Somewhere, you know Dave Matthews was smiling.

The RCGA recently announced that Matthews, who worked tirelessly at various professional events in this country over the years, had been named their 2009 Volunteer of the Year.

Sadly, Matthews never had the chance to accept the award. He passed away last fall after a brief, courageous battle with cancer.

From the RCGA release:

The late Dave Matthews of St. Catherines Ont. was recognized as the RCGA’s Volunteer of the Year. 2009 marked the fourth year for this initiative which recognizes individuals in the golf community whose tireless efforts and dedication help to grow the game in Canada.

Matthews was a native of Truro, N.S. and lived in Noranda, Que., Toronto and finally St. Catharine’s, Ont. where he became a proud member of St. Catharines Golf & Country Club.

Throughout the years, Matthews volunteered as Chairman for the Canadian Tour Championship, served as volunteer committee chairman for RCGA professional events since the 2001 Canadian Women’s Open at Angus Glen and up until the 2009 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

Matthews was diagnosed with terminal cancer three weeks prior to the Canadian Tour championship, an event he worked diligently to pull together. Sadly, he passed away less than a week after the event.

Matthews epitomized the real driving force behind a professional golf tournament, regardless of the tour. Players, naturally, get the headlines and are the main attraction while the volunteers, for the most part, are happy to stay behind the scenes, making sure even last ‘i’ is dotted, every last ‘t’ crossed.

Volunteers are all too happy to put in endless hours during tournament week, while volunteer chairs like Matthews spend months coordinating their committees prior to the tournament. Usually they do it for a golf shirt and a work’s worth of sandwiches. If they get really lucky, they may get a couple of player autographs on their ball cap.

Adding a special touch to the RCGA’s release was the note that Matthews was a driving force behind the successful Canadian Tour Championship. In all my years with the Canadian Tour, one constant – at least with the more established events – was the countless number of volunteers that turned out, year after year in locales like Victoria, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Barrie and Montreal, giving up a week of their time – and often much more - to make the tournament a success. For the simple love of the sport.

Something Dave Matthews showed, year after year.