Wisconsin caddie program puts kids on right course

Caddies Jim "Bones" Mackay (right) and Joe Skovron talk to youngsters at the U.S. Open caddie meet and greet. If imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, then George and Duffy Solich in Colorado should feel flattered. Having seen what the brothers created through the Colorado Golf Association – a program known as the Solich Caddie and Leadership Academy – Phil Poletti decided to do something similar in Wisconsin, creating a program that does more than find caddie work for youngsters during the summer. What Poletti created with help from the Wisconsin Golf Association and others is the Caddie and Leadership Academy, which has produced multiple Evans Scholars since the program’s inception in 2014. This year, 80 youngsters are in the program at seven sites throughout Wisconsin, and 15 of them will attend the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship on Saturday at Olympia Fields outside Chicago, an event whose proceeds directly benefit the Evans Scholar Foundation. “It all started when I was annoyed at the pro shop staff at the club where I...