When you first hear stories about Ryan McGarry, it's logical to be skeptical. That is, until you see the youngster from Easton take a swing at a golf ball.
It is befuddling to see a tyke, who is a little more than 3 feet tall and only 38 pounds, lean down and bury a ball in the sand to practice his bunker shots. Without fear, the 5-year-old swings. The ball comes out spinning in a low trajectory toward the flagstick 40 feet away, and settles within 10 feet of the hole. A scratch player might be be envious.
Mike Gibson, a teaching professional at Harmon Golf in Rockland, remembers the first time he took McGarry out on the short course at the Harmon teaching facility.
"The first hole is 92 yards. Ryan hit his drive to about 12 feet from the pin. I tap in for a par 3 and he knocks in his putt for a birdie 2," said Gibson.
"On the second hole, it's about 85 yards, he nearly holes his tee shot and makes the 2-footer for another birdie. My birdie putt lips out and I'm down two after two holes," said Gibson.
Ryan McGarry isn't impressed. He just wants to keep playing.
Gibson, who has seen his share of good players, turns to Ryan's mother and says, "Do you know what your son just did?"
"Well, he has been practicing a lot in our backyard," she said.
Gibson just shakes his head.
Ryan's parents, Sean and Jen McGarry, are not hard-core golfers. They are simply mystified by their son's passion for the game.
"I'm not a golf person," Jen said. "I'm trying to learn, especially the etiquette. I'm worried about the etiquette because he's 5. But he seems to do OK. I don't know anything about the game. My husband plays occasionally, just business golf."
Ryan doesn't play video games and doesn't spend countless hours in front of the television.
"His idea of fun is to bring a friend over to watch him play golf in the backyard," said his mother.
But his friends don't like the game. "They say it is too hard and boring," said Ryan.
"The only thing he watches on television is golf. It's brutal because nobody else in the family wants to watch golf," his mother said.
When the weather is favorable, Ryan heads to his makeshift backyard course.
"He gets up in the morning about 6:30 and goes out and hits golf balls," Jen said. "He'll play until we drag him in for breakfast. He honestly plays about eight hours a day in the summertime."
The youngster has been consumed by the game since he was 2.
"His grandfather got him some plastic clubs and since then that's all Ryan does. He is inseparable from his golf clubs," his mother said.
It wasn't long before the plastic clubs were replaced with a steel-shafted junior set.
The McGarrys are not trying to produce the next Tiger Woods. Their road to Gibson and Harmon Golf developed because of their second son, Nolan. "He is autistic, and we took him to a horse-riding program in Rehoboth," Jen McGarry said. "Ryan tagged along and that meant he would bring his golf clubs. In an open space at the camp, he would hit balls. "Some of the other ladies at the camp are golfers. They saw Ryan and told me I should get him lessons," said McGarry, who took him to the Harmon Club, where they were introduced to Gibson.
Gibson did not know what to make of the youngster until he started hitting balls. He realized immediately that he is something special.
Gibson made a few basic changes and improved Ryan's baseball grip because his hands are too small for any other grip right now.
"I don't think you can coach him to be better," said Gibson. "You can teach him different shots. But that's about it."
Over the winter, they created a special teacher-student relationship.
"Ryan knows I'm a Titleist representative and he said to me one day while hitting balls, `Phil Mickelson switched from Titleist to Callaway. What's the story with that?' He talks to you like a 30-year-old."
Mickelson is Ryan's biggest hero. "I like Tiger, too," the youngster said, but Mickelson "smiles a lot when he plays the game and Tiger is too serious."
Ryan McGarry is neither smiling nor serious when he is on the golf course. "My youngest son, Shea, sleeps in the car and I read a book and Ryan plays golf. We'll do it three or four times a week," his mother said. Ryan runs from tee to green after hitting a shot. He is too consumed with his passion, putting his ball in every situation, trying to get his shots close to the flagstick.
On this afternoon, Gibson took a few minutes from his teaching schedule to drop in on McGarry, who was hitting balls on the nine-hole course.
"Mike, can you play this hole with me . . . and the next . . . How about the whole nine?" asked McGarry, trying to lure his teacher into a match.
"No, I have other students I have to go and work with," said Gibson. "But I'd love to see you hit balls."
The youngster stands next to Gibson on the fairway, and he can't help himself from taking practice swings.
"See how he's clipping the grass," said Gibson. "I mean this out of complete respect for kids in general, but he's one of those kids, who, if he stays on the right path -- and I don't mean stay away from drugs and alcohol -- I mean stay in the game, if he stays on the correct path, there is nothing that will stop him." 
© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.
