Golf can make us do crazy things.

For most golfers, that often means a tossed club in the heat of the moment or an attempt at an unconventional new method of putting. But Chris Hall — a 50-year-old Bend real estate agent who before last year was a wayward drive or two away from being a scratch golfer — is a bit bolder.

Imagine being so frustrated by this cruel game that, despite being skilled enough to compete with the best amateur golfers in your state, you decide to give up golf as a right-hander and play as a lefty.

That is exactly what Hall did, spending the last year playing as a left-hander after 30 years as a natural righty.

For Hall, who admits he has “a little temper with my game,” it all started last July. That is when, at a range session at Widgi Creek Golf Club, he became so fed up with his lack of improvement (he once had a handicap index as low as 1 but was playing at about a 3.5 index) that he borrowed a left-handed 7-iron from the clubhouse.

“I just remember I was struggling hitting balls, not liking the way I was hitting the ball, not seeming to improve the last couple years,” Hall recalls of that pivotal moment at Widgi Creek. “Something made me ask the pro shop for a left-handed club.”

He took that lefty 7-iron to the range at first, just to take a few whacks and get a fresh look at the ball. But Hall surprised himself by making decent contact.

“I didn’t hit it great, but I hit well enough that it kept my interest,” he says.

For the first couple of weeks, Hall hit that 7-iron at the range with varying success. Then he acquired enough used left-handed clubs to put together a full set and decided to play exclusively as a left-hander, even when putting.

As a righty, Hall competed at San Jose (California) City College as a youngster. He also spent a few years after college as an assistant golf professional. Heck, in 2008 he was among the 64 players in the state who advanced into match play at the Oregon Amateur Championship.

According to the USGA, only 7.5 percent of all male golfers have a handicap index of less than 4. Hall was one of those guys as a right-hander, but as a lefty he had to relearn the game almost as a beginner.

Seems nuts, right?

Well, it might not be so crazy.

“One of the things that was fun about going left-handed is that I didn’t have any expectations,” says Hall. “So all that frustration I was having from the right side in plateauing went away. Now I have lots of room to improve.”

Mostly, Hall stunk as a lefty, especially at first. But he stunk in a way most of us can relate to.

He lost much of his power, and his feel around the greens disappeared. Water hazards that he barely paid attention to before were suddenly in his way, and out-of-bounds markers now seemed to hug the fairway.

Welcome to my world.

But Hall improved quickly as a lefty. He could usually score about 90 and once shot an 83 at Widgi Creek, he says.

“I didn’t have any expectations, and it was fun,” he says.

There were also little adjustments most golfers would never bother to think about.

Over and over, he would try to put his glove on the wrong hand or he would set his clubs down near the right side of the ball where a lefty would typically stand to take his swing. He would put his tees and golf balls in his right pocket, which can be a pain to get to when your golf glove is unexpectedly on your right hand.

“It was one of the funny parts,” Hall says. “There are all these little things you have done all those years and don’t even think about it.”

Still, he found himself enjoying golf again.

Finally, two weeks ago in a round at The Greens at Redmond with his brother and sister-in-law, he decided to dust off the right-handed clubs.

“It was kind of nice to be on that side of the ball,” Hall says of his return to righty golf. “It was interesting because I REALLY appreciated how good I can play right-handed after playing left-handed for a year.”

The experiment ended that day.

Now back to golf as a right-hander, Hall has a new appreciation for the golf skills he spent years honing. Funny how being steamrolled by golf as a beginner can remind us of that.

“I think attitude and the lesson of being patient and not having expectations has really been valuable,” Hall says. “And I think I will play left-handed sometimes … just because it will remind me.”

Most of us cannot play golf like Hall, and most of us would never go to Hall’s extreme.

But perhaps some of us could at least learn the same lesson.

— Reporter: 541-617-7868, zhall@bendbulletin.com.