Community Champions

The Community Champion Achievement Award will be presented to an Abbotsford individual, group, or organization who have achieved National or International recognition in a variety of areas, including, but not limited to: academia, sports, arts and culture; or perform a noteworthy deed which is considered of benefit to the community {i.e. an act of bravery).

Nominations can be made by any individual, group or organization throughout the year, and are considered at a Special (closed) meeting, and a unanimous vote by Council is not required.

Recipients of a Community Champion Achievement Award will be recognized throughout the year during the Presentations section of the Regular Meeting of Council, or at another event which has been organized for this purpose.

Recipients

2023 - Nick Taylor

In recognition of his athletic excellence and his recent Canadian Open championship win, Nick Taylor is receiving the 2023 Community Champion Achievement Award.

For more than 15 years, Nick Taylor has been representing Canada and his hometown of Abbotsford across North America through his love for the sport of golf. A multi-sport athlete since he was a young child, Nick started golfing at just 10 years old and his passion for the game was immediately ignited. His love and dedication for the game developed along with this skill, which set him apart from his peers on the course, and golf quickly became his primary athletic focus.

Nick was born in Winnipeg, MB, and moved to Abbotsford with his family at the age of three. He picked up some clubs when he was 10 and started golfing at Ledgeview Golf and Country Club, which has been his home course ever since. He joined the golf team in high school as a student at Yale Secondary, and won the BC Provincial High School Championship in 2006. He received a scholarship to play collegiate golf for the University of Washington, where he earned a degree in economics in addition to earning All-American honours and being named to the All-Pac-10 conference team. In his final year of university, he won the 2010 Ben Hogan Award for the top men's collegiate golfer, ranked as the number one amateur in the world, and also won a second consecutive Pac-10 Golfer of the Year title.

Nick’s professional career started shortly after graduation in October 2010, at the Russell Brewing VGT Tour Championship on the Vancouver Golf Tour. He joined the PGA Canada Tour and played from 2011 to 2013. Nick earned his PGA Tour card in time to join the 2014 season, and had his first PGA Tour victory that same year, winning the Sanderson Farms Championship and securing his status as a rising star in the world of golf.
 
Following his first big professional win, and competing against some of the biggest names in golf, Nick continued to work on and hone his skills and consistency on the course, competing in 113 events over the next several tournament seasons. His dedication and perseverance paid off, and he won his second PGA Tour championship in February 2020 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, qualifying him for his first Masters Tournament. Nick made history in June 2023 with his third, and most recent PGA Tour victory, when he became the first Canadian in 69 years to win the RBC Canadian Open.

Nick and his wife Andie, along with their two young children, Charlie and Harper, split their time between their homes in Arizona and Abbotsford, and travel together as a family for tournaments wherever possible. Nick supports the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades Men’s and Women’s Golf programs as well as local charities including 27Blue, Chilliwack Community Services, the Abbotsford Hospice Society’s Holmberg House and the Starfish Backpack program, through the Nick Taylor Charity Classic Golf Tournament presented by Algra Brothers. Since Nick and Andie launched the initiative in 2017, the event has raised over $1 million in proceeds.

Nick says his strong support system at home played a pivotal role in his golfing journey, adding he is grateful to his and Andie’s families, the team at Ledgeview Golf and Country Club and the people of Abbotsford for supporting him and believing in him from the very beginning.