In their time the viceroyal couple, the Earl and Countess of Willingdon fostered their appreciation of the arts, building on previous governor general the Earl Grey's Lord Grey Competition for Music and Drama by introducing the Willingdon Arts Competition, which dispensed awards for painting and sculpture. They also left at Rideau Hall a collection of carpets and "objets d'art" that they had collected during their travels around India and China, and many of which were restored in 1993 to the Long Gallery of Rideau Hall. However, Willingdon's tastes also included sports, particularly fishing, tennis, skating, skiing, curling, cricket, and golf. For the latter, he in 1927 donated to the Royal Canadian Golf Association the Willingdon Cup for Canadian interprovincial amateur golf competition, which has been contested annually since that year.