Am I The Only One?

[ARealKnightmare]

I used to find myself in the not so unique position of having pulled my drive and wound up under or near a tree on the left side of the fairway. After a few times, I got tired of having to take a penalty because I couldn't get a right handed swing on the ball because of the tree or bush or whatever it was. My game is bad enough it out adding even more strokes.

 

One day, a couple of other guys and I were in the pro shop before our round and I saw an old left handed Cobra 6 iron in their "junk" bin for 5 bucks. Having played baseball in high school, I remembered that I could hit from either side of the plate, so why couldn't I have one lefty club in my bag as long as I stayed within the club count rule?

 

I went through MANY discussions about that club. Mostly with one guy who always insisted that it was against the rules to have 13 right handed clubs and one lefty.

 

I have had several people tell me that I am nuts for sacrificing a right handed club, but there are a couple in my bag that I hardly ever use anyway. They usually insist that I should just learn to flip a club and hit it left handed.

 

So, what say you all? Am I crazy. Should I ditch my lefty 6?

 

Just for the record, I practice on the range with the 6 and can usually get about 150 yards on it with a solid swing. Sometimes less, sometimes more. But would even 50 yards further down the fairway (if I really derf it) and in better position for the next shot, be better than taking a stroke penalty?

[PlaidJacket]

It's not against the rules as long as you don't carry more than 14 clubs.

lookup BarryRhodes.com.

[jaskanski]

How often do you intend putting yourself up against a tree during a round?

The long and short of it is really down to percentages - what club do you sacrifice to make way for the LH club? Or is the LH club really going to be worth carrying "just in case"?

The point is, a regular RH club can be turned toe down and played left-handed, just as any club can be used to chip with rather than using a specific chipper. That makes a regular club more versatile than a "specialist" club because it can play a variety of different shots rather than just the odd problem lie.

And that makes the regular club the percentage choice. Which in turn makes you crazy I guess.

[jbil8802]

I agree with Jaskanski. A little practice with turning one of your clubs toe down and you should be able to accomplish the same thing.

[revkev]

Like any other club it's a question of how often it will be used and to what effect. Will it be used as often as the club it replaces and at a higher success rate?

 

I do the face away and side saddle method for pitching out but honestly this only comes up a time or two a year. I save more strokes having 14 right handed clubs in the bag than I would carrying a left handed club that I would then have to expend valuable practice time with as well.

[Kenny B]

Like everyone says... play the percentages.  Like you say, if you have a club that you hardly ever use on your course, take it out and put the lefty 6 in. I don't see a problem and it sounds like it will help quite often.  However, I would consider a lesson or two to fix your pull shot, then you won't need it.

 

BTW, I carry a 5i "rock club" for use on a particular course where off the fairway can mean a dinged club.  

[apprenti23]

Played in a stroke play tournament this year (only one) and it was my first in some time so I was hitting it quite crooked! Late in the round and after I had conceded that I was only in the skins game I duck hooked one into a hazard. Only drop where I wouldn't lose distance was a risky one and had to get a lucky bounce when dropped on the cart path to work... Well the SOB defied gravity and left me in a nightmare spot with no shot for a RH golfer. The rules official actually said "wow, can't believe that just happened." I flipped my 7 iron so the toe was now the sole, took two or three practice swings and flailed away! I kind of chunked it, but advanced it about 90 yards up and just barely through the fairway. Hadn't hit practiced that shot in YEARS! No need for a left handed club- just flip it upside down.

[NiftyNiblick]

I usually take the "unplayable." 

No swashbuckler left in the old man.

[ARealKnightmare]

Ok. So it would seem that I am, indeed, crazy.

 

Not the first time I have been told that. Lol

 

One thing, though.

 

I see a lot of the replies telling me to 'play the percentage' and, to me, that is pretty much what I do. I haven't run into any situation on the course where I have said to myself, "man, I really wish I hadn't taken out that 4 iron". When I did have it in the bag, I always found myself within an easy 3 wood if it was close enough to use a 4 iron. So I just replaced that one.

 

Using that lefty club is just as comfortable for me, if not much more so, than trying to flip a club. Flipping the club would give me a lot less club face to work with. That would (and I tried it a few times before I found the 6 iron ) get me over thinking the swing I had to put on the ball.

 

Granted, I don't pull the ball very often any more and haven't found myself in position to need the 6 more than a couple of times over the last couple of seasons.

 

But, the last time out, I found myself on the very edge of a water hazard and the 6 came in awfully handy. :-)

 

I probably will replace the 6 next Spring. I just have no idea what will go back in my bag.

[BIG STU]

LOL I am going to play the devils advocate here (sorry Rev for the terminology) but if you played real blade irons you could turn the 5 iron or 4 iron and hit it from the back side. I can see your point of thinking though and then I can't. Now I am going to sound like my old man here (the older I get the more I get like him scary) I would try to fix the problem that is causing the stymie shot to begin with and go from there. I do agree with Jans though about turning the club toe down. I actually practice that shot with the 56* for fun. But it can be a good option I guess if that is what you feel comfortable doing by carrying that left handed club

[BIG STU]

Like everyone says... play the percentages.  Like you say, if you have a club that you hardly ever use on your course, take it out and put the lefty 6 in. I don't see a problem and it sounds like it will help quite often.  However, I would consider a lesson or two to fix your pull shot, then you won't need it.

 

BTW, I carry a 5i "rock club" for use on a particular course where off the fairway can mean a dinged club.  

Had to laugh about the 5 iron rock club. back when I was younger I was all over the place and my 5 iron saved my bacon most of the time. Now my old man was a greens and fairways man period hit the prettiest little controlled draw you ever saw. He could not stand my game with the 5 iron out of trouble and my wedge and putter play. He got so mad at me one time he remarked 2 things " You can tell a set of irons you have played for a while because the 5 iron in that set is beat to hell and back" Another time i had him order a new set of Spalding Elite irons for me from the custom department. He came back a week later and said " I ordered your new irons and an extra 5 iron too told them that yours would be beat to death in a year or so".  Seriously he did do that and charged me for the extra 5 iron too! By then I was paying for my own clubs myself. i must be a better ball striker now because the VIP 5 iron is not beat as bad.

LOL talking about scarring up a club If you read the Renegar wedge test I did I nicked up the gap wedge first round LOL but what the heck they were made to be played

[ARealKnightmare]

LOL I am going to play the devils advocate here (sorry Rev for the terminology) but if you played real blade irons you could turn the 5 iron or 4 iron and hit it from the back side. I can see your point of thinking though and then I can't. Now I am going to sound like my old man here (the older I get the more I get like him scary) I would try to fix the problem that is causing the stymie shot to begin with and go from there. I do agree with Jans though about turning the club toe down. I actually practice that shot with the 56* for fun. But it can be a good option I guess if that is what you feel comfortable doing by carrying that left handed club

Oh I agree. And I have gone a long way toward fixing the pull. Almost too much the other way at times. Lol

 

At one point not long ago, I almost decided to try going half and half with my clubs just to give a few people headaches about the rules.

 

I have more than half considered picking up a lefty 56° for use around the greens.

 

But then I come to my senses. Lol

[Kenny B]

Had to laugh about the 5 iron rock club. back when I was younger I was all over the place and my 5 iron saved my bacon most of the time. Now my old man was a greens and fairways man period hit the prettiest little controlled draw you ever saw. He could not stand my game with the 5 iron out of trouble and my wedge and putter play. He got so mad at me one time he remarked 2 things " You can tell a set of irons you have played for a while because the 5 iron in that set is beat to hell and back" Another time i had him order a new set of Spalding Elite irons for me from the custom department. He came back a week later and said " I ordered your new irons and an extra 5 iron too told them that yours would be beat to death in a year or so".  Seriously he did do that and charged me for the extra 5 iron too! By then I was paying for my own clubs myself. i must be a better ball striker now because the VIP 5 iron is not beat as bad.

LOL talking about scarring up a club If you read the Renegar wedge test I did I nicked up the gap wedge first round LOL but what the heck they were made to be played

 

LOL, Just so you know... my "rock club" is a VIP.  My normal 5i is a Ping i20 which is a good club, but I cannot hit much of a draw or fade with it when I need to.  I sometimes need to when I am off the fairway behind a tree.  The VIP is great for that.  

[revkev]

Ok. So it would seem that I am, indeed, crazy.

Not the first time I have been told that. Lol

One thing, though.

I see a lot of the replies telling me to 'play the percentage' and, to me, that is pretty much what I do. I haven't run into any situation on the course where I have said to myself, "man, I really wish I hadn't taken out that 4 iron". When I did have it in the bag, I always found myself within an easy 3 wood if it was close enough to use a 4 iron. So I just replaced that one.

Using that lefty club is just as comfortable for me, if not much more so, than trying to flip a club. Flipping the club would give me a lot less club face to work with. That would (and I tried it a few times before I found the 6 iron ) get me over thinking the swing I had to put on the ball.

Granted, I don't pull the ball very often any more and haven't found myself in position to need the 6 more than a couple of times over the last couple of seasons.

But, the last time out, I found myself on the very edge of a water hazard and the 6 came in awfully handy. :-)

I probably will replace the 6 next Spring. I just have no idea what will go back in my bag.

I would dare say that I could hit an 8 iron left handed better than a 4 iron of any kind. I can definitely hit a 4 hybrids more accurately from 185 than a 3 wood from the same distance. I will certainly have a shot of 185 to hit every round that I play. I may go a season without having a shot that I can play left handed but not right. So percentage wise I carry the hybrid.

 

If you have worked it out and are convinced that the left handed club is the right play you aren't crazy.

[RoverRick]

I agree with practicing reversing one club. I actually have practiced left handed with the putter.

 

I hit the flange below the equator of the ball and it gets up but there is not much spin on it. It is basically a bladed shot.

 

A few weeks ago, after watching 3 of us go into the water from inside 100 yards, (sucker pin location into a strong wind) one guy jokingly said, "I think I will use my putter."  He was 50 yards out with water front and right, and the flag just 10 feet past the water.

 

Another said, "$50 says you can't get it on the green with the putter." 

So he grabbed his putter and said "Your on."

And the other guy said "In one stroke."

 

The guy hitting said, "Oh You did not say in one. Never mind."

 

He hit a wedge and had like 8', so I had lost the hole. So I said to the second guy, "I'll take the bet."

 

The second guy said he didn't trust me but he would bet me $5. and I agreed.

 

I hit the putter left handed and backwards and it popped in the air and cleared the water and rolled all the way to the back. It actually went over the green but the slope made it roll back on. I lost hole and still made money.

 

I have practiced the back of the putter because I had 3 times in one round where I had to either hit left handed or take a drop. So the next week I practiced this.

 

Not long after this I found myself, having to make par on this same hole. Because it was so close to the water I could not play right handed so I grabbed the putter and played it left handed. This time the green was about eye level. I hit the shot and it landed on the green, and tracked to the hole, hit the hole, missing the flag by a hair's width, and kept going, and it rolled into water on the other side. I made a double bogey, but it was match play and he made a par.

[BIG STU]

Rick I have an old Sears Calamity Jane styled putter I mess around with and hit full shots with. Have had that thing for many years. I have used it in money games over the years. Tell you how long I have had it--- it still has an old Golf Pride Crown Cord grip on it still in good shape

[ARealKnightmare]

I would dare say that I could hit an 8 iron left handed better than a 4 iron of any kind. I can definitely hit a 4 hybrids more accurately from 185 than a 3 wood from the same distance. I will certainly have a shot of 185 to hit every round that I play. I may go a season without having a shot that I can play left handed but not right. So percentage wise I carry the hybrid.

If you have worked it out and are convinced that the left handed club is the right play you aren't crazy.

Well..that's part of why I asked you all. I am not entirely sure of how "convinced" I am.

 

I figured I would ask a few folks who are probably a whole lot better than my off the scale handicap. Lol

[ARealKnightmare]

Whoops. Double post. Sorry.

[Jmikecpa]

For the amount of times a year that I have to hit a left handed shot I just learned to turn my lob wedge over and hit it left handed. It is not really that hard of a shot and it saves having a specialty club in the bag for only one purpose.  I learned to play the game left handed and did so for the first five or six years that I played so maybe it is easier for me, but I have taught a few people to do it and they picked it up fairly quickly.  A decent strike is normally enough to get you our of trouble and back into play while minimizing the damage.  

 

While not a left handed club, I used to play a lot of golf with a guy at my club in DE that had a two iron cut down to 6 iron length that he used to get out of the trees with.  Made some sense on that track since every fairway was tree lined and the average fairway width was 22 yards or so.  They gave you a medal in the pro shop if you hit more than 8 in a round.

[fozcycle]

I have a friend that plays lefty but putts righty.....

[Kenny B]

One of our local pros played righty but putted lefty.  Washington State amateur champion.

[jaskanski]

One of our local pros played righty but putted lefty.  Washington State amateur champion.

 

Notah Begay springs to mind on that fact too.

[Kenny B]

I think I actually putt better left handed with my normal right-hand grip; which I guess would be a lefty right-hand low.     However, that is only for short putts; less than 4 feet.  I bought a lefty putter from a used bin years ago to see if it would work for all putts, but I was consistently inconsistent from long range.  One of these days maybe I will give it another go, since I probably didn't spend enough time getting used to it.

[Jmikecpa]

When I learned to play growing up I played left handed and putted right handed. Was not for any reason other than my Grandpop had an extra right handed putter and did not want to buy me one so I could putt left handed.

 

Matt Dobyns plays righty and putts lefty and has won the PGA Professional Championship two of the last three years.

[ARealKnightmare]

Gotta love my first thread becoming a "hot" topic. Lol

[BIG STU]

Gotta love my first thread becoming a "hot" topic. Lol

LOL that has a way of happening around here--- not a bad thing though!

[ARealKnightmare]

I'm definitely not gonna complain. :-)

[ARealKnightmare]

What made me think about the lefty club in the first place was a time when my dad had picked up a bunch of really old miscellaneous clubs at a yard sale. My brothers and sister along with Dad and the step beast were messing around at a local park. He had put the clubs in the trunk of his car and forgot about them until that day. I brought them out along with a bunch of old beat up golf balls (from the same yard sale) and started hitting a few.

 

I was hitting right handed but was absolutely terrible. Duck hooks and worm burners were consistently showing their ugly heads. I looked in the bag and saw an old beat up lefty driver that probably had a sweet spot the size of a gnats testicle and said "What the hell. What could it hurt? I can't hit the ball any worse."

 

So I took a swing, heard the smack of the ball and my brother say "Holy SH*T where did THAT come from?"

 

I was so bad at that point that I very nearly decided to buy left handed clubs and start from scratch when I got some new ones. Sometimes, I actually regret not doing so.

[jbil8802]

Deleted. Not the appropriate place.

[NiftyNiblick]

Having caught up on this thread, reading each post, I believe that I will continue to take the unplayable lie.