August 13, 2014
Being left somehow is not the right strategy, especially when it comes to golf. As the world celebrates another Lefthanders Day today, it is still only a handful of golfers who practice the craft as southpaws. Ask any golfer, especially a leftie, and they will narrate the challenges of pursuing the game with their natural side. Equipment is rarely designed for lefthanded golfers and when they do, it is more expensive than the regular kits available in the market for righthanded folks.
Incredibly, there are just five golfers who play lefthanded with more than two tournament victories on the PGA Tour. Phil Mickelson is naturally the flag bearer among the community, having collected 42 trophies, but the rest have only managed to enjoy moderate success. Mike Weir (8) is probably the most prominent leftie besides Mickelson.
Bob Charles (6), Bubba Watson (6) & Steve Flesch (4) are the other golfers to have accomplished some success. Ted Potter Jr., Russ Cochran, Eric Axley, Ernie Gonzalez and Sam Adams are the only golfers to notch PGA Tour victories. In fact only four men playing left have managed to win a major title – Mickelson, Watson, Weir and Charles.
Interestingly, lefties have an online equipment retailer who is dedicated to serving the community of lefthanded golfers. Leftiesonlygolf is an online golf specialty shop which serves left handed equipment and accessories. In the United Kingdom, online retailer lefthandedgolf.co.uk provides equipment and fitting services to lefthanded golfers.
In the United States, National Association of Left-Handed Golf works as the de-facto club for left handed golfers conducting a constant stream of events to assist the community. In June, the NALG conducted the 79th National Association Left-Handed Golf Championship between June 16th and 19th. The event was won by Jeff Richter of Oklahoma.
Report by Anand Datla
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