Just over 215 golfers hit the links for the fourth annual Henrique Montour Golf Classic at the MontHill Golf and Country Club on Friday, July 19, 2024.
Adam Henrique, centre for the Edmonton Oilers, and Brandon Montour, who recently won the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers, never got a chance to truly get to know each other until they played for the Anaheim Ducks from 2017 to 2019.
During that time, the two decided to start the Henrique Montour Foundation as a way to give back to the communities that helped them, and since it’s start in 2019, the foundation has supported several local organizations including the Burford District Elementary School, Burford Optimist Club, Burford Minor Hockey, Arnold Anderson Sport Fund, Child and Family Services of Grand Erie, Six Nations Police Service, Six Nations Arrows Lacrosse Team, Six Nations Minor Hockey and their old high school, Assumption College School.
“Even when we were kids, sports were always expensive but you look at the prices now and even hockey sticks are around 400 or 500 bucks and that’s not including registration and stuff,” said Montour. “There are kids out there that need help to have those opportunities that we had when we were kids and so we really enjoy getting to help where we can.”
As the nearly 54 teams made their way through the 27-hole golf course, both Henrique and Montour spent their time meeting and playing alongside the event’s ten title sponsors.
The two said that watching the event grow year after year has been great to see.
“I think it’s exceeded expectations far and beyond even what we thought it would be from the start,” said Henrique.
“To see it grow and see how many people are excited to be a part of it or chip in where they can, I think that’s pretty cool to see how it’s evolved,” added Montour. “It was huge from the start, but every year it just seems like it keeps getting bigger.”
Lisa Henrique, Adam’s sister-in-law who serves on the foundation, said that as the event has grown, so has the amount of funds they’re able to donate.
“As we’ve grown we’ve been able to raise more and more,” she said. “Last year we raised $100,000 and while I can’t really guess how much we’re going to raise this year, I know that just in sponsorship dollars alone, we’re already sitting at about $182,000. After the tournament ends we’ll also have a 50/50 going on, as well as a silent auction and a live auction, so that end amount is still really up in the air.”
Adam said that the classic’s success wouldn’t be possible without the help of both of their families laying the groundwork.
“It’s not the Adam Henrique and Brandon Montour foundation, it’s the Henrique and Montour foundation and so a big part of that is our families,” said Adam. “We really just show up and do what we can, but it’s our families that do everything and do all the hard work… they’re the reason this goes off without a hitch and so it’s more of a hats off to them that this all happens.”
