Montréal, December 5, 2024 – In a year marked by the return of the Presidents’ Cup to Montréal, the tribute goes international as Royal Montreal’s Michael Richards becomes the 19th winner of the Pierre-Nadon Award.
“Michael is definitely the man who has put Montréal on the world golf map,” says Michel Lacroix, a member of the decision-making committee of golf journalists and a former colleague of the late Pierre Nadon.
In presenting this honour, Golf Québec wishes to highlight the excellence of those involved in this discipline.
BOTH A POPULAR AND ECONOMIC SUCCESS
The perfect gentleman that is Michael Richards, ex-president and captain of the Royal Montreal Golf Club, has made Montréal one of golf’s great capitals on a number of occasions.
Over the past 25 years, and despite fierce competition from other nations, Montréal is the only city – along with Melbourne – to have been selected at least twice by the PGA to host the biennial Cup. The Québec metropolis already hosted the prestigious event in 2007, before welcoming it once again at the end of September.
“Michael is undoubtedly the person behind this double, which has had a huge impact. He had to convince the PGA as well as the members of the Royal Montreal Golf Club to give up their course. Achieving these two feats was good for Montréal’s reputation,” says Michel Lacroix.
The RDS analyst gives some revealing figures on the legacy of this contribution.
“In the U.S. and internationally, TV audiences were of the same magnitude as the Masters. In Canada, results more than doubled,” says Lacroix, demonstrating the event’s high profile.
As well as being popular at the box office, with 30,000 spectators each day, the event was also an economic success in terms of tourism impact.
Data is still coming in, but it’s worth noting that the financial impact of the previous Presidents’ Cup presented in Charlotte in 2022 reached 82 million U.S. dollars!
DON’T FORGET THE CANADIAN OPEN WITH… TIGER
A graduate of McGill University, where he was captain of the hockey team, Michael Richards enjoyed a distinguished career as a senior lawyer with the firm Stikeman Elliott.
The Pierre-Nadon Prize was awarded in recognition not only of his work in bringing the Presidents’ Cups to Montréal, but also for his leadership role at the two Canadian Opens at Royal Montreal, with Tiger Woods in attendance each time. He was co-president of the organization in 1997 (with Roger H. Legault) and 2001 (with Roger Archambault).
Over the years, the high quality of Golf Québec’s award winners means that the Pierre-Nadon Prize has become a gateway to the Hall of Fame.
The red carpet has been rolled out.
About Pierre Nadon
Journalist and editor-in-chief at La Presse and Le Montréal Matin, with a stint at Radio-Canada sports in between, Pierre Nadon was a passionate and erudite golfer. He was also editor of Golf Canada’s high-quality French-language magazine before leaving us far too soon, taken by cancer on June 15, 2005.
Thus, journalist friends (Michel Lacroix, Denis Messier, Daniel Caza, Réal Labbé, André Rousseau, and your author), in collaboration with Golf Québec, then headed by Bob Dion, created an award to commemorate his commitment.
About Golf Québec – Initiate passions, build dreams
Founded in 1920, Golf Québec is the provincial sport federation whose mission is to increase participation in golf, to develop excellence in golf, and to promote and govern the game of golf. Golf Québec provides discovery and introduction programs such as First Tee – Premier départ Québec as well as core services such as the Rules of Golf, Course Ratings, World Handicap System, and the Québec Golf Hall of Fame. In addition, Golf Québec conducts regional and provincial championships to bring the local golf enthusiasts to surpass themselves and eventually reach the upper spheres of professional tours. For more information, please visit https://www.golfquebec.org.
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Sources:
Jean-Pierre Beaulieu
Executive Director
514 252-3345, ext. 3732
jpbeaulieu@golfquebec.org