John Robins: “Life as a left-handed golfer is tough!”

John Robins on the challenges left-handed golfers face.

Bad Golf star and Beef’s Golf Club co-host John Robins on the challenges of being a left-handed amateur golfer…

Forgive me for indulging in a topic that only affects around five percent of golfers. Is it the stresses and strains of playing off scratch? Nope. Those who carry their driver over 250 yards? Nope, I’d have no insight into that! Strap in for a journey into the world of the left-handed golfer!

I was browsing my pro shop yesterday, and something struck me. Do you know how much money they would make if I bought every left-handed club in the place? £0. Nada. Zilch. Not one penny. I’ve read the best drivers and best irons pages here on Today’s Golfer, but if I want to go and see them, touch them, or swing them like all of you right-handers, I can’t!

I’m used to this, and in fairness, not a huge amount of golfers buy clubs from their pro shops anymore. But were I to extend my spending spree to the rest of the shop they’d have made less than forty quid, and I would have three gloves that didn’t fit. Oh, the life of a lefty!

Struggling to source equipment, lack of options and zero chance of hand-me-down clubs for the beginner are among the main bugbears of left-handers.

Some brands have entire ranges only available for righties. Whenever you feel overwhelmed by the range of wedges, grinds, finishes, and lofts, spare a thought for the left-handed among us. One major brand, whom I won’t name here, listed their award-winning wedges in over sixty different specs… only fifteen were available left-handed.

I get it, no one wants to invest time and money into products that will sit around gathering dust. There are specialists, (shout out to Left Handed Golf, the superb shop and website based at Silvermere), but it would seem there is a limit to how much us five percent can get their clubs fitted precisely to match their game.

Ten percent of the population is left-handed, a whopping twenty percent of professional cricketers bat left-handed, so five percent of golfers? Well if you’re a kid messing around with clubs, chances are they’re right-handed. Cricket bats work either way, it’s just the gloves you have to worry about. In fact, when I first had lessons there just weren’t the clubs for me to hit, so I didn’t pick up golf until I was in my 30s. Oh, what could have been!

And, here’s the kicker, I’M NOT EVEN LEFT-HANDED! But then many of the very best golfers play opposite to their natural dexterity. In what is surely the best golf pub quiz question never asked, what connects Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Tom Watson, Retief Goosen, Jordan Spieth, and Nick Price? They’re all left-handed. I’m right-handed but play left-handed, just like Phil Mickelson… although that is where our similarities end.

Some people have suggested this gives us an advantage, and other coaches have said don’t think about trying. It makes us more prone to a slice or chicken-wing swing because our lead arm is stronger and pulls the club through before the clubhead releases. This creates a big problem that’s top of my list of left-handed gripes.

Most golf courses are set up to forgive a right-handed slice. You’ve probably never thought of this, or even noticed it. But every lefty will. Next time you play your home course keep an eye on where the major hazards are positioned from the tee. I guarantee most are on the left.

If you’ve got dog-legs knocking about then chances are that most of them swing right. Of the major hazards from the tee at my local course, only one has its major hazard on the right. On nine holes there is trouble on both sides, and on the other eight holes, the hazard was on the left. So for the majority of golfers who have a slice, or even a natural fade, courses are far more forgiving to right-handers.

There is some light in the tunnel though. This means that when most left-handers come close to a hazard, they tend to have a swing. This is entirely anecdotal but in my experience when taking my stance by a bunker or tree trunk it’s more frequent that I hear “Good job you’re a lefty” than “Want to borrow a club?!”. Also, it may be the case that of the most punishing courses around some are a little easier on us as they’re more likely to forgive a right-handed draw.

But then there are all the little things. The jokes on the first about playing the wrong way around, which wouldn’t bother me if I didn’t then have to tee up the ball on the side of the tee box torn up by all you spike-wearing pirouetters! Every instructional video and demonstration being given by a right-hander for a right-hander. Gazing enviously at my pal’s new irons in the adjacent bay before realizing I can’t even ask for a quick test drive. Oh, and while we’re on the topic, ranges with one left-handed bay that’s either being used by one of you lot or set up for a right-hander IN SPITE OF THE SIGN TELLING YOU TO KEEP OFF! And if you thought clubs were hard to come by, if you’re looking for a left-handed version of those fancy training aids you’ve been relentlessly advertised online, forget about it.

Most of what I’ve mentioned stopped bugging me a while ago. I like the novelty, and I’ll often walk into my pro shop saying “I’m after left-handed clubs, I’ll take everything you got!” But next time you’re shouting back to your partner that you found their ball up against the bushes and they’ve got a shot, just remember they’ll be cursing you when they catch up.

LISTEN NOW: Beef’s Golf Club

John Robins and Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston create the dream golf club with the help of the listeners and a host of star guests in this hit podcast from Crowd Network.

READ MORE FROM JOHN ROBINS
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About the author

John Robins
Comedian, Bad Golf star, and Beef’s Golf Club co-host

John Robins is an Edinburgh Award-winning stand-up comedian and golf fanatic, playing off a 14 handicap at Wycombe Heights Golf Club.

He co-hosts the Beef’s Golf Club podcast with Tour pro Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the games, including Sir Nick Faldo, Luke Donald, Tony Finau, and Lydia Ko. He famously defeated ‘Beef’ over nine holes of matchplay at North Middlesex Golf Club – the pro’s home course. Watch the action here.

Robins is one-half of hit YouTube channel Bad Golf alongside fellow comic Alex Horne, with the pair playing each other across a series of matches and courses every season and welcoming guests, including Rick Shiels, to their channel.

By day, Robins hosts the Elis James and John Robins show and How Do You Cope on BBC Radio 5Live, the Moon Under Water podcast on BBC Sounds and appears as a superfan on The Queen Podcast

He is one of the creators, writers, and producers of The Island on Dave, and will be heading out on tour with his latest standup show, Howl, in 2023.

Barring an Odyssey putter, John uses a full bag of Cobra golf clubs, plays a Bridgestone ball and wears Puma apparel and shoes.

You can follow John on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and follow Bad Golf on Twitter and Instagram. Find out more about him at www.johnrobins.com