This former basketball star has a terminal diagnosis, but is living out his final dream — playing Pinehurst (and others)

Milos Bogetic, who hails from Montenegro, moved to the United States when he was 18 to attend Penn State on a basketball scholarship. He resides in Atlanta with his wife and two young kids, and is currently a senior lead advisor for Chick-Fil-A.

He’s also a self-admitted golf addict. But he took a detour in life before finding the game.

When he was 29, Bogetic started experiencing a strange acid reflux. After getting tested, the doctor diagnosed him with Stage 3 esophageal cancer, one of the rarest and most deadly forms of cancer found in men. He had gone through multiple rounds of chemotherapy, went in and out of remission and finally — after two years of remission — had to undergo emergency brain surgery.

At this time his wife was six months pregnant, and he was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. He again went through chemotherapy and into remission for another year and a half.

It seemed like a never-ending battle, but one he was handling.

But then about three months ago, Bogetic was scanned at a follow-up appointment and the doctors noticed a concerning spot. He later had a CAT scan that showed even more spots throughout his body.

Bogetic — who hails from Podgorica, the capital of the Republic of Montenegro, which lies along the southeastern coast of the Adriatic Sea — will have to undergo heavy chemotherapy and immunotherapy yet again. The outlook is bleak.

Milos Bogetic and family. (Milos Bogetic)

But Bogetic asked the doctors if he could have a two-week reprieve before starting his treatment.

The reason for the delay? To play as much golf as possible — and that’s precisely what he’s doing.

“I am about two weeks away from being bald and skinny and all that good stuff. But hey, I got two weeks to play golf and I am at Pinehurst now about to hack it through these legendary fairways,” he explained on the Group Golf Therapy podcast.

For the past six years, Bogetic has been battling cancer that doctors said would take his life in five. He happily just broke 100 for the first time and jokingly said he has no business playing Pinehurst, but he is on a mission to soak up as much golf as possible before he restarts treatment.

Group Golf Therapy asked why Bogetic would pick golf as one of his last wishes, knowing just how frustrating the sport can be.

“I probably should be on the beach somewhere sipping mojitos instead of getting frustrated about shanking my drives. But about a year ago I had to get both of my hips replace because of how they weakened from the chemotherapy,” he said. “My doctor recommended golf and my close buddy had me come out on the course, and I was shanking them all day. There was something peaceful about it, it was quiet, in the middle of the city and no pressure. It was four hours of not thinking about anything.”

Although the odds of his latest diagnosis are against him, Bogetic has aspirations to record a video series for his children on his life views, get his affairs in order for his family and play as much golf as humanly possible.

“After a while, it’s your choice. Do you want to keep sulking? Do you want to shut yourself down and be angry at the world? Or do you want to seize the time you have here?” he said. “I have obviously chosen the path to have as much fun as we can while I’m here and see what comes from it.”

You can listen to the full episode from the Group Golf Therapy podcast here.