PGA Tour player Jordan Spieth announces that University of Colorado students will receive tickets to the BMW Championship.
The Evans house at the University of Colorado knew a surprise was coming but didn’t know it was going to be this big. “We all gathered for our chapter meeting like we do every month,” Ella Baffico, who is an Evans Scholar like all residents in the house, said. “Then two people from the WGA (Western Golf Association) were there and said that they had a surprise.”
And that surprise was tickets to the BMW Championship and the message was delivered by a video from PGA Tour superstar Jordan Spieth. “There’s a funny feeling in your stomach,” Logan Byler, who is set to graduate from the University of Colorado on Thursday and another Evans Scholar, said. “Even if he doesn’t know us by face, when someone’s pretty obviously famous addresses you it is pretty fun.”
The BMW Championship is set for Aug. 20-25 at Castle Pines Golf Club. The tournament is the penultimate event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs and marks the PGA Tour’s return to Colorado in over a decade.
Championship.
Baffico, Byler and more than 50 Evans Scholars at the University of Colorado are now set to attend the event where the 50 best players on the tour will compete.
“You definitely knew something was kind of up but then Jordan Spieth comes on the screen and you’re like, oh, this is something crazy,” Baffico said. “He tells us and then we’re all like cheering and we’re all excited.” The Evans Scholarship provides full housing and tuition college grant for deserving golf caddies throughout the country.
Baffico just finished her sophomore year in Boulder. She was born in Illinois and attended Libertyville High School. When it was time to go to college, she knew she wanted to go out of state and the Evans Scholarship and Boulder gave her that chance. “I had been to Colorado once in my life when I was in eighth grade because my uncle lived here,” Baffico said. “I came back out closer to picking a college and fell in love with the area and knew I wanted to come here.”
Her caddying began about five years ago at Knollwood Club in Lake Forest, Ill. She was looking for a job and her dad introduced her to the Western Golf Association. “I went into the interview, and they asked me if I can hold a conversation with people,” Baffico said. “That is a huge thing that they want from caddy. Can you hold a conversation.”
Byler is a Colorado native and a graduate of Valor Christian High School. He played golf in high school and caddies at Castle Pines Golf Club in the summer. Byler has enjoyed his time in the Evans house with his fellow caddies.
“It’s very diverse because they come from all over the state all over the nation and from very different living situations and homes that they grew up in,” Byler said. “But it’s nice to have 60 people who are kind of on the same page as you start your college career.”
Golf has been a big part of Byler’s life and felt it was his best chance to play sports in high school. He learned about the Evans Scholarship while playing in a tournament during his days at Valor Christian. “I kind of stumbled into it but without competitive golf I wouldn’t have learned about it,” Byler said.
Both Baffico and Byler are thrilled to get a chance to go the BMW Championship. There is even a chance they could get a chance to caddy during the tournament in the practice rounds or the pro-am.
“I’m so excited. I’ve never been to anything like this in my entire life,” Baffico said. “I want to go to the Masters eventually, but that would be down the road, but this is a baby step and I’m very excited and fingers crossed we get to even caddy in it.”
And as a Colorado native, Byler is thrilled pro golf is back in Colorado. “I have very faint memories growing up of going to The International,” Byler said. “It will be one of the biggest events of the year for Colorado sports because people love their golf here.”
