N.J. Evans Scholar Classic Funds Caddie Scholarships
The 14th annual New Jersey Evans Scholar Classic golf outing attracted close to 100 Evans Scholars alumni, NJSGA caddie alumni, and friends on Monday, June 13, at Hawk Pointe Golf Club in Washington, N.J.
NJSGA partner Tom Paluck, a former Evans Scholar at Michigan State and now the principle at Summit’s TSP Capital Management, initiated the event in 2003 with 60 golfers. The event is conducted jointly between the New Jersey State Golf Association and the Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholars Foundation.
“Events like this are about providing an education to a needy caddie who might not otherwise be able to attend college. As an Evans alumnus myself, I can tell you how valuable an Evans Scholarship is,” said Paluck, whose TSP Capital Management sponsors the NJSGA Mixed Pinehurst championship.
“Both associations (WGA and NJSGA) are committed to supporting caddies in New Jersey and in working closer together,” Paluck said. “This event typifies how we are working together. We’re taking young boy and girl cadies and giving them an opportunity to go to college. The WGA is the largest new association of its kind in providing caddie scholarships in the United States. “
Two New Jersey residents are current recipients of full-tuition and housing Evans Scholarships: Tommy Marcus of Tenafly, a senior-to-be at the University of Michigan, and Tyler Citrin of Springfield, a rising junior at the University of Indiana. Current NJSGA Caddie Scholars from Baltusrol Golf Club and Somerset Hills Country Club were also in attendance.
“We currently have 825 students at 19 universities receiving Evans Scholarships and we are committed to raising that number to 1,000 and that includes the East Coast. Penn State will be the first eastern school in 2018, and New Jersey, is an important piece of that growth with Rutgers University a possibility in the future, “ said Jeff Harrison, Vice President of Education at the WGA and Evans alumnus.
“The opportunities an Evans Scholarship provides for caddies include full tuition scholarship and housing. We come to events like this to celebrate our success and plan for the future,” Harrison stated.
Harrison noted that the University of Oregon was this year the 19th university to offer full Evans Scholarships. Coming soon besides Penn State are the universities of Kansas and Washington.
The guest of honor was Marcus, the 2013 New Jersey Evans Scholar. Tommy, a four-year caddie at Knickerbocker Country Club, majors in sports management. He followed in the footsteps of Sean Thornton of Green Brook Country Club and Caldwell, N.J., who graduated from Michigan two years ago.
“I don’t know whre I’d be without the Evans Scholarship. I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you,” Marcus said.
Citrin is majoring in information systems with a minor in computer science.
“The Evans Scholarship is life changing. My world has dramatically changed forever because of my experience as an Evans Scholar,” Citrin said
Paluck, an Evans Scholar at Michigan State University, Class of 1962, and former NJSGA president, initiated the event. He hoped New Jersey caddies might get the same academic opportunity that the Evans Foundation extended to him years ago.
Ed Korff who graduated the University of Michigan in 1966 was an Evans Scholar. “I followed my brother Dave, who passed away last year. When I was young, we had a lot of illness in the family so the Evans Scholarship was a blessing,” said Korff, who has resided in Princeton for 18 years. “That scholarship paved the way for a life of things I never expected.”
Current Evans Scholar Dan Hipp, a native of New Lenox, Ill., of the University of Northern Illinois and a Western Golf Association intern, was on hand.
“I may not have gone to college if it weren’t for the Evans Scholarship, or I would have taken on a lot of debt,” said Hipp. “It’s a life-changing opportunity,” said Hipp, who caddies at famed Olympic Field and hopes to someday work in administration for the PGA Tour.
