It’s fair to say it’s been a tough couple of years for Nedlands junior golfer Ben Gregory.
In April 2024, aged just 12, he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. Surgery to remove it brought on a stroke, paralysing the left side of his body. Difficult weeks of rehab and radiotherapy were followed by gruelling months of chemotherapy.
Not a lot of fun for the sports-mad youngster, then — not that you’d know it upon meeting him today.
Full of smiles and positive energy, 14-year-old Ben is now back to full fitness and feeling no lasting ill effects from his debilitating treatment.
He’s packing in as much golf as he can during the school holidays and is taking centre stage at Nedlands GC this week as the club raises funds for Make-A-Wish Australia.
The charity is playing its part in his recovery by sending Ben and his family on a dream trip to the Gold Coast next week, where he and his dad will get to play at the revered Sanctuary Cove Golf & Country Club.
Nedlands GC is raising funds for Make-A-Wish Australia – a charity close to Ben’s heart
Giving back to causes that have supported him is second nature to Ben. He’s already raised significant sums for the Kids Cancer Support Group (KCSG), which provided numerous bright moments during his treatment at Perth Children’s Hospital.
A sausage sizzle and rowing regatta at his school raised more than $4,000 for KCSG — and there’s more on the way, with the charity to be Ben’s chosen beneficiary when he tackles the 12km HBF Run for a Reason in May.
He even served as an ambassador for the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation’s inaugural ‘Give for Kids Day’ last September, raising $20,000 in the process.
Golf and the power of positive thinking
A golfer since the age of 10, Ben is a keen sportsman who also enjoys athletics, surfing, soccer and surf lifesaving.
However, it was golf that became his all-important outlet during the long months of treatment.
“I’m quite sporty, but I wasn’t able to play contact sports like soccer during my treatment, and I couldn’t be in the water for surfing and surf lifesaving,” Ben told GolfWA. “The one sport I could always play was golf.”
Ben took great solace in golfing with his dad as often as he could during that taxing year – and says the support he received from Nedlands GC throughout made a tangible difference.
“The club was so kind to me,” he said. “They allowed me unlimited use of golf carts, so even when I could barely walk, I could still come out here and play golf with dad, which was amazing.
“Being able to keep golfing was so good for me. It has really strengthened my love for the game, and I’m absolutely going to be playing for life!”
An old head on young shoulders, 22-handicapper Ben recognises that the highs and lows of golf can be a perfect analogy for life itself.
“I think golf teaches you a lot of life lessons,” he said. “You get good lies and bad lies, you hit good shots and bad shots, but you just have to play the ball as it lies and keep going.
“I’ve always been positive. I think that really helped me get through everything I’ve had to deal with.”
Anyone keen to support Ben’s Run for a Reason fundraising efforts can donate here.
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