“It’s very special. Payne was unbelievable to me and I got to know him very well. I’m speechless really, to think that now I’m part of this elite group of past recipients who have all done it the right way. It’s really nice to see that people have watched and seen that I can inspire others, and I can’t thank Southern Company, the TOUR and Jay Monahan enough to now call myself a Payne Stewart Award recipient.”
- Billy Andrade, professional golfer, PGA TOUR Champions
Billy Andrade has enjoyed a 35-year career on the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions. A Bristol, Rhode Island native, Billy has called Atlanta home since 1988 when he first joined the PGA TOUR. As an Atlanta resident, Andrade developed an affinity for the history of East Lake Golf Club.
Since joining the PGA TOUR, Andrade has been using his platform to give back to charitable causes close to his heart.
“Billy Andrade is an ideal representation of a Payne Stewart Award recipient,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “As someone who exudes kindness and respect, Billy is a stranger to no one, and has spent his career fostering meaningful relationships that have helped fuel his charitable endeavors, which have spanned more than three decades. That unwavering commitment to helping others is what draws so many people to Billy, and what would certainly make Payne proud.”
“Giving back is good energy, that’s what it’s all about. It’s much greater than the game of golf itself, and it lifts everybody up.”
In 1991, Andrade partnered with fellow Payne Stewart Award recipient Brad Faxon to create the Billy Andrade/Brad Faxon Charities for Children, Inc., which has raised more than $25 million for children in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 2022, the organization supported 61 different children’s charities.
One year after the departure of the PGA TOUR’s annual stop at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Massachusetts in 1999, Andrade and Faxon created an annual pro-am fundraiser – the CVS Health Charity Classic – to continue raising charitable dollars for local nonprofits. The event recruited PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and LPGA Tour professionals alike, and was televised on Golf Channel from 1999-2010, followed by Fox Sports from 2011-2019.
In 2020 and 2021, the CVS Health Charity Classic transitioned into the CVS Health Foundation Hometown Fund, which provided $2 million in grants annually to support the organizations that are providing access to health care, education and social services to the children and families who need them most.
Each May at East Lake Golf Club, site of the TOUR Championship, Andrade and fellow Atlanta resident Stewart Cink host the East Lake Invitational, a charity pro-am that benefits the neighborhood revitalization efforts of the East Lake Foundation. The event attracts several celebrities, athletes and professional golfers alike, who travel from around the country to lend their support.
Andrade began his path to the PGA TOUR after receiving Wake Forest University’s Arnold Palmer Scholarship, named for the inaugural co-recipient of the Payne Stewart Award. During his time at Wake Forest, Andrade became one of the top players in school and ACC history while helping lead the Demon Deacons to an improbable back-nine comeback to win the 1986 NCAA National Championship; he was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
Officially joining the PGA TOUR in 1988, Andrade collected four victories on TOUR between 1991-2000. Andrade’s first two PGA TOUR titles in 1991 took place in back-to-back weeks at the Kemper Open and Buick Classic. The following week, Payne Stewart won his first of two U.S. Open titles at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
In 2014, he began competing on the PGA TOUR Champions where he collected three victories that all occurred during the 2015 season and included the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.