GLENVIEW, Ill.– The 2021 BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, raised a record $5.6 million for caddie scholarships, the Western Golf Association announced today.
Unprecedented support from BMW, Caves Valley Golf Club, the local corporate community and Baltimore-area golf fans helped the BMW Championship secure its largest ever contribution to the Evans Scholars Foundation. The result topped the previous mark of $4.4 million raised during the 2019 BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois, the last event played without spectator limits. The BMW Championship has now contributed more than $40 million to the Evans Scholars Foundation, the event’s sole charity, since 2007.
“We’re proud to announce the contribution of all proceeds from the BMW Championship to the Evans Scholars Foundation, where they will be used to send hardworking youth caddies to college,” said Vince Pellegrino, WGA senior vice president of tournaments. “With the generosity of our partners at BMW, Caves Valley and the PGA TOUR and the incredible enthusiasm of the Baltimore-area golf fans, this was truly a special year for our championship.”
The BMW Championship welcomed fans back this year under a carefully constructed set of health and safety measures. More than 100,000 spectators safely visited Caves Valley from Aug. 24-29 to see the PGA TOUR’s top 70 players compete in the penultimate event of the FedExCup Playoffs. Patrick Cantlay won the first TOUR event hosted in Baltimore in nearly 60 years, outlasting Bryson DeChambeau in an electrifying six-hole playoff.
Funds raised during the 2021 BMW Championship will help fund full tuition and housing college scholarships for caddies. This year, a record 1,070 caddies are enrolled as Evans Scholars at 21 leading universities nationwide. At Caves Valley, organization leaders also celebrated the first official class of Evans Scholars enrolling at the University of Maryland in College Park. The Evans Scholars Foundation has also purchased a building near the College Park campus, which will serve as the future home of the Caves Valley Evans Scholars Scholarship House.
“The efforts of everyone who supported this event will have a lasting effect on the Evans Scholars Program both in Maryland and on a national level,” Pellegrino said. “With continued support from BMW, the local and regional corporate communities and area golf fans, we’re looking forward to another outstanding BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club next year.”
In late November, BMW, the PGA TOUR and the WGA announced a five-year extension for BMW to remain the title sponsor of the BMW Championship through 2027. The extension will strengthen the partnership between BMW and the Evans Scholars Foundation, which has helped send more than 3,000 caddies to college over the past 15 years.
Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware, will host the 2022 BMW Championship from August 16-21. For individual tickets and corporate hospitality options, visit www.bmwchampionship.com.
About the BMW Championship
The BMW Championship dates back to 1899 when it debuted as the Western Open, making it the third-oldest tournament on the PGA TOUR schedule, behind only the British Open and U.S. Open. BMW has sponsored the tournament since 2007 when it became the penultimate event of the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs. The BMW Championship features a field of the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings to determine the final 30 players for the FedExCup final at the TOUR Championship in Atlanta. Since 2007, the BMW Championship has contributed more than $40 million to the Evans Scholars Foundation, the event’s charitable beneficiary. To learn more, visit www.bmwchampionship.com.
About Western Golf Association
The Western Golf Association conducts six national golf championships and sponsors the nationally acclaimed Evans Scholars Foundation. Headquartered in Glenview, Illinois, the organization was founded in 1899 by 11 Chicago-area golf clubs to promote their interests in golf. In addition to the BMW Championship on the PGA TOUR and the NV5 Invitational presented by First Midwest Bank on the Korn Ferry Tour, the WGA conducts four prestigious amateur championships, the Western Amateur, the Western Junior, and the Women’s Western Golf Association’s Amateur and Junior championships. To learn more, visit www.wgaesf.org.
About the Evans Scholars Foundation
Established by famed amateur golfer Charles Chick Evans Jr. and the Western Golf Association, the Evans Scholars Foundation provides full housing and tuition scholarships to high-achieving caddies across the country. Currently, 1,070 caddies are enrolled in 21 universities across the nation as Evans Scholars. The Program, which is supported by the Western Golf Association, is funded by contributions from more than 33,500 Evans Scholars Par Club members, including Evans Scholars Alumni, as well as proceeds from the BMW Championship. Since the Program’s inception in 1930, more than 11,550 caddies nationwide have graduated as Evans Scholars. To learn more, visit www.wgaesf.org.
