By Colleen Kane
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Left will be right when the National Association of Left-Handed Golfers' national championship arrives at Weatherwax Golf Course in Middletown.

The event, which is hosted by the Cincinnati Lefties and the Ohio Left-Handers, will be June 8-11, with a practice round June 7. It is open to all lefties, regardless of age or skill level, although there will be divisions and flights based on skill.

Herman Bowling Jr., treasurer of the Cincinnati Lefties, took some time to talk about his game, his organization and the upcoming tourney, which organizers hopes will attract as many as 200 golfers - all on the right side of the ball.

Q: Why is Cincinnati hosting the tournament?

A: We feel we have a good base. A lot of our golfers belong to the national association. And it's a good venue and a central location. Golfers can come from all different areas to play. ... To my knowledge, Cincinnati has the largest local organization. ... We have about 75 members locally.

Q: Can people still sign up?

A: They certainly may. (Log on to www.nalg.org) ... We're trying to get Joe Nuxhall to at least make an appearance. He's a left-hander and a golfer.

Q: How'd you get involved with the Cincinnati Lefties?

A: I started playing golf about 30-35 years ago, and I've been (with the Lefties) since 1983. It was just word of mouth - my wife's uncle invited me to play, and I've missed very few tournaments since. I'm not that good. I don't win them, but I have a good time.

Q: Is it still difficult to get golfing equipment for lefties?

A: It's gotten a lot better in the last 10 years, I think because more left-handers are playing left-handed rather than switching to backhand, which is what they basically taught you to do before because the right-handed equipment was more available. But now the left-handed pros are bringing out new equipment, and it's become easier to find that equipment.

Q: Now that lefties have won back-to-back Masters (Mike Weir, 2003, and Phil Mickelson, 2004) does it raise more awareness for the cause?

A: Sure it does, although I think Phil Mickelson is a natural right-hander, but he plays left-handed because he mirrored his father when learning to play. But we'll still claim him as a left-hander.

Q: Did anyone ever try to change your swing?

A: No, actually no one in my family plays golf. I started hitting right-handed initially because I had friends with right-handed clubs, but as soon as I could buy left-handed clubs, I changed. It's very much easier.

Q: So then, is there much of a difference in the righty and lefty games?

A: Not actually. A lot of courses are set up for a right-handed slice, which is the exact opposite of the left-handed slice, so some are more difficult for left-handers. But it's not really different once you get into course management.---

E-mail ckane@enquirer.com