ther than when competing in matches, 17-year-old Griff McCrary rarely plays golf with anyone his own age. His rare condition deters even some adults. But those who do tee it up with Griff at Troy (Ala.) Country Club see endless potential.
"His ball just makes a different sound when it comes off the club," says Raymond Ledford, one of only a few club members who plays regular rounds with Griff. "He can hit 4-irons like a laser."
Tolver Dozier, who played college golf at Troy University and now plays the mini tours, has been Griff's swing coach for two years.
"There's definitely the wow factor when Griff hits the ball," he says. "He has unbelievable natural talent, unbelievable physical talent. For his age, he's outdriving kids all the time by 30 or 40 yards. If I had his clubhead speed, I'd probably be on the Tour today."
Griff is 5-foot-8, 180 pounds and routinely carries drives 300-plus yards. He was the low medalist in seven of 15 events during his 2019 season at Charles Henderson High School; he also won several junior tournaments. Last spring, in a high school tournament in nearby Eufaula, Griff shot 69. It was a stellar round, but it's how he did it that turned heads: nine birdies, including six in a row. Just a few days ago Griff tied for 5th in a field of 100-plus at a 36-hole Lite Scratch Tour Florida event in Dothan, Ala. His four-under 68 on Sunday was the low-round of day, and it included a double bogey.
Ben Bates, who played several years on the PGA Tour, is a former college teammate of Griff's father and has remained close to the family. According to Bates, Griff's natural talent and love for the game should give him "a chance" to make it to golf's biggest stage.
Many young players have Griff's talent. But few have ascended to his heights while uncontrollably grunting, cursing and otherwise struggling to check their behavior. While having to endure stares and whispers from opponents. While having to greet new playing partners with this unsettling disclaimer:
"Guys, I have Tourette's syndrome," Griff tells them. "My Tourette's makes me say curse words and offensive things I don't mean. I'm not doing this on purpose."
Indeed, Griff would give up just about everything to make it stop.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans with Tourette's live relatively normal lives, with involuntary vocal and motor tics occurring only occasionally. For most, their symptoms become less noticeable with age. But Griff is among the 2 percent who also suffers from acute coprolalia, which triggers involuntary outbursts of obscene words, socially inappropriate or derogatory remarks. He also has copropraxia, a related condition that prompts obscene hand gestures. As few as 6,000 Americans suffer from this most severe form of Tourette's. According to the Tourette Association of America, those who do can find it difficult to get through the day. Bluntly, it can make one's life a living hell. In a classroom, in a workspace and, yes, on a golf course.
Any person who has spent significant amounts of time around Griff has witnessed scenes they may describe as surreal, like hearing Griff utter every profanity, offensive term or slur imaginable — hundreds, if not thousands, of times. Not to mention all the times he's "shot the bird" at them. Several years ago, a new addition to Griff's Tourette's vocabulary left his parents mortified. About the time he hit puberty, Griff suddenly began using the N-word … incessantly. Here it should be noted that Griff, a white student, attends a high school that is 60 percent African-American.
Several members of Troy CC describe a scene they've witnessed many times: Griff, sitting on the curb outside the pro shop, asking every member who walks by if he can join their group.
Most — almost all — decline the request.
Many, to be fair, might already have their foursomes arranged, but the few members who do play with Griff are baffled and infuriated by the members who repeatedly refuse to play with him.
"Some people ask, 'Why can't he play with his father?'" says Andy Johnson, one of Griff's regular playing partners. "One, don't you think his father could use a break? And, two, his father does play with him all the time.
"Everybody has their own struggles. Most of us can hide our struggles. Griff can't."
Griff received only one scholarship to play college golf. How many others offers would he have received if he didn't have severe Tourette's?
"Every coach in America would be camped outside his front door," Johnson says.
Griff's lone scholarship offer came from Sylas Elliott, who is beginning his second season as head coach at Wallace State Community College in tiny Hanceville, Ala., one of the top junior college programs in the country. Elliott, 24, loved Griff's talent, but there was another reason why he recruited him: Elliott also has Tourette's.
Elliott has outgrown most of the symptoms that caused him to be bullied and teased by his peers when he was Griff's age. And Griff's case "is 50 times worse than mine … the worst case I have witnessed," Elliott says. Still, before he'd watched him play a single competitive round, the coach offered Griff a scholarship.
"Griff at least deserves an opportunity," Elliott says. "He is going to end up touching a lot of people's lives. His is going to be a great story — for both of us."
For the complete story, please visit https://golf.com/news/features/griff-mccrary-tourettes-acceptance-golf-course/.