WHY NEGATIVE THINKING IS THE SECRET TO LOWER SCORES
I have spent over 34 years in the game and I can tell you exactly why you are still shooting 105. It is not because your backswing is too steep. It is because you are too positive.
Most coaches tell you to stay positive. They tell you to visualise the ball soaring over the water and landing softly next to the pin. That is great for the tiny percentage of shots you hit perfectly. But for the other 99 percent of the time, that positive mindset is a trap.
THE REALITY OF THE AMATEUR GAME
Your good golf is probably fine. You can hit a pure 7-iron on the range. But your bad golf is horrendous. You are having triples, quads, and eights because you are ignoring the negative reality of the golf course.
When I take people for a Play with the Pro assessment at Emerald Lakes Golf Club, which is my home club where I coach in person on the Gold Coast, I watch them for three holes without saying a word. I see them take on high-risk carries they only pull off four times out of ten. That is not a strategy. It is an ego trip.
THE HIERARCHY OF PAIN
To score well, you have to be a Risk Auditor. You have to look at the hole and rank the danger:
Out of Bounds and Lost Balls are the killers.
Lateral hazards are the drainers.
Progression killers like trees or deep bunkers are the momentum stoppers.
If you do not start your pre-shot routine by being negative and identifying these zones, you have already lost the hole.
THE HIGHERCOMBE LESSON
My Dad, Martin Williamson, learned this lesson the hard way at Highercombe Golf Course in Adelaide. The 18th hole is a nasty Par 3 with rock-hard bunkers at the front. For years, he tried to be a hero, ended up in the sand, and walked off with a six.
One day, he stopped playing ego golf. He realised that 30 metres short-left of the green was a big, safe patch of grass. He started hitting an 8-iron to that spot every single time. It was boring. It was negative. And he never made worse than a four. That one shift helped him get his handicap down to a 12.
From Left to Right: Paul Williamson, Martin Williamson, Chase Oberle
Highercombe Golf Course | 18th Hole Par 3
THE FARMER VS THE SNIPER
You are not a sniper. You cannot fire 100 bullets through a one-inch hole. You are a farmer with a shotgun. You have a 50-metre wide dispersion pattern. If your shotgun circle overlaps with a lake, you are going to get wet 20 percent of the time.
The data in Jon Sherman's book, The Four Foundations of Golf, proves this. An amateur's cone of uncertainty is massive. Aiming at flags is not brave. It is just bad maths.
Stop aiming at flags. Aim at the big, wide, good enough areas where 80 percent of your shots stay dry.
This is the first step in my REPAR system: R for Risk. In the next part of this series, we are going to look at E for Environment—why the wind and the lie matter more than your wrist hinge.
If you are on the Gold Coast and ready to stop playing golf swing and start playing scoring golf, come and see me at Emerald Lakes GC. We will do a real assessment and find where those ten shots are hiding.
Stop being positive. Start dealing in reality.
Ready to Break Your Bad Golf?
If you’re a local player and you’ve been waiting for the right time to seriously improve your game — this is it.
Right now is the ideal time to join our 9 Shots Lower in 9 Weeks program.
Why 9 Shots Lower Works
The 9 Shots Lower program is designed to do more than just give you great information. It’s built to lock in the right habits with:
A clear 9-week structure
Weekly feedback and accountability
Ongoing support so improvements actually stick
If you want faster, more reliable results — this is the program that delivers them.
Click here to learn more about my Breaking Bad Golf programs.
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The Gold Coast offers a range of options including Emerald Lakes, Palm Meadows, Hope Island, Southport, and Coolangatta-Tweed. Paul Williamson provides personalised on-course coaching that goes beyond traditional lessons, covering skills, strategy, and mental game in real playing conditions.
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One-hour lessons provide quick tips but rarely translate under course conditions. Paul’s on-course coaching uses 9-hole assessments to build a tailored plan that actually drops strokes from your scorecard.
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Paul Williamson, a PGA Professional with 30+ years’ experience, provides personalised on-course coaching at courses around Carrara, Hope Island, Robina, Southport, Coolangatta-Tweed, and the broader Gold Coast.
