Georgia resident travels from tournament to tournament

Most fans attending a golf tournament might consider it a good day if they get to see some of their favorite players, enjoy a nice walk and maybe witness a few memorable shots.

D.J. Gregory considers it a good day if he makes it around the course without falling.

But if he does go down, the 32-year-old who suffers from Cerebral Palsy and walks with the aid of a cane, simply laughs it off, gets right back up and rejoins the gallery, because that's just par for the course for Gregory, who describes his gait not so much a walk as a wobble.

"I just try to get right back up so hopefully not too many people see it," Gregory said with a smile. "But I keep track of my falls because it's part of my personality. I know I'm not going to go 44 tournaments without falling.

"I think I've only fallen 10 or 11 times this year ... not too bad."

That's down considerably from the 29 falls he had in 2008 when he decided to walk 18 holes - and occasionally 36 - every day at every PGA tournament (over 1,000 miles) and eventually chronicled his adventure in the book "Walking with Friends."

"It was my goal to average less than one fall per week," said Gregory, who continued his 2008 trek by attending 35 events last year and will finish 2010 having walked in at least 44.

"I didn't start this journey to inspire or motivate people, I did it for selfish reasons," Gregory said. "One, because it was a lifelong dream to go to every event and get to know the players on a more personal level and secondly, to accomplish a personal challenge of walking every hole of every event.

"But I quickly realized that what I was doing could inspire and motivate others."

And boy has he.

As he made his way down the cart path along the ninth hole Saturday, one fan approached him for an autograph, another shouted congratulations, and with every step along the route, heads turned in recognition of the walking man.

"It's pretty funny; some people will come up and say hi, but as I walk by I can hear people say, 'That's the guy who walks all the courses,' " said Gregory, who has been home to Savannah, Ga., a total of 12 days this year. "But it's not just out here. I get recognized at the airport, out at dinner.

"I'll never get used to it, but at the same time I do appreciate it."

Walk, waggle, wobble, whatever it is that propels Gregory around a course, it's all the more amazing, considering the early prognosis was he would be confined to a wheelchair and would never walk.

His parents didn't accept that verdict.

"They didn't take that for an answer," said Gregory, who recently started a foundation this year to raise money for Cerebral Palsy. "They consulted with some doctors to figure out what could be done."

And their boy is proving them right.

Gregory endured five surgeries on his legs by first grade. He initially got around by sliding with the use of his arms before graduating to a pair of canes and eventually just one.

"I don't feel sorry for myself because I have a disability," he said. "Everything happens for a reason so I look at the glass as half-full."

But why concentrate on golf?

"I'm a sports fanatic and golf's my favorite because I can play it," Gregory said. "I've played in four pro-ams this year. I had my best round ever at Hilton Head - shot a 95 and just missed a hole-in-one by two feet. And I made the putt for birdie!"

And that was done with a stance in which he plants his cane just beyond the ball with his left hand and swings with his right.

Amazing.

"If you have a dream, go after it," Gregory said of his motto. "Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it. Through hard work, anything is possible. I'm living proof of that."

Simply amazing.