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When the pursuit of an education and the desire to share good fortune need a facilitator to bring them together, golf often finds itself in the right place at the right time. In Milwaukee, a young teen named Zindzi Frederick answered a bulletin-board ad in pursuit of a summer job. Five years later, that job morphed into the opportunity of a lifetime for Frederick, now 18.
“I definitely did not expect any of this to happen,” she said.
“This” is a four-year, Charles “Chick” Evans Scholarship to the University of Wisconsin, including full housing and tuition, that Frederick received from the Western Golf Association in December. It answers the prayers of her mother, who named Zindzi after the daughter of the late Nelson Mandela. (Zindzi Mandela, who was South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark before her death in July of 2020, was also a published poet.)
While Frederick appreciates the conversation that can be initiated because of names, it is the story she herself has authored that warrants admiration. The summer before her freshman year of high school, Frederick was drawn to a posting about outdoor summer work. Soon she found herself caddieing at Brown Deer Park Golf Course in Milwaukee.
“I resigned after my first year,” she said with a smile. As a non-golfer, she had a difficult time learning the ins and outs of the game.
Fortunately, the founder of the Caddie & Leadership Academy of Southeast Wisconsin, Phil Poletti, encouraged Frederick to reconsider her decision. Her pathway was restored, and golf worked its magic.
Having begun caddieing at Milwaukee Country Club, Frederick became known to Micaela White Bomhack, the president and CEO of the Rite-Hite Holding Corporation. Before long Frederick had a mentor, as well as a scholarship to the University School of Milwaukee, a prestigious college-prep academy.
“My mother always wanted me to go there,” said Frederick, who added that her mother, a native of St. Croix, had three requisites for her and her sister. “We had to play a musical instrument, we had to be fluent in another language, and we had to sing.”
Frederick offers a hearty laugh, then notes that while she now plays violin for the Milwaukee Youth Symphony and speaks fluent French, “I am not a singer.”
She might not be a golfer, either – at least not yet – but she is certainly enthralled with the game.
“I was not familiar with golf or how robust it is,” she said. “But it was a summer job and not far from home. It was really a blessing.”
Frederick plans to study international relations in college, and while the sky is the limit for her aspirations, she will forever cherish the doors that golf opened.