A new partnership between the Evans Scholars Foundation and Arizona State University was recently announced on the field at a November 15th Sun Devil football game, adding ASU as another option, the 28th, for future Evans Scholars to choose for higher education. With up to 10 students already anticipated to register for fall 2026, many more are projected to follow to positively impact the local AZ Caddie and Leadership Academy.
Powered by the Evans Scholars Foundation, the AZ Caddie and Leadership Academy was founded in 2023 by local golf professional Brandon Rogers. Since 1930, the Evans Scholars Foundation has been awarding full housing and tuition scholarships for caddies around the country.
“Our goal is to have 8-10 student caddies living in dorms by the fall of 2026 while we work to renovate historic Matthews Hall to house 50 students in a few short years,” said Rogers. “Arizona caddies will be attending ASU on a full housing and tuition scholarship, and AZ Caddie and Leadership Academy will help to serve as the pipeline. This is a historic milestone and amazing opportunity for Arizona students.”
Arizona’s growing youth caddie program is headquartered at Papago Golf Club and Encanto 9 Golf Course. Many local private clubs also feature youth caddie programs, including Arizona Country Club, Desert Forest Golf Club, Desert Mountain Club, The Estancia Club, Tucson Country Club, Whisper Rock Golf Club and White Mountain Country Club. New youth caddie programs will begin next year at Desert Highlands Golf Club, Forest Highlands Golf Club and Paradise Valley Country Club.
Future Evans Scholars will come from Tucson and Phoenix and other surrounding areas. Despite Arizona’s long history and close ties to the game of golf, Rogers explained that “this has never been done before at this scale in the history of Arizona golf.”
