Detroit caddie earns full ride after awarded life-changing Evans Scholarship
(CBS DETROIT) - Finding your footing on a golf course can be the difference between a birdie and a bogey.
But rolling with the right caddy can also do you wonders. For WGA Detroit Golf Club director Elizabeth Cunningham, at least one caddy has always caught her eye, recent graduate of Mercy High School Veronica Fisher.
"She's a smart, thoughtful, caring individual who always goes out of her way to help other caddies," Cunningham said.
For Fisher, she says there is no price she can put on what it feels like to be a caddie at the Detroit Golf Club.
"Honestly, I would like to just walk a couple miles for free, and I get paid to do that. You really can't complain," Fisher says.
Coming from a family full of former caddies, Fisher said when she turned 13, it was her turn.
"When I first started caddying, I was 13, and they would make us get up at like six in the morning. I was really little, and I was barely taller than the bag. But once you get into it, like now, I know a lot about the sport. I'm not good at it by any means, but I know what clubs people should use in certain places," Fisher says.
From providing proper measurements, carrying clubs, or helping golfers conquer the course, Fisher says she has had her fair share of meeting some familiar faces.
"I was caddying here for the Pro-Am, and then Barry Sanders was here., super, super, nice guy. And then this year, actually, Jerome Bettis was in here. He's actually a member here," Fisher says.
If you ask Cunningham, she describes Fisher as a person with high character, a strong caddie record and excellent academics, but also someone who demonstrates desperate financial need in order to go to college.
"Coming from a big family, my parents aren't super, we are not super financially well off. They're not able to afford to send seven kids to college."
Because of her work on and off the golf course, Fisher checked all the boxes and scored big after being awarded one of 25 Michigan caddies with an Evans Scholarship.
"It's the largest scholarship for caddies in the country," Cunningham says.
The scholarship covers the full cost of tuition and housing at a four-year university of Fisher's choice.
"I was kind of like speechless. I was in shock. I was like, 'Oh my God.' Then I like ran downstairs, and I was like, 'Mama. Papa. I got it.' I was like waving it around," Fisher says.
And while she enjoys carrying bags and consulting on the golf course, her plans off of it are just as big as her drive to get golfers from the tee to the green.
"I'm going to University of Minnesota. I'm studying to be an aerospace engineer," Fisher says.
Fisher says while she will be attending college in a different state, she is determined to return to caddying at the Detroit Golf Club during the summers.