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Brandt Snedeker

Former Vanderbilt and MBA golfer Brandt Snedeker has earned this year’s Payne Stewart Award, given annually to a player whose values align with the character, charitable mindset and sportsmanship that Stewart showed.

Snedker will be honored Aug. 27 in downtown Atlanta at the Payne Stewart Award ceremony, which will be televised live from 6 to 7 p.m. CT on the Golf Channel.

“Brandt Snedeker exemplifies everything the Payne Stewart Award represents,” PGA TOUR commissioner Jay Monahan said in a release. “As one of our game’s most respected players, Brandt has displayed a steadfast commitment to using his platform to better the lives of so many families in his home state of Tennessee. He and Mandy have worked tirelessly to build their family foundation and establish opportunities for children on and off the golf course, and it’s inspiring to know those efforts will continue for years to come.”

The PGA TOUR presents the Payne Stewart Award annually to a professional golfer who best exemplifies Stewart’s steadfast values of character, charity, and sportsmanship.

Stewart, an 11-time winner on the PGA TOUR and World Golf Hall of Fame member, died tragically 25 years ago during the week of the PGA tour championship in 1999. A year later, the PGA tour created the award.

The 43-year-old Snedeker, a Nashville native with nine tour victories, launched the Snedeker Foundation more than a decade ago.

The organization has focused on supporting youth initiatives on both the social and athletic fronts across middle Tennessee.

Our Kids, one of the foundation’s most prominent initiatives, provides expert medical evaluations and crisis counseling services in response to concerns about child sexual abuse. Our Kids is one of the largest clinics of its kind in the country, with eight team members providing free 24/7 coverage to 47 counties in middle Tennessee. Since 1987, Our Kids has evaluated more than 30,000 children, 65 percent of whom are age 7 or younger.

“It’s an amazing honor and privilege to be a recipient of this award,” Snedeker said in the release. “With my family being from Springfield, Missouri, Payne’s hometown, he was my favorite golfer growing up and to have my name on this trophy is unbelievable. When you’re recognized for an award like this, it means not only are you a good player, but you’re a good person. This was one of my dreams and it came true.”

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Post.