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Switching It Up: New Jersey's Capra Qualifies For Mid-Amateur As Righty And Lefty

By David Shefter, USGA

Kiawah Island, S.C. – You won’t find John Capra’s name in any of the record books for the U.S. Mid-Amateur. He’s never posted a low round, registered a hole-in-one or even won a match in the event’s short 29-year history.

But the 45-year-old Bridgewater, N.J., resident has one unique accomplishment that might be difficult for anyone to duplicate. He’s qualified for the championship both right- and left-handed.

In a sense, he is golf’s equivalent of a switch hitter.

Fourteen years ago, Capra played in the U.S. Mid-Amateur at Caves Valley near Baltimore as righty. Five years later, he qualified for the Mid-Amateur at The Homestead as a lefty. And, this year, he qualified for his third Mid-Amateur and is competing as a lefty.

“I switched to [being a] lefty in 1998,” said Capra, a natural southpaw who originally started playing right-handed because those were the clubs his father gave him.

John Capra

Capra, who opened the stroke-play portion of the 2009 Mid-Amateur with a disappointing 11-over-par 83 on Cassique at The Kiawah Island Club, never thought anything of it back in 1988 when he first took up the game. Despite being left-hand dominant, Capra simply learned how to play right-handed because his father handed him right-handed clubs. He went to a New Jersey professional, Ed Whitman, who was a left-hand dominant right-handed player and his game slowly improved. Within a couple of years, he was breaking 80 and by 1995 he managed to qualify for the Mid-Amateur.

“I always felt I should play left-handed,” said Capra, who has seen PGA Tour pros Vijay Singh and Mac O’Grady hit the ball from both sides. “That was my natural side. But that’s when I had a lot of time. I didn’t have kids. I wasn’t married. I had a lot of time to concentrate on the game, so I enjoyed it.”

Yet Capra never felt totally comfortable as a righty. So, in 1998, he decided to become a full-time left-handed golfer. By then his priorities had changed. He was married with young children and running a successful business as a contractor. Family and job commitments meant less time at the practice range. It was much easier to play the game from his natural side. And, in 2000, he qualified for a second U.S. Mid-Amateur, but like his first soiree at a USGA event, Capra missed the match-play cut.

Now with his two boys, ages 10 and 12, playing organized baseball and football, Capra finds himself at practice instead of practicing. His 83 on Saturday at Cassique was just his fourth competitive round of the year. He missed one Pop Warner football game and two fall baseball games by playing the U.S. Mid-Amateur. Couple that with nerves and lack of competitive rounds, Capra said it wouldn’t have mattered if he played right- or left-handed.

But it is an intriguing thought, one that Capra hasn’t totally dismissed as a future possibility.

Would he ever play right-handed one day and lefty the next? Or even better, would he ever carry seven left-handed clubs and seven right-handed clubs in his bag and play both ways during a stipulated round?

“There’s certain clubs that I definitely play better right-handed,” said Capra, who played varsity baseball at South Plainfield (N.J.) High School before earning a business degree at the University of West Virginia. “My short irons are much crisper. I still enjoy [playing] lefty more than righty and I think with the right amount of time and dedication, I could be a better player.”

But Capra also enjoys coaching his two boys in baseball. The last two years, his Bridgewater Panthers have won the state Cal Ripken Baseball title and have been within a couple of victories at the regionals to reach the World Series. He also helps bring a Bridgewater team to Cooperstown, N.Y., each year for a special tournament for 12 year olds.

With those priorities, Capra understands he can’t come to an event like the U.S. Mid-Amateur with delusions of grandeur. As much his competitive side wants him to perform well and represent his qualifying site with dignity, he knows he can’t get too worked up over shooting 83.

“It shows me I’m not mentally ready,” said Capra. “The last two [practice round] days, I was hitting the ball awesome. But I still couldn’t get the jitters out of me. It’s a matter of getting comfortable and I’m not there.”

No matter which side of the ball he plays from.

David Shefter is a USGA Digital Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.