Golfers carry the tab for caddies.

Byline: INSIDE THE OUTDOORS By Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

Kurt Lorenzen of Eugene doesn't expect to play much golf at Oregon State, even though he'll be attending college on a golf scholarship.

He figures the challenging engineering curriculum will leave him little time to focus on the arc traced by putts on the 18th green at Trysting Tree.

Lorenzen, you see, is about to become an Evans Scholar.

He's one of 10 members of the Oregon high school class of 2007 to be awarded full tuition scholarships because - among other attributes - they work as golf caddies.

Other scholarship winners from The Register-Guard circulation area are Loren Benson of Bandon High School, Kyle Crawford of Marshfield High School and Matthew Crocker of North Bend High School. Those three all work at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, home of the largest caddie contingent in North America. The other six winners - five of whom are females - are from Portland.

Winning a Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship was precisely what Lorenzen had in mind when he began toting bags at Emerald Valley Golf Club two summers ago, following his sophomore year at Sheldon High School.

Todd O'Neal, general manager and head professional at Emerald Valley, and Lorenzen's golf coach at Sheldon, had encouraged Lorenzen to try for an Evans scholarship, which is based on four criteria - caddie record, academic record, financial need and character.

But Lorenzen would have to play out of the rough, so to speak, because no golf course in the Eugene area had a caddie program.

With O'Neal's help, Lorenzen started one at Emerald Valley.

"Todd got a caddie manual and had me study that," Lorenzen said. "I went out with Todd a couple of rounds and caddied for him ... I learned primarily through Todd."

A sign offering caddie services was posted outside the pro shop and Lorenzen - joined later by a buddy, Brad Egbert - began toting bags for $20 a round plus tips.

Lorenzen said they had little trouble attracting enough business to meet the minimum caddie experience requirement for the scholarship - 25 rounds per year for two years.

Candidates also must have better than a B average in college prep classes, demonstrate significant financial need, and the recommendation of club and high school officials. Finalists also go through an interview process.

The caddie scholarship program was started by Charles "Chick" Evans Jr., who was first exposed to golf at age 8, by being a caddie at a course in Wisconsin.

Evans attended Northwestern University but had to drop out before graduating due to financial reasons.

Evans went on to become one of the most famous American golfers of his era. In 1916, at age 26, he became the first golfer to win both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open in the same year. That's a feat duplicated by only one man, the legendary Bobby Jones.

Evans started the scholarship program with several thousand dollars in royalties from an instructional recording he made following his Open victory.

Accepting the money from the record company would have cost him his amateur status, so he arranged for it to go to a trust administered by the Western Golf Association (WGA).

Evans credited his mother with suggesting the royalties be used to further the education of deserving caddies.

"She pointed out that the money came from golf and thus should go back into golf - it was all her dream, her idea," he was quoted as saying.

The idea of giving a boost to deserving caddies resonated with other golfers. More than a dozen other regional and state golf associations became co-sponsors and affiliates. The Evans Scholars Foundation grew to become the largest privately-funded scholarship program in the nation. About 825 caddies attend colleges around the U.S. (including 42 in Oregon) on Evans scholarships.

Since the program's inception in 1930, more than 8,400 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars. Counting those scheduled to pick up their degrees this month, 169 are alumni of Oregon and 42 are graduates of Oregon State. According to the foundation, the value of the four-year scholarships range from about $25,000 to $65,000, depending on the institution and course of study.

The $10 million a year it costs to provide tuition and fees, books and housing to Evans Scholars comes from golfers. About 35,000 members of the WGA's Par Club each donate $200 or more per year.

About 100,000 golfers at 500 clubs participate in the WGA Bag Tag program, with tag fees earmarked for the Evans fund. Proceeds from the BMW Championship, a PGA Tour event formerly known as the Western Open, go to the scholarship program. So does money raised at annual fundraising events around the country.

The caddies helped by the Evans Foundation obviously subscribe to the philosophy expressed by Chick Evans' mother - what comes from golf should go back into golf. Program alumni donate about $3 million a year so that others will get the same opportunity they had.

Mike Stahlberg can be reached at [e-mail].