News and Notes from the MGA Foundation
By Jackson Roberts
Marcus Narcisse is still trying to wrap his head around how he got to where he is.
“I’m not supposed to be here,” says Narcisse, who was diagnosed with autism at 7 years old. “(I’ve had) a lot of trials and tribulations, basically from my upbringing.”
Narcisse grew up in Orange, N.J., a place he says isn’t exactly a breeding ground for golfers but rather one defined by a grim narrative where people end up “either dead or in jail.”
Thanks to golf, he steered clear of both. His father was the locker room manager at Montclair Golf Club and would bring Narcisse up there on the weekends. His brother also worked there as a caddie.
“I was happy that my dad introduced me (to the game),” says Narcisse, adding that it quickly became an integral part of his everyday life as he played on his high school team and caddied at Montclair. Golf helped him move at his own pace, slow down his mind, and become more regimented.
“I was never a person who was very good at keeping a schedule and whatnot,” he says. “Golf really helped me home in on those skills to where I could better serve those in these spaces.”
He wanted to stay involved in the sport heading into college but ended up taking a roundabout approach by studying special education at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, graduating in 2020. His goal was to combine his degree that with the experience of living with autism back to give back to the game in some way.
“I didn’t want to be a teacher,” he says. “I wanted to be in the field and advocate for a special group.”
That led him to the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., where he volunteered at the championship through the Lee Elder Internship Program, a career-training program offered to students during the major put on by the club and the USGA. (The Lee Elder Internship Program has since evolved into the Pathways Discover Program.). Narcisse calls the week life-changing.
“I was able to meet a lot of high-end professionals in different fields and made a lot of great connections in the industry,” he recalls, adding that his focus became getting a foot in the door to advocate for those with impairments. “With my educational knowledge, I knew I could be an asset anywhere I went.”
But then life threw him another punch when he woke up one morning in late 2023 with a numbness in his leg and tingling in his toes. He was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare, serious autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to attack peripheral nerves, often triggered by an infection.
The condition left him paralyzed from the waist down, and he spent some time relearning how to walk until taking his first steps again in May 2024.
“It still feels weird because I feel like a toddler learning how to walk again,” he says. “It’s a little scary, but I’m taking it day by day.”
That isn’t stopping Narcisse from taking steps to make a difference in the game. He’s pursuing his PGA teaching certification through a three-level program that takes a few years. That’ll pair well with another endeavor he’s taking on: working as an instructor with the MGA Adaptive Golf Program later this year, likely in New Jersey.
“It’s a dream come true,” Narcisse says after gathering his emotions. “It’s knowing at the end of an event, a parent could come up to me and say, ‘Marcus, my son or daughter was so happy that he or she didn’t even care about the golf aspect. They were just so drawn to you and how you gave them confidence to keep going.”
Narcisse got to know MGA Adaptive Golf Program Manager Ryan Kayton through the adaptive golf world, something he’s forever grateful for.
“He didn't know me from a shoelace on a sneaker and took me in as if he was my brother and saw the goodness in my heart,” Narcisse says.
Through all the adversity life has thrown at Narcisse, golf and giving back have been the two things he has used to persevere. Soon, he’ll get to combine both, focusing on his favorite part of it all: uplifting and inspiring.
Narcisse has said more than once that he isn’t supposed to be here, but the golf world is thankful he is.