The Bill Dickey Scholarship Association: granting opportunities of a lifetime.

In the fall, 18-year-old Earl Moorer will be heading off to college in the land of rolling green hills near the North Sea, the milieu in which golf is the bedrock--Scotland. The Texas native will attend the prestigious University of St. Andrews. Moorer will be attending the storied university on a full golf scholarship as a result of his participation in the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association, a nonprofit organization that began promoting young minority golfers before Tiger Woods became a household name.

MOORER'S FIRST DAY ON CAMPUS AS AN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MAJOR WILL MARK his first trip to Scotland, but he simply shrugs at the idea of going to school an ocean away from his family. "In general, people are the same," he says of living in a foreign country. He's been playing golf for 13 years, ever since his father let him tag along to one of his games, and his affection for the sport cancels any anxiety he might feel. St. Andrews, Scotland, has some of the world's most famous golf courses. "It's the home of golf," Moorer says matter-of-factly. "There's a lot of great history there." And there's another benefit, too. "The courses are a lot less expensive."

The Bill Dickey Scholarship Association recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, and its partnership with the University of St. Andrews is a first-time venture. The organization has come a long way since its inception in 1983 when volunteers raised $1,.500 for the first class of BDSA scholarship winners, who all attended Prairie View A&M University. Today, some $200,000 pours in annually to the Phoenix-based nonprofit. An endowment has grown to $800,000.

BDSA emphasizes academic achievement along with promoting golf. It rewards its junior high and high school student participants who have B and better grade point averages with all-expense-paid golf trips to places such as Disney World. Through the organization, the young players see that they are not anomalies in a sport that still has a white, elitist reputation. The participants are competitive yet supportive of each other. Many of the students who get involved with the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association--formerly the National Minority Junior Golf Association--picked up their first golf clubs long before they hit puberty. They are also used to being the only brown faces at tournaments outside of BDSA.

"Most of them don't get a chance to see other black kids with a quality, top game," says Bill Dickey, the association's founder. "When competing [elsewhere] they may be the only one or two among 100 golfers. The association gives them the opportunity to see there are other black kids around the country who have a good golf game."

Dickey, former president of the Western State Golf Association, came much later to the game of golf than the students who participate in the BDSA. He retired from the insurance business in the early 1980s, moved to Arizona, and turned his free time toward golf evangelism for young people of color. There was a need to expose them to golf at a young age, he says.

Scholarship awards range from $1,000 to $6,000 and can be renewed annually. Dickey notes proudly that more than half of those dollars have gone to historically black colleges and universities. More than $2 million has been granted to hundreds of college-aged golf students over the years. The annual East/West Golf Classic is the organization's marquee fundraiser. The rest of the year is spent showcasing young talent. This year, there will be 25 to 30 new scholarship recipients, and last fall, the association held its first alumni reunion.

Dickey says young golfers learn more from their BDSA memberships than how to chip a ball. "There are certain core values you learn when you pick up the game of golf--like honesty, character. You learn that you can't cheat in golf. Other sports have referees; in golf, you police yourself," he says. "You learn how to control your emotions, and be friendly and fair in a game that lasts a lifetime."

MACKENZIE MACK HAS BEEN PLAYING GOLF SINCE SHE WAS 5 YEARS OLD, after deciding she was too big for gymnastics, too slow for tennis, and devoid of artistic ability. The Indiana State University student just completed her freshman year. Mack, a Las Vegas native, was co-captain of her golf team in high school, as well as a member of the National Honor Society. Her mother quips that Mack and her sister, who also plays golf, are the "Senus" and "Verena" of the sport, paying mirthful homage to the tennis playing siblings.

Through BDSA, Mack was awarded a combination of a golf and academic scholarship. "I thought I was set until I arrived on campus and learned that my first semester books would cost $620," she says via email while studying abroad in Segovia, Spain. "I called Mr. Dickey--all of his scholarship recipients have his personal phone number--and he guided me through the process of securing a $1,500 book scholarship."

Mack first heard of BDSA as a player in the Western States Golf Association. She said that each year, Dickey gave a talk about his program, which emphasizes academic excellence and good character. "I couldn't wait until I was old enough to participate. In anticipation, I kept my grades up and tried to be the kind of person that he wanted in the program," she says. When she turned 13, she applied and was accepted to play in one of his tournaments. Hooked, Mack kept coming back.

LAST YEAR, HOUSTON NATIVE HAGGLE NOEL WON THE BDSA JUNIOR Tournament when she was a high school senior. Often at junior tournaments, she was the only black girl, but connecting with BDSA showed her a broader world of golf. "You learn that there are minorities like yourself out there. You learn to be a student athlete and a good golfer," says Noel. "It's been a wonderful experience. They really do care about their student athletes. It's been a blessing."

Noel just completed her first year at the University of North Texas and credits BDSA for a lot of her success. The university gave her a golf scholarship, but it wasn't quite enough to cover housing. The Dickey scholarship rounded out her financial package.

Noel is leaning toward majoring in accounting and feels her athletic skill gives her a competitive edge in the outside world. "I like the fact that it's a very, very diverse sport. You get to travel to amazing places, meet amazing people. It's a networking sport. CEOs all play golf. I already have a foot in the door for meeting important people," Maggie says.

For more information on the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association, go to www.billdickeyscholarship.org or call 602-258-7851.