Notah Begay III honored with Payne Stewart Award
For the Navajo Times | Sean McCabe
From left, former NB3 Foundation board members Sean McCabe and Wilson Pipestem, current board members George Hiller Jr., Notah Begay III and Audrey Martinez, board Chair Derek Valdo and Crystal EchoHawk pose Tuesday evening during the 2026 Payne Stewart Award ceremony in Atlanta. Pipestem was the foundation’s first board chair, followed by McCabe, while Hiller serves as treasurer. Begay received the annual PGA TOUR honor recognizing character, sportsmanship and charitable work.
ATLANTA, Ga.
Notah Begay III was honored Tuesday evening with the 2026 Payne Stewart Award, placing the four-time PGA TOUR winner among a group of golfers recognized for character, sportsmanship and charitable work.
For the Navajo Times | Sean McCabe © 2026 Navajo Times Publishing Co. Inc.
The ceremony, held at the Southern Exchange in conjunction with the TOUR Championship, also marked the reach of Begay’s work beyond professional golf. He founded the NB3 Foundation in 2005, and its programs have reached more than 80,000 Native youth and their families through physical activity, nutrition and youth development.
Begay directed $200,000 from the award’s charitable grant to the foundation and another $100,000 to the Albuquerque Community Foundation.
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