Chevron Challenge raises funds for Evans Scholarship

ESF receives a $100,000 contribution from Chevron

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – The Evans Scholars Foundation has received a $100,000 contribution from Chevron, the result of the Chevron Challenge that took place on Saturday and Sunday at the 2020 BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club.

The Chevron Challenge awarded $1,000 for each player who hit his shot within 20 feet of the flagstick on the par-3 13th hole at Olympia Fields Country Club during the final two rounds of the BMW Championship. Sixty-four players accomplished the feat, resulting in a contribution of $64,000 to the Evans Scholars Foundation, which Chevron generously rounded up to $100,000.

The Chevron Challenge contribution will be made as a 2020 Match Play Challenge gift, with Chevron designated as a Match Play Partner. The funds will be added to a pool of funds that are used to match all gifts of $2,500 or more to the Evans Scholars Foundation.

Chevron also was set to donate an additional $125,000 and fund their second Endowed Named Scholarship if any player had a hole-in-one Saturday or Sunday on the 13th hole. However, the hole – and the entire 18-hole Olympia Fields North course – stood up to the challenge of fielding the world’s top players and yielded no holes-in-one on the 13th and not many low scores throughout the 72-hole PGA TOUR FedExCup Playoffs event.

Spain’s Jon Rahm – ranked No. 2 in the world – edged No. 1-ranked Dustin Johnson by sinking a 65-foot birdie putt on their first playoff hole after the two tied for the lead at 4-under 276 at the end of regulation play Sunday.

This year’s contribution brings the two-year Chevron Challenge total funding to $325,000. In 2019, the Chevron Challenge – held during the 2019 Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am – resulted in a $225,000 contribution from Chevron. In addition to a $100,000 donation for the Challenge, Chevron contributed another $125,000 for a fully endowed scholarship after Charles Howell III hit a hole-in-one on the Chevron Challenge hole, the par 3, 13th at Medinah Country Club. That added funding enabled the Evans Scholars Foundation to award a full tuition and housing college scholarship to a young caddie who is pursuing a career in a STEM field after graduation.

“We are extremely grateful for the support Chevron has shown the Evans Scholars Program these past two years,” said John Kaczkowski, President and CEO of the Western Golf Association and Evans Scholars Foundation. “These generous contributions are providing deserving young caddies the life-changing opportunity of a college education. Chevron’s generosity is helping us fulfill our mission of changing lives for the better through golf and higher education.”

The Evans Scholars Foundation provides full college scholarships to young caddies with strong academic records. Many Evans Scholars are first-generation college students, and all have significant financial need. As a group, Evans Scholars maintain a cumulative 3.4 GPA and graduate at a rate of 95 percent. This fall, a record 1,045 Evans Scholars are attending 19 leading universities nationwide. The Evans Scholars Program has helped more than 11,300 young men and women earn degrees and start successful careers since it was founded in 1930.