Children with Down syndrome the focus of Havelock North golfer’s drive

Freddie Perry shows his appreciation to dad Mat. Photo / Warren Buckland

Nearly every moment is a joyful one for Freddie Perry.

But, as he nears his third birthday, Freddie struggles to communicate that joy beyond smiles, laughter and cuddles.

Born with Down syndrome, the Havelock North youngster isn’t unique in that regard.

It takes speech and language therapy to develop the fine motor skills to speak clearly and, as Freddie’s parents Mat and Lucinda Perry quickly realised, there was no expertise in Hawke’s Bay to help families like theirs.

It would have haunted Mat Perry if he’d never done anything to remedy that situation, so he turned to what he knows best.

A former national amateur golf champion and member of the New Zealand team at the 2012 Eisenhower Trophy, he then spent eight years as a touring professional.

“So it became pretty obvious to me that the biggest way I could use my skill set was to bring people together in the form of a golf day,” Perry said.

The Tee 21 Ambrose tournament, presented by Golf New Zealand, is about to have its second annual staging at the Hastings Golf Club.

The first event raised $25,000 and Perry hopes to amass similar money to help fund speech and language therapy for Hawke’s Bay children with Down syndrome.

Ordinarily, the event would coincide with World Down Syndrome Day, which is March 21 each year, but scheduled maintenance at the Hastings Golf Club means Tee 21 will be on March 11.

That’s the day after the club finishes hosting the New Zealand PGA Championship.

As much as Perry wants people to enter a team and help support the fine work the UpsideDowns Education Trust does in New Zealand, he also wants to introduce juniors to golf.

There will be free lessons from PGA professionals for any child who wants to come along on March 11, as part of Perry’s push to prove golf clubs aren’t intimidating or unwelcoming places for beginners.

Most of all, though, he just wants the best for his boy.

“He understands a lot of what you’re telling him, but he often struggles to communicate it back so he’s got lots of sounds and the main words, but it’s becoming more and more critical at his age to have access to speech and language therapy,” Perry said.

It’s not always easy for the parents of children with Down syndrome to put themselves out there, but this is something that’s dear to his heart.

“We’re pretty private for the most part. I might do three social media posts a year, I don’t go on Facebook or anything like that. Ultimately the cause is much bigger than our family. It’s for the other families out there with Down syndrome kids.

“There’s a good dozen families in Hawke’s Bay with kids under 10 that have it and some families keep completely private and others are doing more than Lu and I do and they’re constantly pushing,” Perry said.

“If we can fly the flag for a week and raise awareness of the trust and raise 20 grand, to me, that’s a lot better than hiding away and not doing it.”

Professional golfer Mat Perry gets in a bit of putting practice with son Freddie. Photo / Warren Buckland

Mat and Lucinda Perry have three children under 5, while his day job is hosting mainly Australian and American golfers on tours around New Zealand.

He’s away “60 to 70″ days a year, which is a lot better than the 250 he spent on the road as a player.

But he’ll be dusting off the clubs for the New Zealand PGA Championship, having had his arm twisted to show his children that he really was an elite player once.

Oldest daughter Isabella once watched him as a 1-month-old and “screamed the whole time.”

Now 4-and-a-half, she and sister Scarlett (10 months) will pop along with Freddie on the Saturday or Sunday, provided dad can make the cut.

Hamish Bidwell joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2022 and works out of the Hastings newsroom.