Golfers playing Brown Deer Golf Course will have the opportunity to use a complimentary caddie, through August 13, thanks to the partnership of the Milwaukee County Parks and the Caddie and Leadership Academy of Southeast Wisconsin.

Caddies will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, from 7:00 AM to noon, and Fridays from 10:30 AM to noon, at Brown Deer Golf Course located at 7625 N. Range Line Road. The only out-of-pocket cost to a golfer would be an optional tip. Base fees for the caddies are paid through educational grants.

The partnership, however, is about more than having free caddies available to golfers. The program provides area youths, as young as age 14, with job and leadership training and the potential for scholarship opportunities.

“There’s nothing that taught me more than caddying,” said George Solich, director of the Western Golf Association and former Evans Scholarship recipient. “You put a kid in caddying and it gives them the opportunity to be a successful student, gives them that work ethic, teaches them how to be self-sufficient, and gives them the drive to get better.”

Male and female participants in the Caddie and Leadership Academy are selected based in part on character, academics, financial need, and a summer-long commitment to the program. New candidates attend basic caddie training sessions before officially starting the Academy program.

In addition, the Academy, along with the Wisconsin State Golf Association, assists the Western Golf Association in identifying potential candidates for the Evans Scholar Program. The Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship is a full tuition and housing college scholarship for golf caddies. The scholarship is renewable for up to four years. The WGA awards approximately 200 new scholarships annually with about 15 of those scholarships going to deserving caddies in Wisconsin.

Applications for the 2018 Caddie and Leadership Academy program will be due in April. For more information, visit caddieacademy.org.

Tee-time reservations for Brown Deer can be made at (414) 475-6222 or milwaukeecountygolfcourses.com.