Beloved WGA staffer Moore visits with CU Evans Scholar alums
by Gary Baines
There’s no mistaking the home of Jim Moore.
Driving through a bucolic neighborhood north of Chicago, his is the house with the wooden bench on the front porch with large green letters engraved in it: EVANS SCHOLARS.
It only seems appropriate. For the man who in 2007 became the Western Golf Association’s first 40-year employee, what could be more fitting? The Illinois-based WGA administers the Evans Scholarship, which for the last 84 years has sent deserving caddies to college with tuition and housing costs fully paid.
There are now about 10,000 alumni of the program, including roughly 430 from the University of Colorado. The WGA partners with the CGA and CWGA in supporting the Evans Scholarship at CU, which is a flagship program for both golf associations.
As the educational director for the Evans Scholars Foundation for almost 20 years — and the assistant educational director under Roland “Mac” McGuigan for 22 years before that — Moore has had an impact on countless Scholars over the last 4 1/2 decades.
Coincidentally, the CU Evans Scholars chapter was founded in 1967, the same year Moore was hired by the WGA. It’s one of 14 Evans Scholar houses now in operation, but as the only one outside of the Midwest, the CU Scholars felt much of their connection to the program through their interaction with Moore and McGuigan.
How indelible an imprint has Moore made on the CU program? Enough that CU Evans Scholar alum George Solich hosted a trip to Chicago last week to pay a visit to Moore, who has been ailing in recent months.
Five fellow CU Evans Scholar alums joined Solich (class of 1983) — George’s older brother Geoff “Duffy” Solich (1981), Frank Nessinger (1984), CGA executive director Ed Mate (1988), Ryan Pellet (1995) and myself (1983) — in exchanging often-humorous stories with Moore, reminiscing about years gone by and paying tribute to one of the most influential men in the Evans Scholars program. (The group is pictured above with Jim, in the white cap, at his home.)
As Moore said during the visit, “It’s been an unbelievable journey.”
And for many Evans Scholars, their journey has been made possible in part because of Moore (left) and the Evans Scholarship. Each school year for decades, Moore (often with McGuigan) visited each Evans Scholar house at least a couple of times, making sure things were running smoothly and providing invaluable counsel. He mentored, advised and provided a sounding board for college students living on their own for the first time and managing a group-living situation.
“I’ve always looked at Jim as one of those Rock of Gibraltar, super-solid guys that is always positive,” said George Solich, who along with brother Duffy and Pellet currently serve as WGA directors. “It’s never about him. He’s always talking about you or somebody else. He’s consistently had that kind of demeanor.”
Added Pellet: “Nobody has a bad memory about Jim Moore. When I was in the house, he was always called ‘Smiling Jim’. He was the guy who could always get mad at you, but it was OK because you just knew he was guiding you the right way. There’s generations of Scholars that everyone has the same fond memories.”
The influence of Moore particularly hits home in Colorado this year with the BMW Championship PGA Tour playoff event being contested at Cherry Hills Country Club Sept. 4-7. All the net proceeds from the BMW Championship go to the Evans Scholars Foundation, with more than $16 million having been contributed since 2007. George Solich is the general chairman for this year’s BMW Championship.
“Particularly in Colorado, Jim Moore has seen it all” regarding the Evans Scholar program at CU, Mate noted. “He saw the purchase of the Evans Scholars house (in the late 1960s), saw the program grow and saw all of us go through.
“The Evans Scholars program is named after Chick Evans but it could easily be the Jim Moore Scholarship. The impact he’s had … there are 10,000 alumni and 80 percent probably fell on his watch. Jim is such a humble guy — he never asked for any credit — but the things that stand out are his passion for the program and his positivity. He’s always been such a positive influence. I don’t know a single Evans Scholar that doesn’t have a positive memory of Jim Moore. We owe so much to him.”
It’s little wonder why, in 2008, the same year Moore became the WGA’s senior vice president of foundation advancement, a gala was thrown in his honor. More than 800 people feted him in the Grand Ballroom of Chicago’s Navy Pier.
Moore has a room in his home with numerous cherished items collected over the years. There’s a photo from that Jim Moore Gala at Navy Pier. There’s a picture with him, the Solich brothers and Jack Nicklaus (left). There’s a photo of him with another CU Evans Scholar alum — and WGA director — Bob Webster. But the first item in the room that Moore shows guests is a glass-engraved tribute he received from family members.
His life has clearly been well-lived on more than one front.
As Moore said in 2008, “I’m a fortunate guy in that I have two families that I love very much. If I’ve had a little impact on some of your lives, I’m happy with that. I’m pleased and proud of that. But I can tell you that each of you has had a greater impact on me.”
It seems like everyone has a Jim Moore story — or at least deeply ingrained memories of Moore and his ever-smiling presence.
There were those many dinners at the old Boulder Broker Restaurant with the CU Evans Scholars executive board. George Solich remembers taking Moore skiing four or five times as a junior and senior at the Evans Scholar house. Pellet recalls Moore’s calming effect as Ryan interviewed for the scholarship as a “shaking” high school senior, again when dealing with difficult issues as president of the Evans Scholar house, and yet again when deciding between job offers.
“I met him when I was 17, and I’ve felt like he’s been my friend ever since,” George Solich said. “I really admire how he’s lived his life and all the kids he touched and made their lives better. He’s wiser than you can imagine. He was that guy you always immediately respected and liked, yet he was no pushover. He could be tough if he needed to. He had an influence on 8,000 young men and women going to college.”
Appropriately, the academic excellence award that goes to the Evans Scholar chapter with the highest cumulative grade-point average for an academic year is named the James E. Moore Scholarship Trophy.
“In a very quiet way, he’s really been the steady hand on the program for 40-some years,” Mate said.
