Chick Evans

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For other people named Chick Evans, see Chick Evans (disambiguation).
For the motion picture producer, see Charles Evans, Jr..
Chick Evans

Evans (right) with Robert A. Gardner (left),
finalists at the 1916 U.S. Amateur
Personal information
Full name Charles E. Evans, Jr.
Nickname Chick
Born (1890-07-18)July 18, 1890
Indianapolis, Indiana
Died November 6, 1979(1979-11-06) (aged 89)
Chicago, Illinois
Height 5 ft 10.5 in (1.79 m)
Weight 158 lb (72 kg; 11.3 st)
Nationality  United States
Spouse Esther Evans
(m. 1927–67, her death)[1]
Children none
Career
Status Amateur
Professional wins 3
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 3)
Masters Tournament 51st: 1940
U.S. Open Won: 1916
The Open Championship T49: 1911
PGA Championship DNP
U.S. Amateur Won: 1916, 1920
British Amateur T9: 1911
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 1975 (member page)
Bob Jones Award 1960
Evans on March 1, 1915

Charles E. "Chick" Evans, Jr. (July 18, 1890 – November 6, 1979) 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 won the U.S. Amateur again in 1920, and was runner-up three times. Selected to the Walker Cup team in 1922, 1924, and 1928, Evans competed in a record 50 consecutive U.S. Amateurs in his long career. All this was achieved with only seven hickory-shafted clubs. In addition to his golf career, Evans is known for sponsoring a college scholarship for qualified caddies.

In 1960, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Contents

History [edit]

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Evans' family moved to Chicago when he was eight years old, and he grew up on the north side of the city. At the age of eight, he was first exposed to golf as a caddie at a Chicago course, the Edgewater Golf Club. From these beginnings, Evans became one of the most acclaimed American amateur golfers of his time, eventually earning induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975. The accomplishment that gave him the most contemporary publicity came in 1916, when Evans won both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open in the same year. He was the first person to accomplish this task, and only Bobby Jones has done it since. Evans also won the Western Open in 1910, the only amateur to do so until Scott Verplank in 1985.

Into the 1960s, Evans was an active participant in senior tournaments. Even at his age, he was competing in the U.S. Amateur events, and eventually set a record of completing 50 of these championships. Evans played his last rounds of competitive golf in 1968, winning the Illinois Open that year. His last Western Amateur was in 1967.[1] After his retirement, he continued to attend events as a spectator and converse with the fans and players. He died in 1979 at age 89. His wife, Esther, had died in 1967 after 40 years of marriage, and they had no children.[1]

The Chick Evans Golf Course in Morton Grove, a north suburbs of Chicago, is named in his honor.

Approaching the WGA [edit]

After his wins in 1916, Evans was given several thousand dollars in royalties for recording golf instructions for the Brunswick Record Company. In addition he received royalties from a golf book written in 1921.[2] If he accepted this money, he would have lost his amateur status. Evans's mother suggested that he could put the money to good use by sponsoring a scholarship fund for caddies. (Evans was himself unable to finish his matriculation at Northwestern University where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta due to financial reasons.) Evans is quoted as saying: "My mother wouldn't think of accepting my money unless we could arrange it to be trusted to furnish educations for deserving qualified caddies." He also went on to say, "She pointed out that the money came from golf and thus should go back into golf -- It was all her dream -- her idea."

Evans went to the Western Golf Association (WGA), an organization that ran golf championships in the Midwest, to get their support for his scholarship. The organization initially declined to support Evans, but eventually agreed to oversee his fund. By 1929, the Evans Scholars Foundation had formed.

Forming the Evans Scholars Foundation [edit]

Evans's dream was finally made a reality in 1930, when two caddies by the name of Harold Fink and Jim McGinnis were named the first two Evans Scholars. Chick Evans' long friendship with Chicago tax attorney, Carleton Blunt, proved to be the catalyst for launching the Evans Scholars Foundation. Blunt, an avid golfer and philanthropist, supported Evans' vision for helping caddies attend colleges and universities across the country by raising the necessary funds for decades. The criteria used to choose these recipients were scholarship, fellowship, and leadership. Since that time, over 8,000 caddies have become Evans Scholars and attained college educations. The scholarship program continues today as the largest scholarship organization in sports and the largest privately funded scholarship program in the United States.

Scholarship houses exist at the following Universities: University of Colorado, University of Illinois, Northwestern University, Marquette University, University of Wisconsin, Purdue University, Ohio State University, Northern Illinois University, University of Missouri, Indiana University, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Miami University and the University of Minnesota.

In addition to those universities at which houses exist, scholarships recipients attend several other universities around the country.

Tournament wins (22) [edit]

Evans in 1915

Professional major championships [edit]

Wins (1) [edit]

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runner-up
1916 U.S. Open 3 shot lead –2 (70-69-74-73=286) 2 strokes Scotland Jock Hutchison

Results timeline [edit]

Note: As an amateur, Evans was ineligible to play in the PGA Championship.

Tournament 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
Masters Tournament NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP 2 LA 18 1 LA NT NT T9 LA
British Open T49 DNP DNP DNP NT NT NT NT NT
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
Masters Tournament NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF
U.S. Open T6 LA 4 LA 16 T14 T10 DNP T13 CUT CUT DNP
British Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
Masters Tournament NYF NYF NYF NYF DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open T54 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T50 DNP DNP DNP
British Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
Masters Tournament 51 DNP DNP NT NT NT DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP CUT NT NT NT NT DNP CUT CUT CUT
British Open NT NT NT NT NT NT DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP 64 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
British Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

LA = Low Amateur
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Amateur major championships [edit]

Wins (2) [edit]

Year Championship Winning Score Runner-up
1916 U.S. Amateur 4 & 3 United States Robert A. Gardner
1920 U.S. Amateur 7 & 6 United States Francis Ouimet

Results timeline [edit]

Tournament 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
U.S. Amateur SF SF SF 2 SF R32 R32 1 NT NT R16
British Amateur DNP DNP R16 DNP DNP R32 NT NT NT NT NT
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
U.S. Amateur 1 SF 2 R32 R32 DNQ QF 2 R32 DNQ
British Amateur DNP R64 DNP DNP DNP DNP R128 DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
U.S. Amateur DNQ DNQ QF R32 QF R256 R64 QF DNP DNQ
British Amateur DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
U.S. Amateur DNQ DNQ NT NT NT NT DNQ R256 R128 R256
British Amateur NT NT NT NT NT NT R64 DNP DNP R128
Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
U.S. Amateur R256 R256 R128 R256 R256 R128 R256 R64 R64 R128
British Amateur R512 DNP R128 R256 DNP R64 DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1960 1961 1962
U.S. Amateur R256 R256 R256
British Amateur DNP DNP DNP

DNP = Did not play
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Sources [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Amateur golf star Chick Evans dies". Wilmington Morning Star. Associated Press. November 8, 1979. p. 7-D. Retrieved April 14, 2013. 
  2. ^ Evans, Charles (1921). "Chick Evans' Golf Book". Chicago: Reilly & Lee (for Thos E Wilson). Retrieved April 14, 2013. 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chick Evans
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