July 2025 - Caddies To College

With Kaczkowski at helm, Glenview-based Western Golf Association continues exponential growth
Photographs by Charles Cherney
This article appeared in the July 2025 edition of Chicago District Golfer.
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WGA President & CEO John Kaczkowski with Evans Scholar caddies from River Forest Country Club.

There is a history display of the Western Golf Association (WGA) at its headquarters in Glenview. The first panel notes the WGA was founded in 1899. The second panel shows that Chick Evans won the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in 1916, “using his success to fund caddie scholarships.” The third panel spotlights 1930, the pivotal year in the organization when the WGA launched the Evans Scholars Foundation, sending two caddies on full scholarships to Northwestern.

Two caddies? Ol’ Chick could never have imagined what became of his idea, especially since 2000. Indeed, to accurately portray the last 25 years on the history display, the WGA should use a business bar graph with the arrow pointing straight up.

The WGA and its growth truly are way off the charts.

“The Evans Scholars is the greatest untold story in golf,” says WGA President and CEO John Kaczkowski, using a common refrain as an opener to tell the tale of the association’s noble mission to send caddies to college.

The most recent chapter of that story might be among its best. The WGA has achieved many notable achievements since 2000 (see sidebar), all leading to the most important set of figures that trumps everything else: Currently, there are 1,190 Evans Scholars in school, nearly a 50% increase from 820 Evans Scholars in 2000. The WGA awarded a record 360 scholarships for the 2025-26 academic year. The momentum has the WGA shooting to reach 1,500 Evans Scholars in school by 2030.

“It’s truly astounding,” said Vince Pellegrino, an Evans Scholar at Indiana who now serves as the WGA’s Senior Vice President of Tournaments. “When I started here in 2000, I never thought something like that was possible.”

Pellegrino credits Kaczkowski and the WGA’s board for having the vision to generate such progress. For his part, Kaczkowski, who assumed his current position in 2010, points to the work of the entire WGA staff, which has grown to more than 100 people now housed in a sprawling 25,000-square-foot facility that opened in 2019.

“We’re doing a better job of telling our story,” Kaczkowski said. “We’re helping caddies get to college and it just resonates with people.”

 Under the leadership of WGA President & CEO John Kaczkowski the number of Evans Scholars has increased to 1,900 a year. The WGA's goal is to award 1,500 scholarships by 2030.

A big driver in the growth is having BMW as the title sponsor of the WGA’s marquee event and the tournament be part of the FedExCup Playoffs, beginning in 2007. That also led to the decision to move the event in and out of Chicago, beginning in 2012; the 2008 BMW was held at Bellerive in St. Louis and then returned to Cog Hill for three years through 2011. This year’s BMW will be held at Caves Valley Golf Club outside of Baltimore Aug. 14-17.

While the move rankled Chicago golf fans accustomed to having the former Western Open anchored here (see sidebar), the WGA has reaped a financial windfall by drawing big crowds for tournaments in St. Louis, Philadelphia, Indianapolis and other towns that haven’t been regular PGA Tour venues. Last year’s BMW at Castle Pines in Denver generated a record $10.2 million for the Evans Scholars program.

Moving the tournament around also has another benefit beyond the money generated at one event. Previously, awareness for the Evans Scholars was mostly limited to the Midwest. Thanks to greater exposure, the program now exists in more regions throughout the country. Pellegrino says the success of having previous BMWs in the Baltimore area led to an Evans Scholars house opening at the University of Maryland.

“Ten years ago, we didn't have any kids in school from the Northeast,” Kaczkowski said. “Now we have over 100 kids in school from the Northeast. It helps get the idea of caddying in front of a whole new audience. People learn about the Evans Scholars and want to become involved. From a financial and exposure standpoint, it’s been great for us.”

Jeff Harrison has been at the WGA for 36 years, “but who’s counting?” Harrison, the longtime Senior Vice President of Education and now Senior Vice President, Advisory & Special Initiatives, points to two awards the WGA won in 2024: the BMW was named the PGA Tour’s top tournament of the year for the sixth time, and the Evans Scholars were named the Scholarship Provider of the Year by the National Scholarship Provider Association. He says the honors are emblematic of the WGA’s work.

“To be recognized (by both awards) really speaks to the level of excellence achieved by John and everyone at the WGA,” Harrison said. “We are as big and strong as we’ve ever been. To see where we are today, and to think where we can be tomorrow, it’s really exciting to be a part of it.”

In many respects, the future is now. To handle the expanding numbers, the WGA has purchased a fraternity to build a second Evans Scholars house at the University of Illinois; the current house has 125 students. This is on the heels of the WGA opening new houses and establishing Evans Scholars partnership bases with several schools in the last 10 years.

John Kaczkowski (left) and Vince Pellegrino, who started at the WGA in tournament operations, have risen to President & CEO and Senior Vice President of Tournaments, respectively.

The WGA also has the Caddie Academy, a robust summer program providing caddie opportunities for young people who don’t live in areas with golf courses. They are housed at Northwestern dormitories and Woodlands Academy in Lake Forest and can caddie at clubs throughout the North Shore. The program also feeds the Evans Scholar pipeline.

In 2020, the WGA set the bold goal of having 1,500 Evans Scholars in school by 2030, almost doubling the amount from 2000.

“The best thing we did is actually state a goal as part of a planning process,” Kaczkowski said. “So that drives everything we do as an organization towards this idea of getting 1,500 kids in school. It’s working so far. We're pretty optimistic that we're going to get to 1,500 by 2030. Then what’s next? I think it's only natural to keep the organization growing.”

While the overall numbers are big, it is hearing the individual stories that underscore the impact of the Evans Scholars for Kaczkowski, Harrison, Pellegrino and everyone associated with the WGA. Receiving an Evans Scholarship truly is a life-changing moment for the recipients.

“Now that I've been around longer, I love stories where people come up to me and say ‘I caddied for you 25 years ago and I’m an Evans Scholar from Illinois,’” Kaczkowski said. “Then they tell me they are working in real estate, finance (or something else) and doing well.

“I received a note from a father of an Evans Scholar the other day. He said, ‘We couldn't be where we are today without the Evans Scholars.’ I mean, that’s what it’s all about.”

A former golf writer for the Chicago Tribune, Ed Sherman is a frequent contributor to Chicago District Golfer.

Chicago’s Lack of an Annual PGA Tour Event is a Sore Subject

John Kaczkowski gets the question early and often: When is the BMW Championship coming back to Chicago?

The last BMW in the area was 2023 at Olympia Fields Country Club. Currently, there are no Chicago-based clubs on the schedule with BMW tournament sites listed through 2027.

Kaczkowski, the WGA’s President and CEO, says the Presidents Cup at Medinah in 2026 impacted the option of having the BMW in Chicago during the recent period because of sponsorship opportunities and other factors.

While Kaczkowski won’t confirm anything, there is an expectation a Chicago-area club will host the BMW in 2028.

“We will be back to Chicago on a more regular cadence after the Presidents Cup comes through,” Kaczkowski said.

Kaczkowski is sensitive to Chicago golf fans thirsting to see PGA Tour events on a regular basis. He was the tournament director of the former Western Open and the early stages of the BMW Championship (debuting in 2007) before assuming his current position in 2010. The atmosphere was so electric for the 2023 BMW at Olympia Fields that CBS golf commentators Jim Nantz, Ian Baker-Finch and Dottie Pepper were openly lobbying for Chicago to hold a regular PGA Tour event during the telecasts.

Kaczkowski said the BMW will continue to be held in different regions of the country, including Chicago, given the success the rotating format has enjoyed. He said the WGA would be open to hosting another PGA Tour tournament in Chicago, but the Tour schedule options make that unlikely. The WGA also would consider hosting a PGA Tour Champions and LPGA Tour tournament if opportunities became available.

“Having a tournament every year would be a great thing for golf in Chicago,” Kaczkowski said. “Having said that, pro golf has changed. It’s no longer that the old standards are the old standards (i.e., the Western Open being anchored in the Chicago area for 44 years through 2007). Having an opportunity to be a part of the (FedExCup Playoffs), having a partner like BMW, and rotating the tournament around has really made everything much more viable for us.”
—Ed Sherman