When a shoulder injury sidelined his dreams of playing college football, DJ Bookard, a 2024 North Augusta High School graduate, wasn’t sure what his future would hold.
“I felt like the world was ending when I got hurt,” said Bookard, a freshman at Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, who recently received the Western Golf Association’s Chick Evans Scholarship, a full four-year housing and tuition scholarship for golf caddies and the nation’s largest privately funded scholarship program.
Bookard received the scholarship through his involvement at Old Barnwell, a private golf club in Aiken County.
An Old Barnwell representative visited North Augusta High School last spring to talk about the caddie program, and it piqued his interest.
“I love golf, so this was perfect,” he said.
Once at Old Barnwell, Bookard, who played golf at North Augusta, dove into caddying.
“I did a lot of my loops last summer,” he said. “I did a lot of double bags, two loops. I’d go in the morning and then go out again in the afternoon.”
Read more: Old Barnwell is ‘mission-minded’ club
He earned the scholarship by meeting its four selection criteria: a strong caddie record, excellent academics, demonstrated financial need, and outstanding character. The full tuition and housing college scholarship is valued at an estimated $125,000 over four years, according to a news release from the Western Golf Association.
At North Augusta, Bookard not only played golf and football, but he ran track and field, was head of the yearbook staff, in the Beta Club and was a teacher cadet.
He is one of three caddies in South Carolina to receive the prestigious Evans Scholarship. Benton Orr of Aiken, who also caddies at Old Barnwell, and Simon McAlister of Beaufort, also received the scholarship.About 360 caddies are expected to be awarded the Evans Scholarship this year. Currently, a record 1,190 caddies are enrolled at 24 universities nationwide as Evans Scholars, and more than 12,285 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars since the program was founded, according to the news release.
Bookard, a biology major with a desire to pursue dentistry, will transfer to the University of South Carolina in the fall. Orr and McAlister will also attend there.
Receiving the scholarship takes a weight off Bookard, who was only 10 when his father died of pancreatic cancer.
“Family wise we didn’t have a lot of money to send me to school. I had to take the best offer,” he said. “For me to win Evans is pretty monumental. It takes a big burden off my mother.”
Bookard said caddying at Old Barnwell opened many doors to him in addition to the scholarship.
He met with club members who gave him insight into his desired field with a couple of members providing job shadowing opportunities.
“The people are amazing,” he said. The club “really embodies what it’s trying to do to make a golf home for everybody.”
In 2023, WGA Director Nick Schreiber helped launch a youth caddie program at his new club, Old Barnwell. The mission-based club in Aiken quickly saw its participation in the program soar, with more than 150 local youth caddying regularly on weekends. Bookard and Orr are the first caddies from Old Barnwell to be awarded the Evans Scholarship, according to the release.
“Old Barnwell and our community of members could not be more excited for DJ and Benton,” Schreiber said. “We hope they are just the tip of the iceberg as we continue to develop and enhance our growing youth caddie program with the support of the Western Golf Association and Evans Scholars Foundation.”
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
