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INDIANAPOLIS — The golfers played come hell or high water and so Bryce Oertel was there, too, caddying at Hillcrest Country Club as the sweat dripped from his forehead, through torrential downpours and on the foggy, freezing mornings when being on the course seemed, to be perfectly honest, a little crazy to Bryce.
Growing up, Bryce knew virtually nothing about golf. Sports weren't really his thing. He was into video games, building computers, robotics and working on cars.
Yet, for the past three years, day after day, Bryce has hauled around a bag of irons, drivers, woods, putters, hybrids and wedges. He has pulled out his rangefinder and measured distances to the pin. He's offered praise and compliments for great shots. He's suffered through tough rounds when he knew very well it was best to keep silent.
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Bryce has even gained enough confidence to line up a putt or give his humble opinion on a shot. But his advice, he says, should be taken "with a grain of salt."
"But yeah, I love it," Bryce, 18, says. "It gave me a chance, like an opportunity I never would've had."
As Bryce caddied at Hillcrest beginning his sophomore year, he kept a 4.4 GPA at Purdue Polytechnic High, earned more than 20 college credits, participated in robotics and took on a remarkable responsibility when he got home.
Raised by a single father paralyzed in a motorcycle accident when Bryce was 11, he became the next man up helping with his younger brother, Austin, and caring for his dad. But he didn't stop there.
Bryce started engineering solutions for the 100-year-old home the family lives in, making it accessible for his father, building an elevator, adding a shower and crafting ramps.
His achievements earned Bryce a spot on the prestigious list of Evans Scholars — one of 380 youth caddies nationwide to receive a $125,000 tuition-and-housing scholarship this year. For Bryce, that meant a full ride to Purdue in the fall to study engineering.
To be selected for the Evans Scholarship, a student has to caddie for at least two years, record a strong GPA and standardized test scores, come from a family with limited financial means and exhibit leadership, integrity and strong community involvement.
"Pretty much, all these kids have all kind of walked along the same path with a little bit of different baggage here and there," says Joe Renie, a director with the Western Golf Association, which runs the Evans Scholars Program. "They're not trust fund babies. This is a real."
'It taught me perseverance and discipline'
The accident that changed Bryce's life happened on a school night. As evening fell, Bryce noticed that his dad wasn't home, but he figured he must just be running late.
Until the next morning, when he woke up for school, and his dad still wasn't home.
"I was just driving along, kind of got ran off the road and ended up on the side of the road," says Brent Oertel of the 2019 motorcycle accident. "It broke my spinal cord and I had some fractures in my neck, and it kind of went from there."
Once an elite Team USA powerlifter, Brent is paralyzed from the waist down, and he is a single father raising two boys on a fixed income.
"It was definitely hard on him. It's one of those things you don't expect, all the daily activities, all the triumphs, the battles you've got to fight and whatnot," Bryce says. "But definitely, he just kept going. It taught me perseverance and discipline."
The COVID-19 pandemic hit right after Brent's accident which meant no outpatient rehab, and Brent calls that "a silver lining."
He was at home all the time, teaching his sons skills, working on projects together and remodeling their house to be accessible for his wheelchair. And Bryce stepped up in ways beyond what his dad ever expected.
"His younger brother, (Bryce) kind of took him under his wings. He's been a good son and good brother," Brent says. "He's always been independent and smart and responsible and self-motivating, so he kind of did everything. He was a pretty easy kid to raise and just kind of grew into that as an adult."
And as he planned for his life as an adult, Bryce knew he would need to find a way to pay for college, to pay for his dream of attending Purdue.
A crazy, wonderful opportunity
The vast majority of Evans Scholars are first-generation college students. Bryce is one of those. When he heard about the scholarship, he knew this was his chance to maybe, just maybe, make it to Purdue, where he plans to study either electrical or mechanical engineering.
And so Bryce dove in and committed to being the best caddie he could be.
Renie tells the caddies in training at Hillcrest that they will learn many life lessons, how to show up on time and how to take direction.
"You're going to see examples of great sportsmanship. You're going to see examples of really bad sportsmanship," says Renie, who has been a member at Hillcrest for 23 years. "And it's going to be up to the caddies to decide what kind of a person you want to be."
In the beginning, with no golfing experience, Bryce was surprised by the intensity of the sport.
"It was a lot more running than I would expect at first. That's what threw me off on how much it physically works you," he said. "I mean, as far as the skill level, it's not terrible, but it's a lot of hard work and running around."
Bryce also learned just how devoted the members of Hillcrest are to their games.
"They just kept playing when it's like torrential downpour. I had three shifts one day, and they were just playing it no matter if it was really hot, raining, fog in the morning," Bryce says. "You know, walking through, their shoes are soaked. It's just crazy."
But it was a crazy, wonderful opportunity for Bryce.
"Some of the little things, you take for granted, but there's always a good part, finding the joy in the little things that you can have your victories and take your wins when you can," Brent says. "I'm grateful to have my boys with me through it. And we've all kind of grown together."
Bryce will leave Hillcrest behind and head to Purdue next month, where he will room with other Evans Scholars from across the state.
"This whole experience has taught me so much," Bryce says, "but I know it doesn't end here."
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: This incredible story of an Evans Scholarship caddie will make your day
