Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in The Colorado Sun, a nonprofit digital news publication. Learn more, or become a member, at ColoradoSun.com.
AURORA, COLORADO | On a dewy Saturday morning, a wiry 13-year-old who’s not much bigger than the golf bag he’ll lug across the manicured landscape arrives early at Aurora’s CommonGround Golf Course to learn the art of caddying.
But Paxton Freund didn’t roll out of bed before sunrise for love of the game. He has teed up some very practical reasons that extend even beyond the fact that his dad was once a caddie and thought his son also might benefit from the experience as well.
“I get to meet new people,” Paxton says. “And, like, I get paid.”
His swing at describing his motivation may be disarmingly simple, but it lands squarely in the middle of the fairway. The Colorado Golf Association‘s current iteration of an investment in caddies that dates back to the 1960s does indeed offer the enticement of a well-paying summer job. It’s also outdoors, good exercise and a chance to step away from a smartphone screen for a few hours.
But the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy – named for Colorado energy entrepreneurs and founders George Solich and his brother, Geoff “Duffy” Solich – also offers training in financial literacy and leadership for kids, starting in eighth grade, who qualify by financial need and academic excellence. For those who want to go a step further, there’s an opportunity to compete for an Evans Scholarship, a prestigious award that includes full college tuition and housing. (This year there are 1,260 Evans Scholars enrolled at 27 universities nationwide.)
The caddies-in-training gather here on the weekend to be matched with mentor-golfers – volunteers who play the back nine at CommonGround while helping the kids learn the ropes, shot by shot. Each new situation demands a different skill set – whether it’s tracking an errant ball off the tee, making sure a golfer has the right club, raking a bunker or pulling the flagstick at the proper time.
The caddies relish their payday – $30 for weekday training on CommonGround’s par-3 course; $60 for a loop on the back nine of the main layout. They stand to make $90 (with a meal included) once they’re ready to handle a full 18-hole round. There’s no tipping in the program, though that changes for those who complete two seasons of training and move on to affiliated courses.
But the caddies’ connection with the golfers cultivates another valuable life skill: communication. Walking nine or 18 holes can provide a master class in learning to shed their adolescent shyness and interact with adults navigating a round’s undulating emotional terrain.
“I feel like this is like one of the few times in my life when I actually had to put myself out there,” says 13-year-old Bethany Dawit as she readies for the morning’s loop. “I pushed myself past the shyness. There probably were a couple awkward moments, but I think for my first couple of loops I did the best I could.”
Bethany learned about the program from her brother, 15-year-old Noble Dawit, a junior at Regis Jesuit High School who has two seasons of experience. Noble also values the non-golf aspects of the program. A child of Ethiopian immigrants – a group well-represented among the participants – he aims, like others before him, to be the first generation of his family to attend college.
But the life skills accumulated on the course have added a new dimension to his education. When he’s out with a foursome, teamwork comes into play as the caddies collaborate to make certain that details like pulling the flagstick and raking bunkers get taken care of, ensuring the group maintains a steady pace of play. Caddying for a solo player teaches him efficiency.
“The biggest teacher is going out on the course with your golfers and experiencing the real 18, because my first three or four loops were painful,” Noble says. “They were treacherous. So I think even in life, experience is the best teacher. The stuff you learn from caddying, those are work skills you’ll take with you for the rest of your life.”