ELMSFORD, N.Y. (November 8, 2010) – The Metropolitan Golf Association is pleased to announce that Paul R. Dillon will receive the 2010 MGA Distinguished Service Award. Dillon has been an advocate of the game as a leader, coach and artist, and his service on behalf of the Metropolitan Golf Association and Westchester Golf Association has made him one of the most recognizable faces in Met Area golf during the last 25 years. The Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Dillon at the Metropolitan Golf Association’s 113th Annual Meeting and Dinner at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, N.Y., on Wednesday, December 1.

The MGA Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to a candidate who has contributed “distinguished service to golf and its related activities, consistent with the valued standards and honorable traditions of the game.”

Dillon grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y., and like many golfers, his first exposure to the game was as a caddie.  In spite of this, and a lifelong love of all sports, the 75-year-old did not play his first round of golf until the age of 23. After attending Iona College, Dillon began a 30-year career with the Union Camp Corporation, a company that is now part of International Paper and put golf on hold while he and his wife of nearly 50 years, Mary Ellen, could raise their six children in Mamaroneck, N.Y. At age 45, he rediscovered the game and joined Wykagyl Country Club and then, in 1987, joined Winged Foot Golf Club where he has been an active member ever since.

Paul began volunteering his time with the Metropolitan Golf Association and Westchester Golf Association in the early 1990s. He served as WGA president from 1994-‘95 and later as president of their highly successful Caddie Scholarship Fund. Dillon currently serves on the Executive Committees of both organizations.

Paul’s dedication to spreading the game’s values and traditions allowed him to rise through the ranks of the MGA, including a post as the Public Links Committee chairman and two terms as MGA President and MGA Foundation chairman (2003-’04). He was instrumental in launching the MGA’s Capital Campaign, “Golf Grows Here,” on which he served as co-chairman with Lowell Schulman, and in expanding the MGA Foundation’s cornerstone junior programs, GOLFWORKS and The First Tee. The success of the Foundation’s programs and the current building expansion are direct results of Dillon’s efforts to promote the importance of golf to future generations and he remains active in these pursuits to this day.

In addition to his service with the MGA and WGA, Paul Dillon has been the head coach of Fordham University’s men’s golf team since 1995. He has turned the Rams program into an Atlantic 10 Conference contender that most recently won the 2009 ECAC Championship. Voted 2004 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, Dillon takes pride in helping his players improve as golfers, but more importantly, developing them into responsible and respected adults.

Dillon has also served golf with his paintbrush, for he is the Met Area’s most prolific and celebrated golf artist. He has painted, and donated, hundreds of portraits of the game’s great players, many of which hang prominently in clubhouses across the country and abroad. Each year Paul creates portraits of MGA and Metropolitan Golf Writers Association award recipients, a tradition which goes back more than 15 years, and paints each of his graduating Fordham golf team seniors. His masterpieces have become a cherished tradition for the associations, honorees and student-athletes.

He has been the consummate ambassador of golf for the last 25 years. He is the “first responder” to any request to represent the MGA at a dinner, luncheon, meeting or tournament and his warm and enthusiastic participation is always in demand. Paul’s dedication to spreading the game’s values and traditions along with his relentless service to the MGA and WGA have made him one of the most beloved members of our golf community. “During the course of your life you may meet a handful of people that you love and that also inspire you,” said MGA president Al Small. “Paul—the artist, coach, leader and friend—is that person to me!”

For these reasons and many others, the MGA is delighted to award its most prestigious honor to Paul R. Dillon.  

The award will be presented at the 113th MGA Annual Meeting and Dinner on Wednesday, December 1 at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, N.Y. For more information on the 2010 MGA Distinguished Service Award, please contact Jeanne McCooey (jmccooey@mgagolf.org) or Greg Midland (gmidland@mgagolf.org) at the MGA office at          914-347-4653.