His father graduated from Springfield and is on the board of trustees. He was going through the mail at dinner one night when he came across an envelope from the college addressed to Don Gregory.
"My son goes by D.J.," the father said. "It was an application for admission, and I said, 'Why would they send this to me?"'
D.J. took the letter and filled out the application. Six years later, he had bachelor's and master's degrees in sports management.
Gregory was 12 when his father took him to the 1990 Greater Greensboro Open, where Steve Elkington won for the first time on the PGA Tour. Gregory was trying to fill his hat with autographs when CBS Sports analyst Ken Venturi came by in a cart, signed his cap and invited him to join Jim Nantz in the tower.
"I just took a liking to him," Venturi said.
The relationships formed that afternoon went a long way.
Gregory began going to a half-dozen tour events each year, which led him to dream of walking every hole of every tournament. He drew up a business plan and e-mailed it to Nantz, who made sure it got to PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem. The tour signed off on the idea and invited Gregory to two straight playoff events last year as a trial run, wanting to make sure he had the stamina.
Gregory hopes to write a book next year about places he went and people he met. "All these players have a great story to tell," Gregory said, overlooking the fact that he does, too. He now works with United Cerebral Palsy to help raise awareness.
"The reaction is more than I ever would have guessed," he said.
Slocum finished last among 77 players at the CA Championship, so there wasn't much of a gallery. Gregory had a good view, and so did Slocum. He couldn't help but notice the number of fans who approached Gregory to shake his hand, and he heard one woman tell Gregory about her son coping with cerebral palsy.
"He makes a bad day a lot easier to swallow," Slocum said. "It's pretty inspiring."
Because of the rain delays, Slocum finished in the last group on the ninth hole of the Blue Monster. That meant Gregory's week ended about the same time Tiger Woods walked off the 18th green with a par, ending a winning streak that had captivated golf for six months.
By year's end, Gregory's streak might prove far more impressive.
