THE PLAN (The REPAR System)
I have been coaching at Emerald Lakes Golf Club on the Gold Coast for a long time, and I see the same disaster play out every single morning. A golfer walks up to their ball, pulls a club, stands over it, and then starts wondering if the wind is into them. Or they look at the flag, look at the water, look back at the ball, and then try to make a swing while their brain is still having a massive argument with itself.
If you are standing over the ball and you are still making decisions, you have already lost.
The biggest cause of a tentative, garbage golf swing is indecision. When you walk into that shot, the thinking should be 100 percent finished. You should be in an automatic mode. But most weekend golfers try to do their planning while they are already in their stance. That creates micro-tensions in your muscles that kill your sequence and your speed.
Today we are talking about the P in my REPAR engine: THE PLAN.
THE TIMING OF THE PLAN
Your plan must be finished before you ever walk into your stance. I want you behind the ball, putting together all the guesswork from your Risk Audit and your Environment check. The Plan is where you turn all that data into a mission.
Most people I see in my play with the pro assessments are making it up as they go. They are playing Ego Golf based on hope, rather than Scoring Golf based on reality.
THE THREE PILLARS OF A BULLETPROOF PLAN
PICK THE CLUB By now, you should have a playing yardage. If the flag is at 150 metres but it is 10 metres into the wind, it is playing 160. Pull the club that carries 160. If you do not know exactly how far your balls carry through the air, stop guessing and get on a radar system like Trackman. If you do not know your carry distances, you are just guessing your score.
PICK A TARGET AREA This is where the ego usually takes over. You see a flag and you want to hunt it. As I explain in my video about why you should never aim at flags again, the flag is often a trap. I use the Scott Fawcett and DECADE approach here. You are a farmer with a shotgun. You have a dispersion pattern.
Your target area is the spot where 80 percent of those shotgun pellets are going to finish in an okay spot. If the flag is tucked near a bunker or water, the flag does not exist. You shift your entire pattern to the safe side. Sometimes that ball will finish near the hole by accident, and other times it will be on the edge of the pattern. You have to be okay with both.
3. PICK YOUR TECHNIQUE We stay away from technical swing thoughts on the course, but you do need a setup plan. Is the ball above your feet? Is it a downhill lie? Do you need a three-quarter swing to stay under the wind or a full rip? Decide on your ball position, your stance width, and your swing size behind the ball. Once you walk in, the technique is locked.
SCORING GOLF VS EGO GOLF
Ego Golf is trying to hit the hero shot you pull off once every three rounds. Scoring Golf is making a plan that wins you the bets. Most people have been playing Ego Golf their whole lives and they wonder why they cannot break 90.
Try playing Scoring Golf for a few rounds. See what happens to your ego when you are the one sitting in the clubhouse having your mates buy you drinks because you actually took their money. Winning feels a hell of a lot better than hitting one lucky 7-iron that almost hit the flag.
THE MINDSET OF THE TEST
The best mindset before any shot is to realise that your plan is just a test. You have done the work, you have made a decision, and now you are going to test it out. At worst, you are going to learn something for the next shot. When you accept that you do not know exactly what the result will be, you are free to make a decisive swing.
THE NEXT STEP
You have audited the risk, checked the environment, and made your plan. You are standing behind the ball, ready to go. But this is where most golfers lose their nerve and let their brain interfere.
In the next video, we are diving into the A for ACT. I am going to show you how to pull the trigger without the mental baggage.
If you are ready for a real on-course diagnosis on the Gold Coast, come and see me at Emerald Lakes GC. Let’s stop the guessing and start breaking bad golf.
Ready to Break Your Bad Golf?
Stop guessing and start playing scoring golf.
If you are on the Gold Coast and ready for a real on-course diagnosis, come and see me at Emerald Lakes GC. We will stop the guessing and start breaking bad golf.
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
