Griff McCrary, a Charles Henderson graduate who will attend Wallace State Community College beginning this fall, was recently featured in an article published at GOLF.com.

The touching story — penned by Bill Rice Jr. — chronicles McCrary’s ongoing battle with Tourette syndrome and details his incredible journey in earning a scholarship with the Lions.

According to the article, McCrary is among just two percent of the population who suffers from acute coprolalia, which causes involuntary outbursts of obscenities and inappropriate remarks. He also has copropraxia, which makes him use obscene hand gestures. Less than 6,000 people suffer from the most severe form of Tourette’s, according to the article.

McCrary’s lone scholarship offer came from Wallace State and coach Sylas Elliott, a Cullman graduate who himself struggled with Tourette’s before outgrowing most of his symptoms.

“Griff at least deserves an opportunity,” Elliott said in the article. “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.”

Impressed by his overall talent and touched by the obstacles McCrary had overcome, Elliott offered the Troy native a scholarship before he’d seen him play a competitive round of golf.

McCrary officially put pen to paper on Jan. 23.

“I’ve been praying about this,” Elliott said in the article. “I’ve been trying to prepare myself for it. I have more faith that something good is going to come out of this than bad.”

According to the article, McCrary was the low medalist in seven of his 15 events during the 2019 season. He routinely hits drives that carry more than 300 yards and his clubhead speed, per the article, is already “PGA Tour-grade.”

“I have Tourette’s, but Tourette’s doesn’t have me,” McCrary said in the article. “There’s more to me than just my Tourette’s.”

Rice Jr. told The Times his story has received “tremendous positive feedback.” He even received an email from a man in Moscow.

“I’m sure this story will make many more people follow Griff and the Wallace State golf program over the next two years,” he said. “As the story says, it was no coincidence that Griff reached college age at about the same time Coach Elliott became a golf coach in the same state. As it also notes in my story, the more people who know Griff’s backstory, the more likely these people will be to engage with Griff, not run from him. Everyone seems to think that Hanceville and Wallace State will be the perfect town and setting for Griff to have the best chance to reach his potential as a golfer and a student.”

To read the full story, visit https://golf.com/news/features/griff-mccrary-tourettes-acceptance-golf-course/