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Every golfer faces challenges to become the best they can be, and when Griff McCrary signed a scholarship Thursday morning to further his career at Wallace State of Hanceville, AL., the Charles Henderson High senior took another step in overcoming tremendous odds.

McCrary has battled not only the state’s best golfers from course to course over the last six years, but he has done so while also battling Tourette’s Syndrome, a neurological disorder.

Another factor that makes Griff’s signing unique is that his college coach, Sylas Elliott of Wallace Hanceville, has also battled the disorder.

“I’m just glad he is getting this opportunity,” said Griff’s father, Collin McCrary. “Coach Elliott reached out to us this summer, as did several other coaches. We knew Coach Elliott was a good fit. We visited the Wallace campus as a family up in Hanceville, and spent the day with Coach Elliott. I think the key is that we all know Griff has a condition called Tourette’s. Coach Elliott also has Tourette’s and he is probably the only golf coach in America that understands and has walked in Griff’s shoes. The Good Lord sent this coach to us.”

Griff, now 17, was very competitive on the high school level while in the 7th and 8th grades, and has continued to improve each year at CHHS.

“I’m just glad to have the opportunity to go to college to play golf, and happy that I have someone that believes in me,” said Griff. “The school is really big, but it also has a lot of great people. It is one of the top three junior colleges in the nation, and one of the best golf programs in the state. I just love the background and the way it looks. There are six different golf courses in the area we can play.”

Griff has had great success the past two years, finishing with the low round of the AHSAA Class 5A Sectionals in Mobile last spring, finishing third in the Wynlakes Junior Golf Classic which is on the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour, and finished second place overall but first in his age group in the Dixie Juniors Tournament in Selma.

The CHHS senior would like to be at Wallace Hanceville at least two years, and hopefully go Division I beyond that.

“When I get out of high school I am going to college, and I am going to try to play the best I can play for the two years I am there,” said Griff. “I might then transfer to another school then. If not, I may play in some mini-tours, then I will likely do turf management as my major.”

Griff’s dad Collin was a legendary All-American golfer at Troy State in the 1980’s, and the two have spent many hours on many courses during Griff’s young life.

“His strength is his strength,” said Collin. “He is very strong and hits the ball a tremendous distance. He has a lot of power and accuracy. His best opportunity is that he needs to improve on his short game, and we have been working very hard on that the last three or four months. He has a huge potential to improve, and an unbelievable amount of improvement to get really, really better. He continues to shoot between 68 and 75 now, but if his short game gets good, a lot of courses are going to be a par 67 for him because of his power and his accuracy. He’s just got to put in the work.

“He’s started enjoying working at it more, where in the past he enjoyed playing a lot of golf, but he is enjoying working at it now. If you look around this room, there are a lot of people that supported Griff and our family during this endeavor, and we appreciate all the support of the City of Troy, the Troy Country Club and Charles Henderson High School and the many people that have had a lot to do with Griff’s success.”