Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and the Keiser family have long been strong supporters of the Western Golf Association and the Evans Scholars Program.
We currently have 58 Evans Alumni who have been awarded full ride scholarships since 2001.
Evans Scholars History
In 1929, famed amateur golfer Charles "Chick" Evans Jr. asked the WGA to administer the fund he had established to send deserving caddies to college. The WGA awarded its first two scholarships in 1930, sending caddies Harold Fink and Jim McGinnis to Northwestern University. Until World War II, all Evans Scholars continued to attend Northwestern, and it was there that the first Scholarship House was established.
As the Evans Scholars Foundation grew, WGA Directors realized the impact of Chick's dream on the lives of young men and women with limited access to a college education. When Chick's original investment was exhausted, the WGA Directors perpetuated the Evans Scholars Program by making contributions of their own.
Today, the Foundation is funded by contributions from Par Club members across the country as well as proceeds from their championships. The Evans Scholars Program provides academic, professional and social resources that help students maintain a cumulative 3.4 GPA and 95 percent graduation rate. There are a record 1,070 Evans Scholars enrolled in 21 leading universities for the 2020-21 academic year, and 11,556 young men and women have graduated as Evans Scholars since 1930.
