Chicago-area Evans Scholar honored as Leader of the Year

Erin Cronin named the 2020 Evans Scholar of the Year

GLENVIEW, Ill. – Miami University Evans Scholar Erin Cronin has been named the 2020 Evans Scholar of the Year, the most prestigious title a student can earn within the Evans Scholars Program.

Erin Cronin is from Orland Park, Illinois, and caddied at Midlothian Country Club. She graduated this past spring with a degree in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from Miami, where she earned a 3.9 GPA. Erin will be attending graduate school this fall at the University of Wisconsin to earn her master’s in science in Speech-Language Pathology and will serve as a graduate advisor to current Evans Scholars.

“Our organization is extremely proud of Erin, who has shown incredible academic excellence and outstanding leadership,” WGA President and CEO John Kaczkowski. “We hope her hard work and unwavering dedication serves as an inspiration for other students and Evans Scholars nationwide.”

PGA TOUR player Bryson DeChambeau, who is currently the eighth-ranked player in the world, surprised Erin with this news ahead of Wednesday’s BMW Match Play Challenge, a nine-hole charity exhibition hosted by the 2020 BMW Championship and PGA TOUR to benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation.

Erin served as a standard bearer during the BMW Match Play Challenge while DeChambeau competed alongside four-time PGA TOUR winner Kevin Na. The duo took on 2020 PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa who teamed up with fellow California alum Max Homa.

The two-man teams competed on the back nine of Olympia Fields Country Club’s North Course to earn points that resulted in donations to the Evans Scholars Foundation.

Evans Scholars are caddies who have earned a full, four-year tuition and housing grant based on their strong caddie record, excellent academics, financial need and outstanding character. The Evans Scholars Program has been run by the Western Golf Association since its founding in 1930.

This fall, 1,045 students will be enrolled at 19 universities nationwide as Evans Scholars, and more than 11,323 caddies nationwide have graduated as Evans Scholars.