‘Golf was a life saver’: UAE pro Joshua Grenville-Wood on growing up with ADHD

Joshua Grenville-Wood has every reason to wear a broad smile. The waves of the Gulf of Oman are gently lapping the shore beside the gorgeous Al Mouj Golf course in Muscat as he tees it up in the opening tournament of the International Series.

A recent switch of allegiance from England to the UAE has started to open more and more doors for the 25-year-old Els Club member.

And in five appearances on the DP World Tour to date, he has had two top-10 finishes. All in all, it feels like he is just where he has always wanted to be.

Yet the grin this time masks what should be a painful memory. Grenville-Wood is discussing growing up with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and the management of it by others. Or, more specifically, the mismanagement.

“I moved schools quite a lot, and got kicked out of a school for fighting,” Grenville-Wood said of his childhood.

“I was being picked on for being different. The one we always make fun of was when my head teacher used to try to bribe me to behave in school.

“Every day I behaved, I would get five pounds. That just summed it up. I never really fitted in. There was no one there to help me.

“I didn’t know how to deal with what I was going through, and the teachers didn’t know. Most of the time they didn’t really care.

Few swings from practice day 1 in Oman for the international series on the @asiantourgolf @AlmoujGolfOman @EGFuaegolf @TitleistEurope @FootJoyEurope @USTMamiya pic.twitter.com/soJcgNmlQU

“They couldn’t be bothered. It was a case of throwing him in the back of the classroom, tell him to be quiet, and get on with it.”

He was five years old, living in the United States, when he was diagnosed. It was no surprise to his family: his father has the condition, and his