John Rochford Honored For Caddie Scholarship Efforts

John Rochford of Echo Lake, one of the leading fund-raisers in the 67-year history of the New Jersey State Golf Association Caddie Scholarship Foundation was recently honored by Echo Lake Country Club for his contributions in that area.

Since 2002, Rochford has headed a campaign that has culminated in Echo Lake members donating $438,636 to the Caddie Scholarship Foundation.

That resulted in 145 Echo Lake caddies receiving a total of $444,528 in scholarships over the past 12 years. This past year, Echo Lake members donated $55,835 to the CSF, which was No. 1 among 18-hole clubs. Baltusrol’s donation of $77,218 was No. 1 among 36-hole courses.

Currently, 13 Echo Lake caddies are receiving scholarship monies from the NJSGA CSF.

Rochford was presented the flag that had flown as the hole marker on Echo Lake’s 18th green. The flag had been presented by the NJSGA CSF and designated Echo Lake as one of the Top Five donating clubs to the CSF in the state.

Rochford, who had served as Echo Lake president for more than 15 years, now works in conjunction with Echo Lake member Brian Steller on behalf of the CSF.

“John was honored for his promotion of the Caddie Scholarship Foundation, for making aware young men and women of the scholarships that they can receive,” said long-time Echo Lake head professional Mike Preston.

“John has made donating to the Caddie Scholarship Foundation a club-wide thing and the club has taken great pride in it. He has done things like bringing back former Caddie Scholarship recipients to speak to our membership."

Each summer, Echo Lake invites past and current ELCC Chandler Scholars to the club for a breakfast. Chandler Scholars receive $6,500 per year for four years thanks to the generous contributions made by Echo Lake member Beverly Chandler and her late husband, Roger.

“The club was proud to honor John. He’s a very humble man who enjoys helping our caddies receive scholarships,” Preston concluded.