The Birth of RightyHoges and the journey to single digits

[LeftyHoges]

As some of you may know, I hate golf. It's a stupid game, played by dumb ****ing idiots.

So what do you do when you hate the game and it does nothing but frustrate the living shit out of you? Yes that's right, you start playing with the opposite hand, just so you can be completely and utterly sure that it's equally as stoopid from both sides of the ball.

After seeking clarification from Golf Australia about how exactly a dual sided handicap works, I got permission from the Cairns GC Match Committee to proceed with obtaining and playing with a right-handed handicap. From late Feb to the weekend just passed I got 3 rounds in, starting with a 91, the second round of 92, and finally the third round of 89. Consistency is going well, at least.

So I haven't figured it out yet, but obviously the starting GA Point will be somewhere around the 16-17 mark. A comfortable shot a hole.

So within this thread I'll detail my journey, my ups and downs (there's not a lot of them, my chipping is ****ing putrid), any bag changes, and any practice I do (highly unlikely) in order to get down to the magical single digits. Join me, won't you?

As a kicking off point, here is the bag I employed for round 1.
The only changes made was a Cobra Fly-Z with ProLaunch Blue Driver for round 2, and a TaylorMade M2 (the shaft escapes me) Driver for round 3.



Off we go....

[LeftyHoges]

Stats from Round 1:

91 off the bat........ right handed. Well, kind of. Cairns shortened to a Par 69 right now due to some irrigation works, so we'll say 22 over.

4 pars
9 bogies
3 double bogies
1 triple (with 1 shank)
1 quad (ironically on a par 5 shortened to a long 3, probably wouldn't have made a 7 if it was the full length, lol)

3 / 14 fairways (didn't hit driver bad, was just off the fairway quite a bit)
4 / 18 GIR (this feels about right, though two of those 4 were within 8 feet of the flag, just couldn't make the damn birdies)
3 / 18 Up 'n' Downs (How do you have 18 up n down attempts with 4 GIR? You chip twice on a lot of holes.... )
33 putts

So as to be expected, I have absolutely zero short game, and can't hit a consistent 58° to save my life, which was required A LOT yesterday as I short-sided myself pretty much all day long. If I can improve this area, then I think breaking 80 isn't that far off.

[LeftyHoges]

Stats from Round 2:

Another righty round in the bag, and I'm nothing if not consistent(ly shit). 92 off the bat which'll come down to a 91 with ESC. Par 71, off the whites.

4 pars
9 bogies
3 doubles
1 triple
1 quad

5 / 14 Fairways
2 / 18 GIR
5 / 14 Up 'n' Downs
38 Putts
0 shanks (yes, this is a stat that needs to be counted)

Greens were absolute dogshit after coring 2 weeks ago and hadn't been cut that morning so were super slow and bumpy, so I'm not too upset about the putting, but I did also putt pretty horrendously in patches so certainly not free of blame myself.

Same bag as last round except for one change with the driver, going from a Cobra Speedzone Extreme with HZRDUS Yellow 60g Stiff shaft to a Cobra Fly-Z with ProLaunch Blue 55g Stiff.

We go again for a third and final handicap card at some point down the track, but it seems fairly likely the cap will start somewhere around the 18 mark.

[LeftyHoges]

Stats from Round 3:

6 pars
8 bogies
2 double bogies
2 triple bogies (with one almighty shank, this thing was an absolute beauty, perfect divot, got lovely height, and just 45° of pure goodness.)

6 / 14 Farways
4 / 18 GIR
5 / 19 Up 'n' downs
32 Putts

89 (par 71)

[AndyP]

I assume there is a loss of distance on the other side? If so, how much?

[Johnny Canuck]

I assume there is a loss of distance on the other side? If so, how much?

When he hit a hybrid righty over here a while back, he easily covered Simmsy’s driver.

[AndyP]

When he hit a hybrid righty over here a while back, he easily covered Simmsy’s driver.

Couldn't you do that by hitting a Dylan Fritelli style overhead shot out of a tree?

[Johnny Canuck]

Couldn't you do that by hitting a Dylan Fritelli style overhead shot out of a tree?

Hahahahaha.

Truth.

[Captain Nemo]

When he hit a hybrid righty over here a while back, he easily covered Simmsy’s driver.

Pfffft that wouldn’t be hard.

[LeftyHoges]

Pfffft that wouldn’t be hard.

This was back in the day when Simmsy could actually hit it out of his own shadow.

When he hit a hybrid righty over here a while back, he easily covered Simmsy’s driver.

Ahhh, memories.

I'll have to find that vision and load it up in here.

Was that your hybrid, and is it for sale?

[LeftyHoges]

This was back in the day when Simmsy could actually hit it out of his own shadow. Ahhh, memories.

I'll have to find that vision and load it up in here.

Was that your hybrid, and is it for sale?

Here's the glory... From memory this went bullet straight, around the 190m mark.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ExXZG4SmZYT9AVp56

[Captain Nemo]

Wow….you’ll be better than me soon…..

[markTHEblake]

Just curious, Did the club charge you any fees for administering a 2nd handicap, in theory at least thats another handicap fee.

And i imagine, its a bit of PITA for membership management as you would have to be in the member database twice.

[LeftyHoges]

Took the Righty cap out for it's first run on Saturday, just a regular Stableford comp. Started the day off well, nuking a drive down the first 265m. Shame about the 3-putt...

4 x 2-pointers to start the day, an unlucky penalty on 5 catching the cart path but still nabbing a point, and another 2 pointer on 6 (another 3-putt... ) garnered me 11 points through 6 holes, not horrendous. The wheels fell off from there. Struggled with short game (no surprises there), throw in a few three-putts, chunked or flared 3/4 wedges and flop shots and the chance to convincingly break 90 slipped through the fingers, finishing with 91 off the bat for 29 points. Hit some great shots, some mediocre shots and a few very ****ing ordinary ones.

4 Pars
9 Bogeys
4 Double Bogeys
1 ****ing Other

6 / 14 Fairways
7 / 18 GIR
6 / 17 Up 'n' Downs (lots of double chips, FFS)
34 Putts

Handicap moves from 13.2 to 14.2.

It's pretty clear to me that the key to dropping my cap is in the 70-100m wedge game, getting better touch with flop shots and eliminating the silly double chips and 3-putts.

[AndyP]

Bushy needs two handicaps. One standard, and the other for his game after having a pint at the halfway mark of a round.

[LeftyHoges]

As an aside, went to the Srixon fitting day on Friday and got fitted for ZX7's with Nippon Modus3 120g X-flexes (7-iron SS of 92mp/h), while I also hit three of the most pure shots of my life with the Srixon Utility Iron. Looks like a few dollars will be leaving my bank account soon....

[3Puttpete]

As an aside, went to the Srixon fitting day on Friday and got fitted for ZX7's with Nippon Modus3 120g X-flexes (7-iron SS of 92mp/h), while I also hit three of the most pure shots of my life with the Srixon Utility Iron. Looks like a few dollars will be leaving my bank account soon....

With matching Cleveland wedges?

[backintheswing]

As an aside, went to the Srixon fitting day on Friday and got fitted for ZX7's with Nippon Modus3 120g X-flexes (7-iron SS of 92mp/h), while I also hit three of the most pure shots of my life with the Srixon Utility Iron. Looks like a few dollars will be leaving my bank account soon....

I have (well I'm selling for jazzdog) 2 srixon ZX utility irons going cheap , like new with the recoil graphite X flex

[LeftyHoges]

I have (well I'm selling for jazzdog) 2 srixon ZX utility irons going cheap , like new with the recoil graphite X flex

Well, shiiiiiiiiittttttt.....

Make them $320 posted, or $300 and give them to Aaron to bring up to CoC and you've got a deal.

[backintheswing]

Well, shiiiiiiiiittttttt.....

Make them $320 posted, or $300 and give them to Aaron to bring up to CoC and you've got a deal.

Can do that easily. I'll touch base with jazzdog when he gets back from the snow

[Sydney Hacker]

As an aside, went to the Srixon fitting day on Friday and got fitted for ZX7's with Nippon Modus3 120g X-flexes (7-iron SS of 92mp/h), while I also hit three of the most pure shots of my life with the Srixon Utility Iron. Looks like a few dollars will be leaving my bank account soon....

That’s a pretty good swing speed playing righty, is 92mph normally an x, or is it borderline stiff?

[markTHEblake]

Andyp needs 2 handicaps, with glove, without glove. No you cant have a 3rd handicap for playing half a round with a glove.

[Yossarian]

Go righty!

[3Puttpete]

As some of you may know, I hate golf. It's a stupid game, played by dumb ****ing idiots.

So what do you do when you hate the game and it does nothing but frustrate the living shit out of you? Yes that's right, you start playing with the opposite hand, just so you can be completely and utterly sure that it's equally as stoopid from both sides of the ball.

After seeking clarification from Golf Australia about how exactly a dual sided handicap works, I got permission from the Cairns GC Match Committee to proceed with obtaining and playing with a right-handed handicap. From late Feb to the weekend just passed I got 3 rounds in, starting with a 91, the second round of 92, and finally the third round of 89. Consistency is going well, at least.

So I haven't figured it out yet, but obviously the starting GA Point will be somewhere around the 16-17 mark. A comfortable shot a hole.

So within this thread I'll detail my journey, my ups and downs (there's not a lot of them, my chipping is ****ing putrid), any bag changes, and any practice I do (highly unlikely) in order to get down to the magical single digits. Join me, won't you?

As a kicking off point, here is the bag I employed for round 1.
The only changes made was a Cobra Fly-Z with ProLaunch Blue Driver for round 2, and a TaylorMade M2 (the shaft escapes me) Driver for round 3.



Off we go....

Remote controlled buggy? That’s a bold move.

[LeftyHoges]

I assume there is a loss of distance on the other side? If so, how much?

There's certainly a loss of accuracy, but no majorly discernible loss of distance. If anything I have hit a couple of drives further than left handed. Was dead level with Courty on Sunday on the 13th with us both hitting good drives.

I have noticed that for clubs that are lower lofted than my own, I get a tremendous amount of height in the shorter irons, so I'm maybe a club stronger there, but if I'm sitting at 150 out I'm still pulling 7 iron where as these days I'm a strong 8 / baby 7 lefty.

Just curious, Did the club charge you any fees for administering a 2nd handicap, in theory at least thats another handicap fee.

And i imagine, its a bit of PITA for membership management as you would have to be in the member database twice.

It's a club only handicap, and it's being administered in a Google Sheet by myself under the supervision of the Director of Golf @ CGC so no fees involved, and no "second membership". Golf Australia basically said it's perfectly permissible, but we don't want anything to do with it.

Go righty!

Thanks! And go Yoss!

Remote controlled buggy? That’s a bold move.

This one is electric, but I don't use the remote. (it's busted...)