2025 high school grad Simmons wins Weir scholarship

Published 7:00 am Friday, June 13, 2025

Add one huge item to the list of things 2025 Georgia Military College Prep School graduate Madi Grace Simmons has received working summers as a pro shop attendant. 

Beyond the wages and job experience, her employment at The Club at Lake Sinclair also netted her one of the more unique scholarship opportunities out there. Since 2006, the Weir Foundation has awarded more than 30 full-ride scholarships to high school seniors heading off to college. Other than an acceptance letter and a minimum 3.0 grade point average, a key qualification is that the recipient must be the employee or dependent child of an employee of a golf course in Georgia. 

Simmons, with her pro shop background and desire to be a traditional college student, fit the bill. She was announced as the Weir Foundation’s 2025 scholarship winner in late March. This fall, she’s heading off to the University of Mississippi — aka Ole Miss — where she’ll study toward becoming a nurse with the major financial burden of out-of-state tuition lifted. 

“It feels amazing,” Simmons said. “I always wanted to go to an SEC school, and Oxford is like Milledgeville. It’s a small town that feels like a community.”

The Weir Foundation is the legacy left behind by Billy Weir, a United States Marine Corps veteran of both World War II and Korea. Beginning in the late 1960s, Weir worked as one of the six original sales reps for the PING golf brand. His reputation with the company earned him the nickname “Mr. Ping.” A former Atlanta resident, Weir passed away in 2005 at the age of 81. 

“When he died, Mr. Weir left a multimillion-dollar estate and had no family to leave it to,” said Mike McCollum, managing trustee of the Weir Foundation. “He made his fortune selling golf equipment to golf pros and wanted to give it back to where it came from. He established a scholarship program for young people that work in golf clubs in Georgia because the golf community was his chosen family.” 

The foundation has doled out over $3 million in benefits so far, with Simmons being the 32nd recipient. Her association with the game goes beyond just working in the local pro shop. She’s played golf for the last eight years or so ever since her father and current John Milledge Academy head of school, Allen Simmons, first got her out onto the course when he was serving as GMC Prep’s golf coach. 

Love of the game stuck. She joined the GMC Prep golf team in high school, despite often being the only female playing during regular season matches. Once the competition pool got a little bigger at area championships, she shined, winning back-to-back girls individual area titles in her junior and senior years. 

When she wasn’t on the links, she stayed close to them, getting a summer job at The Club at Lake Sinclair pro shop where she answered phones, checked golfers in for tee times, and restocked merchandise.

“I’ve gotten to know all the members,” Simmons said. “The job has taught me discipline and given me a routine during the summer.”

Once the decision was made to attend Ole Miss, then came the time to search for scholarships to offset the hefty out-of-state tuition cost. Given her background with the game, she and her family looked for opportunities tied to golf. 

“The one from the Weir Foundation stood out because you don’t even have to play golf to qualify for it,” said Simmons.

One application, essay, and resumé later, Simmons was chosen as a finalist to interview in person at Houston Lake Country Club in Perry. The panel presented each candidate with one question to prepare for ahead of time (What is the biggest problem facing their generation today?). The rest of the answers had to be off the cuff, including the infamous “three people — living or dead — you would have dinner with” question. Simmons selected God, Hank Williams Jr., and golfing legend Jack Nicklaus. When her father heard, he could only nod his head in full approval. 

The scholarship panel liked her choices, too. Foundation representatives called later that day with the news that Simmons was the 2025 winner, making her part of the Weir Foundation family. 

“I want to thank Mike McCollum and the Weir Foundation,” Simmons said. “None of the scholarship recipients got to meet Mr. Weir, so Mr. McCollum does a great job of telling his legacy and explaining what an impact he left on the golf community.”