Sports
EPCHS Senior Awarded Prestigious Chick Evans Scholarship
Danny McQuillan has become the second EPCHS student in as many years to be awarded the full tuition scholarship for caddies.
EVERGREEN PARK, IL – An Evergreen Park Community High School senior has been awarded the prestigious Chick Evans Scholarship for golf caddies for the second year in a row. Danny McQuillan, who caddies at the nearby Ridge Country Club, was recently informed of his Chick Evans scholarship selection.
“I was overjoyed,” McQuillan said of the moment he got the call. “I’m so happy because I’ve had so many dreams that are now easier to achieve.”
The Chick Evans scholarship offers a full tuition and college housing to only about 300 high-achieving high school caddies a year nationally. Like last year’s winner from EPCHS, Nellie O’Grady, McQuillan will attend Indiana University for college.
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“I loved the campus, and I already know a few people who go there,” McQuillan said of his decision to become a Hoosier.
To qualify for the Chick Evans scholarship, caddies must have a strong caddie record, excellent academics and outstanding character, among other attributes.
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McQuillan fit the bill perfectly. At EPCHS, he has been involved as a two-sport athlete in golf and swim, and is active in clubs as vice president of both the National Honor Society and the Future Business Leaders of America club.
McQuillan, an Evergreen Park native who attended Southwest Elementary School and Central Middle School, is in his sixth year as a caddie at Ridge. He’s the son of Matt and Mary McQuillan of Evergreen Park.
Golf has been a constant in McQuillan’s family for generations. His uncle, Robert Fanelli, was also awarded the Chick Evans scholarship.
McQuillan said he’s not planning to try out for the golf team at IU, but may join a few clubs at the Bloomington, Indiana, school.
“Schoolwork is more important,” he said.
McQuillan plans to major in finance and hopes to become a stock broker for a large or private firm.
Since 1930, the Chick Evans Foundation has awarded nearly 11,000 scholarships for full tuition and housing college scholarships to hardworking caddies. The Foundation, sponsored by the Western Golf Association, is named in honor of amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans, Jr. Evans was the first amateur to win the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in the same year.
