Local caddie awarded full scholarship
By Shelbie Proudfoot, Current Staff
Most West Bend East High School seniors are beginning to prepare for their nerve-wracking scholarship interviews, but for Lydia Spettel, that ordeal is already over.
Spettel received the Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholarship, a full tuition and housing scholarship, on Dec. 23. It came to her differently than a standard academic scholarship. The Evans Scholarship is a nationwide caddying scholarship that has been around since 1929.
“The requirements are that you have to [have been] a caddie for two years, have good academic standing, some financial need, and good character,” Spettel said.
Spettel, who caddied at the West Bend Golf and Country Club for the last three summers, noted that even though caddying was the main requirement for the Evans Scholarship, there was still a thorough application process that had to be carried out.
“There is an application that is pretty extensive,” Spettel said. “There are a few essays on it. Once you are a finalist you get to go in for an interview in front of a board of about 75 people, and after that you just wait and hope for the best.”
The final selection interviews were held Dec. 20 at Westmoor Country Club in Brookfield. Seventeen Wisconsin high school seniors were awarded the Evans Scholarship.
While the wait for the scholarship has ended for Spettel, she is still awaiting word from the colleges where the Evans Scholarship applies.
“The scholarship can only be used at certain schools because you have to live in the Evans Scholarship housing on campus, so I applied to the University of Michigan, UW-Madison, and Northwestern,” Spettel said.
While the scholarship was given to Spettel for Northwestern specifically, it can still be used at the other colleges she applied to if she chooses to go to one of those instead.
When asked what Spettel is most looking forward to during her time at college, she said she is most excited for the variety of opportunities she will have to be involved both on and off campus.
(Photograph of Lydia Spettel courtesy of the Spettel family.)
The West Bend Current 
As members of the West Bend Country Club, the Tighe family is very proud of your accomplishment & the fabulous schlolarship you’ve earned. Your future is so promising. Good luck, Lydia.
What a Honey! She worked hard for this and I’m very proud of her!