Since the day senior Zach Auel began caddying at South Hills Country Club, he knew he wanted to earn a scholarship through the national program the club participates in.
“Applying for the Chick Evans Scholarship has been my main goal since the day that I started caddying. I remember looking at the lists of scholars on the wall at South Hills Country Club and thinking, ‘I’m going to dedicate myself to exceed the requirements of this scholarship,’ ” Auel wrote in his scholarship application essay.
Auel succeeded, and as a result, he has a full scholarship to Penn State.
To earn the scholarship, Auel had to meet several requirements, including having a strong caddy record, excellent academics, and outstanding character.
Auel started playing golf when he was 12 years old and started caddying in 2021, after his sister’s friend told him about it.
“I didn’t really think I wanted to get into it, but after my first round I liked it,” Auel said.
As a caddy, Auel immediately had a dedication to getting things right, which got him noticed.
“When he was learning to become a caddy, he wanted to excel. He wanted to do more, take it on, and learn from the more senior caddies,” said longtime South Hills Country Club member and Evans Director Gary Evans, who is not related to the Chick Evans family.
Auel is not the first to win the scholarship from Baldwin, as there have been about five in the past decade alone. The scholarships are well known at the country club, he said.
“At South Hills Country Club they really promote it well,” Auel said. “There is a board with all the scholarships you can earn, and I just asked around and there are a lot of people there who put me in the right direction.”
Baldwin golfer Mack Dempsey said that whenever he and Auel play together, Auel uses his caddying skills to help.
“When we play together, we always help each other,” Dempsey, a junior, said. “When I had my best round, he was a good factor because he was reading putts and giving me suggestions.”
Dempsey and Auel have been teammates on the Baldwin golf team for three years. Dempsey said that he always enjoys playing with Auel.
“Every time it is really fun because it seems like I do well when I’m paired up with him,” Dempsey said.
While caddying, Auel enjoys the variety of tournaments at the country club.
“The member-member tournaments and member-guest tournaments are fun to caddy. It is a good environment up there, and they have fun and enjoy themselves,” Auel said.
Auel said Evans was a big part of why he got the scholarship. He got connected with Evans through Class of 2022 Baldwin grad and previous Evans scholarship winner Michael Pantelis.
“Ever since then, I’ve caddied for him and he really helped me with the scholarship,” Auel said.
In the end, though, it was Auel’s mentorship ability that set him apart from other applicants, Evans said.
“He was paying it forward by introducing people at school to caddying and promoting newcomers to keep coming back,” Evans said. “In fact, for the initiative he took, I awarded him with a WGA Caddie Scholar Prep Mentor Pin.”
That award is only given to those who exemplify mentorship qualities consistently, Evans said.
The caddy scholarship can be used at any of two dozen participating universities. Auel will attend Penn State, where he will study kinesiology to eventually become a physical therapist.
