Eastpointe’s Bradley Allen earns prestigious Chick Evans Scholarship

EASTPOINTE — Eastpointe High School senior Bradley Allen has been named a recipient of the 2026 Western Golf Association’s Chick Evans Scholarship.

Allen is one of 31 caddies from the state of Michigan who have been awarded the Chick Evans Scholarship, which offers a full housing and tuition grant to golf caddies. The value of the scholarship is over $125,000, according to a press release by the WGA Evans Scholars Foundation.

“(Caddying) has honestly been one of the most important things in my life,” Allen said. “It’s provided me opportunities that I otherwise would not have been able to come upon … things that I wouldn’t have searched for. It’s hit me in ways that I find hard to define.”

Allen has caddied out of Detroit Golf Club since he was 14, but he has had ties with the club for his whole life through family. Now, the course that he grew up on is going to be a reason that he goes to a university.

“When I was about 14, the caddie master, Anthony (Sharp), who is an awesome man by the way, he wanted me to come in and try it out,” Allen said. “So, I went to try it out and it ended up being a wonderful time.”

Caddying has not only provided Allen opportunities through Chick Evans, but has also helped him grow as a young man. The lessons learned on the golf course will stay with him for the rest of his life.

“It’s helped me to become more eloquent sometimes. I have a slight stutter if I try to speak too fast, but many of them have helped me through that,” Allen said. “It definitely helped me with walking more too. … Once I started caddying, it really just amped up my want to walk and want to be out in my daily life.”

Allen’s ability to caddie has led him to this point, but that may not have been clear at the beginning of his journey.

“I had Bradley on what I think was his first round a few years back,” said Mike VanderWeele, Detroit Golf Club WGA director. “I literally thought that he wouldn’t make it through the first round. I said after the first nine holes that we could quit and there’d be no judgment. Now, three years later, he’s a strapping kid that’s getting good grades and is one of the candidates we picked.”

The Chick Evans Scholarship has changed lives through golf and caddying. It’s a prestigious scholarship that all over the country has given opportunities to students who might not have gotten them otherwise.

“It’s an absolute game changer to tell a kid that they … won’t have this (financial) burden going away to school,” VanderWeele said. “It’s really rewarding for us as directors.”

Allen is planning to attend Michigan State University in the fall and wants to go into mechanical engineering.

“I want to help out those around me. My mother, she went through a lot of things, and she absolutely soldiered through to make sure that me and my siblings got what we needed to succeed,” Allen said. “My family and my sisters helped me. … There’s just so many people that I want to help as they’ve helped me. It’s wonderful.”

The Western Golf Association estimated that 380 caddies nationwide will receive the Chick Evans Scholarship this year. For more information, visit wgaesf.org.