a final selection interview held at Union League Club in New York City on Feb. 11.

Alex Lipari of New Milford, Connecticut, caddied at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., and is a senior at New Milford High School. He’ll begin college this fall as a Westchester Evans Scholar at Penn State University, where he plans to study engineering.

“As a caddie, I have honed my networking skills, communicated with successful adults and learned many valuable life lessons along the way,” Lipari said.

The result of a partnership between the Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholars Foundation and the Westchester Golf Association Caddie Scholarship Fund, Westchester Evans Scholars are chosen based on a strong caddie record, excellent academics, financial need and outstanding character. Candidates must meet the qualifications of both organizations in order to earn the scholarship. The Evans Scholarship is valued at an estimated $120,000 over four years.

“Alex Lipari has shown dedication, hard work and sacrifice, and we are honored to help him pursue his dreams of a college education,” said WGA Chairman Kevin Buggy.

“We are proud that for over 60 years, the Westchester Caddie Scholarship Fund has provided aid to every candidate with financial need, and now, through our partnership with the Evans Scholars Foundation, we have been able to provide the opportunity of a full scholarship,” said Ben Kirschenbaum, former president of the Westchester Caddie Scholarship Fund.

The selection meeting in New York was one of more than 20 such meetings the Evans Scholars Foundation will hold across the country through the spring. When the 2019-20 selection meeting process is completed by April, an estimated 285 caddies are expected to be awarded the Evans Scholarship.

The Western Golf Association, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois, has supported the Chick Evans Scholarship Program through the Evans Scholars Foundation since 1930. One of golf’s favorite charities, it is the nation’s largest scholarship program for caddies.

Currently, a record 1,010 caddies are enrolled in 18 universities across the nation as Evans Scholars, and more than 11,050 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars since the program was founded by famed Chicago amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans Jr.

Scholarship funds come mostly from contributions by 32,500 golfers across the country, who are members of the Evans Scholars Par Club program. Evans Scholars Alumni donate more than $14 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 the Evans Scholars Foundation.