Western Golf Association
Encyclopedia
The Western Golf Association (WGA) is one of the United States' oldest golf organizations, and its headquarters are located in Golf, Illinois
. The WGA sponsors three prestigious golf tournaments: the Western Junior
, the Western Amateur
and the BMW Championship, a FedEx Cup
playoff event. Founded in 1899, the WGA has also administered the Chick Evans Scholarship Program for deserving caddies since its inception in 1930 through the Evans Scholars Foundation.
More than 500 member clubs, 36,000 WGA Par Club members and 100,000 golfers in the WGA Bag Tag Program support the Evans Scholars Foundation, one of the nation’s largest individually funded scholarship programs. The program is also supported by 23 affiliated golf associations and proceeds from the BMW Championship, a PGA Tour
event whose 2010 edition will be held September 6–12 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club
in Lemont, Illinois.
To qualify for the scholarship, students must have outstanding academic and caddie records, good character and leadership skills and financial need. The Scholarship is renewed on a yearly basis.
Most Scholars live at one of the 14 universities that has a Foundation-owned Scholarship House. The 14 chapters are as follows in order of foundation: Northwestern University
(1940), University of Illinois
(1951), University of Michigan
(1952), University of Wisconsin
(1953), Michigan State University
(1955), Marquette University
(1955), University of Minnesota
(1958), Ohio State University
(1962), Purdue University
(1967), University of Colorado
(1967), University of Missouri
(1968), Indiana University
(1969), Miami University
(1974), and Northern Illinois University
(1987).
The WGA agreed to oversee the scholarship program in 1930. It was started by Charles "Chick" Evans, Jr.
, an outstanding amateur golfer. Today, there are over 500 country clubs in the United States that support the WGA. All of these clubs also help support the Evans Scholars Foundation.
The WGA is administered by officers who volunteer their time to operate the organization. They are called WGA Directors. Roger Mohr is the Chairman of the WGA/ESF. He is almost the first Evans Scholar graduate from Marquette University. John Kaczkowski is the current President/CEO.
, based then in New York. But after 20 stormy years followed by negotiations, the WGA officially recognized the USGA's authority as the rulesmaking body in the U.S.
The WGA oversees and hosts professional and amateur events. Today it has conducted more than 250 tournaments. Its first tournaments were held at the Glen View Club. The events the WGA runs today are the Western Amateur
and Western Junior
championships.
The 108-year run of the prestigious Western Open
ended in 2007 when the PGA Tour
moved the event from the Western's traditional first week of July dates to September and made it the BMW Championship, the third leg of the four-event FedEx Cup
playoff series. The elimination by the PGA Tour
of the word "Western" from the tournament's title has been controversial, to say the least; many longtime supporters are very upset "The Western" exists no longer.
Golf, Illinois
Golf is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was projected to be 449 for the year 2007.-Geography:Golf is located at ....
. The WGA sponsors three prestigious golf tournaments: the Western Junior
Western Junior
The Western Junior is the oldest national junior golf tournament in the United States. It was founded in 1914 and is organized by the Western Golf Association. It is played at a different course each year, primarily in the midwest. From 1914 to 1998, it was played with stroke play qualifying...
, the Western Amateur
Western Amateur
The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association....
and the BMW Championship, a FedEx Cup
FedEx Cup
The FedEx Cup is a championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Announced in November 2005, it was first awarded in 2007 after a NASCAR-like points race. Bill Haas is the current champion...
playoff event. Founded in 1899, the WGA has also administered the Chick Evans Scholarship Program for deserving caddies since its inception in 1930 through the Evans Scholars Foundation.
More than 500 member clubs, 36,000 WGA Par Club members and 100,000 golfers in the WGA Bag Tag Program support the Evans Scholars Foundation, one of the nation’s largest individually funded scholarship programs. The program is also supported by 23 affiliated golf associations and proceeds from the BMW Championship, a PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
event whose 2010 edition will be held September 6–12 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club
Cog Hill Golf & Country Club
Cog Hill Golf & Country Club is a public golf complex located southwest of Chicago. Cog Hill hosts the PGA Tour's BMW Championship from 2009 to 2011 on its championship course Dubsdread.-History:...
in Lemont, Illinois.
Sending deserving caddies to college
The Evans Scholars Foundation awards full tuition and housing scholarships to deserving caddies across the country. Currently, there are 865 Scholars attending top universities in the United States. More than 9,000 caddies have graduated from college as Evans Scholars.To qualify for the scholarship, students must have outstanding academic and caddie records, good character and leadership skills and financial need. The Scholarship is renewed on a yearly basis.
Most Scholars live at one of the 14 universities that has a Foundation-owned Scholarship House. The 14 chapters are as follows in order of foundation: Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
(1940), University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
(1951), University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
(1952), University of Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
(1953), Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
(1955), Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
(1955), University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
(1958), Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
(1962), Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
(1967), University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
(1967), University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
(1968), Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
(1969), Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
(1974), and Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
(1987).
The WGA agreed to oversee the scholarship program in 1930. It was started by Charles "Chick" Evans, Jr.
Chick Evans
Charles E. "Chick" Evans, Jr. was a leading amateur golfer of the 1910s and 1920s. Evans was the first amateur to win the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in one year, a feat he achieved in 1916. Evans went on to win the U.S. Amateur in 1920, while finishing runner-up three times...
, an outstanding amateur golfer. Today, there are over 500 country clubs in the United States that support the WGA. All of these clubs also help support the Evans Scholars Foundation.
The WGA is administered by officers who volunteer their time to operate the organization. They are called WGA Directors. Roger Mohr is the Chairman of the WGA/ESF. He is almost the first Evans Scholar graduate from Marquette University. John Kaczkowski is the current President/CEO.
Early years rival to USGA
Originally formed as a rulesmaking body, the WGA was born because U.S. western golf clubs (the current Midwest was "the west" in the 1890s) felt that they weren't being properly represented in the United States Golf AssociationUnited States Golf Association
The United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...
, based then in New York. But after 20 stormy years followed by negotiations, the WGA officially recognized the USGA's authority as the rulesmaking body in the U.S.
The WGA oversees and hosts professional and amateur events. Today it has conducted more than 250 tournaments. Its first tournaments were held at the Glen View Club. The events the WGA runs today are the Western Amateur
Western Amateur
The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association....
and Western Junior
Western Junior
The Western Junior is the oldest national junior golf tournament in the United States. It was founded in 1914 and is organized by the Western Golf Association. It is played at a different course each year, primarily in the midwest. From 1914 to 1998, it was played with stroke play qualifying...
championships.
The 108-year run of the prestigious Western Open
Western Open
The Western Open, a professional golf tournament, was first played in 1899. At the time of its 2006 playing, the Western Open was the 3rd oldest active PGA Tour tournament, after the British Open and U.S. Open...
ended in 2007 when the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
moved the event from the Western's traditional first week of July dates to September and made it the BMW Championship, the third leg of the four-event FedEx Cup
FedEx Cup
The FedEx Cup is a championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Announced in November 2005, it was first awarded in 2007 after a NASCAR-like points race. Bill Haas is the current champion...
playoff series. The elimination by the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
of the word "Western" from the tournament's title has been controversial, to say the least; many longtime supporters are very upset "The Western" exists no longer.