Finalists interviewed at Llanerch Country Club in Havertown, Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA – Two students from the Philadelphia area were recently named recipients of the Platt Evans Scholarship, a full housing and tuition college grant awarded to golf caddies.

The result of a partnership between the Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholars Foundation and the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust, Platt Evans Scholars are chosen based on a strong caddie record, excellent academics, demonstrated financial need and outstanding character. The recipients will attend Penn State University in University Park this fall.

They were awarded the Platt Evans Scholarship following a selection meeting at Llanerch Country Club in February. This is the seventh year of the partnership between the ESF and the J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust.

The Platt Evans Scholarship recipients are:

James Lloyd Adkins, of Glenside, has caddied at North Hills Country Club for the past four years. He is a senior at Roman Catholic High School, where he is captain of the lacrosse team and a member of the golf team. “I always like to tell my friends that there is not a single better job for a teenager to have than to be a caddie,” he says. “It has given me an opportunity to create connections and relationships that have helped me work often and to the best of my ability.”

Harmon Piatkowski, of Blue Bell, has caddied at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club for the past four years. He is a senior at Wissahickon High School and played for his high school golf team. He served on student council and in many school clubs that emphasized inclusivity and is a volunteer for the Peace Camp. “I know the Chick Evans Scholarship goes beyond just a scholarship but holds a deeper meaning in giving back and becoming a network and community,” he said.

“Our relationship with the Evans Scholars Foundation is a wonderful partnership,” said Tina Gregor, Chairwoman of the J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust. “It allows us to serve and support amazing, bright and hardworking young men and women reach their potential and achieve a college education.”

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

“Based on their excellence in the classroom and their service to their schools and communities, these young students have certainly earned this life-changing opportunity,” said local WGA Director and Evans Alum Frank Polizzi. “We welcome them to the Evans Scholars family.”