For many teenagers, the term “C-I-T” stands for “counselor in training,” working at a summer camp.

But for 15-year old Danny Hesburgh, “C-I-T” stands for “caddie in training,” as a member of the brand-new Caddie Academy at the Canal Shores Golf Course.

The Academy kicked off, or rather, teed off this past weekend, as a key part of the renovated golf course.

The course, which covers parts of both Evanston and Wilmette, has been renamed The Evans at Canal Shores, to honor the late Chick Evans, a nationally famous amateur golfer who won both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur tournament in the same year (1916).

Evans, once a caddy himself, provided seed money for what would become Evans Scholarships … college assistance for caddies.

So if Danny Hesburgh keeps caddying, and keeps his grades up, he might become an Evans Scholar himself.

Danny told Evanston Now that while he has played golf recreationally, he never caddied … until now.

Caddying is not just lugging bags from tee to tee.

Danny said a good caddie gives the golfer “an accurate read of the greens,” brings along extra golf balls, fixes divots, cleans the clubs, and gives the golfer the yardage from the tee box to the pin, “to help determine what club to use.”

An image from the golf course website.

Canal Shores closed a couple of years ago for renovations. There was a gradual reopening, and while it’s fully operational now, there will be a grand opening ceremony on June 18.

Board president Matt Rooney says the Academy “uses golf to teach life skills.”

An organization called the Western Golf Association pays the fees which a golfer would normally have cover for using a caddy.

Play on the golf course Sunday.

Rooney says some of the Academy participants are from “underserved communities,” who may have never picked up a golf club in their lives.

Since 1930, The Evans Scholars Foundation has helped 13,000 one-time caddies go to college.

Scholarship winners can live in the Evans Scholars House. The first such house is at Northwestern University.

Chick Evans, Rooney says, attended Northwestern, but had to drop out because he couldn’t afford the tuition.

Evans then became a caddy, and eventually, one of the best golfers of the 20th century.

As for Danny Hesburgh, he was able to apply some very important caddying tips during his first non-training, club-carrying day on Sunday.

A good caddy, one who hustles, and helps the golfer, “can earn another $20 in tips.”

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