College Scholarship

The Walter J. Travis Memorial Scholarships and The Rudy Zocchi Memorial Scholarship
The Walter J. Travis Memorial Scholarship is an annual award given since 2009 to honor the remarkable accomplishments and contributions of Walter J. Travis in the game of golf. In his pioneering career, Travis was a champion amateur golfer, esteemed golf course architect, innovative turf grass expert, and prolific golf journalist. He was founder and editor of one of the most influential golf magazines of his time, The American Golfer. We encourage applicants to explore this site to learn more about Walter J. Travis, in whose honor this scholarship program was established.

The Travis Society’s Scholarships are awarded to students pursuing a career in one of the following professions: landscape design/golf course architecture; golf course turf grass management/golf course superintendent; professional golf management, club professional, or sports journalism with a special interest in golf.

In addition, we will give serious consideration to outstanding amateur high school/college/university golfers for our scholarship awards, based on their competitive record as an amateur golfer, and criteria listed below (with exception of career goals). Amateur golfer applicants do not need to be pursuing a career in a golf related industry.

One of our scholarships is awarded in honor of Rudy Zocchi, a long-time Travis Society member who devoted much of the last years of his life to researching Walter J. Travis. We are forever grateful to Rudy for the countless significant contributions he made to our knowledge of Walter J. Travis. Our large collection of Travis literature and memorabilia is largely the result of Rudy’s dedicated and diligent efforts.

Applicants for The Walter J. Travis Memorial Scholarship must present evidence of being enrolled/matriculated as a full-time undergraduate or graduate student at an accredited two- or four-year college/university, for the following Fall semester.

The following criteria will be used to evaluate the merit of all scholarship applications:

• Overall quality of application materials, including thoroughness and clarity of information provided, current references/recommendations, and an essay that reflects a good understanding and appreciation of the instructions.
• Academic record
• Involvement in golf-related interests and activities.
• Career goals (Not applicable for students who are applying in the category of “amateur golfer”) that are consistent with the goals of this scholarship program.
• Extracurricular activities, including volunteer work with student/community organizations; participation in sports and community affairs; jobs held; special interests, and hobbies. We are impressed with those students who have demonstrated a desire to “give back to their community” through volunteer activities.
• For those in the amateur golfer category, successful participation in competition. Scholarship applications are independently reviewed by panelists who rate each applicant on the above criteria using an evaluation rating system designed to objectify the evaluations as much as possible. The panelists submit their top 6-10 (depending on size of field) applicants to the Scholarship Chairman who identifies the winners, based on their overall ranking.

Award: $1,000

Number of Awards: Five awards.

Awards renewal: Awards are renewable subject to re-application, including a letter of recommendation from at least one of the student’s professors, and evidence of maintaining a 3.00 GPA, or higher. Past winners will be reviewed by the Scholarship Screening Panel using the same criteria applied to all other applicants.

Awards use: This scholarship may be used for any legitimate educational expense.

Application procedures: Candidates must complete the following form:

2024 Scholarship Application (Online Submission-Available January 2024).