Fishers teen bound for Purdue honored with caddie scholarship
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — In a sport that requires great patience and a lot of practice, a little help goes a long way.
“When you’re on hole 17 and you have to make it to 18, and you’ve got a terrible golfer and they’re shanking it left and right,” said caddie and high school student Elle Darnell.
Meet Elle Darnell: senior at Cathedral High School, caddie at Hillcrest Country Club and most recently, an Evans Scholar, an honor designated by the Evans Scholars Foundation, a nonprofit that awards college scholarships to caddies from modest means. She’s the first to receive the honor in 24 years. The scholarship will provide funds to cover her tuition and housing at Purdue University in the fall.
“I remember coming home from school and my mom had the envelope and she couldn’t even wait for me to get home,” said Darnell. “So she opened it and said, ‘Elle! You got the scholarship!’”
And she certainly understands the ups and downs of life. Adopted from Kazakhstan by her American parents, Darnell has called Indiana home for the past decade, but that definition of “home” changed early in high school when she lost her father, Allen, to stomach cancer.
“It hit me very hard. I didn’t think I would come back from it. But in life, we are bound to encounter a lot of adversity. But how we overcome it says a lot about our character,” said Darnell.
She overcame that phase of adversity with the help of caddying. But it didn’t come easy at first.
“She is one of the first requested caddies that we have. So it’s really cool to see when we have a caddie request, they call in and say, ‘I want Elle,’” said Keith Clark.
For most people, golf is one of the most frustrating sports out there. But Darnell says she finds her peace out here on the greens.
“Just to zone out and be away from technology and have a conversation with another person,” said Darnell.
Golf has provided countless opportunities for the future Boilermaker. And she knows there’s a special someone who would love every moment of her success.
“I know he probably wouldn’t stop talking about it,” said Darnell. “Wherever he went, he’d probably be like, ‘My daughter is an Evans Scholar!’”
She’s carrying on the Darnell legacy one golf bag at a time.