ST. LOUIS – St. Louis native Tyler Rooney earned a life-changing opportunity through his work as a golf caddy.
Tyler has dreamed of becoming a mechanical engineer. So to help pay for college, one of his teachers suggested he become a caddy.
Tyler balanced caddying, with his school work and extracurriculars, and for his efforts, he’s been awarded the Evans Scholarship for high-achieving caddies.
Tyler is set to attend Mizzou this fall with housing and tuition fully covered.
“I was just thinking, ‘Holy cow. This is life-changing,'” said Tyler. “It’s an amazing opportunity. I didn’t think I would be part of it. It’s certainly opens up many doors for me for things I didn’t think I’d be able to do.”
“We’re always surrounded by successful people when they caddy,” said Steve Luebbert, director of the scholarship program. “So you put that all together, and then when they graduate, they’re definitely guaranteed a job. We have a 98% graduation rate and a 95% employment rate, so that speaks to how the kids are that go through the program.”