Well, the basic reason for that is golf is played on a golf course and not a driving range. So, unfortunately, most people when they need help with their golf game do the traditional thing of booking a lesson with a golf pro thinking that's the best way to go about getting help. But in my 30 years of experience of helping people on the golf course in pro-ams and corporate events, I know firsthand that 90% of most people's problems with their golf games have nothing to do with their golf swing technique. What I mean by that is the first thing they have problems with is no consistent problem-solving system for each shot because golf's not a game of golf swings or consistency. It's about solving the problem that each shot presents to you.

The next thing is their lack of awareness about decisions that help them to lose less balls, understanding how their expectation levels for swings and scores are far out of whack with the reality of the game. The decisions they make are putting more pressure on their swing that's probably not a lot good to begin with, and most of the problems that they have aren't swing-related but more set up-related.

So the reason I go on the golf course first is it allows me to do a diagnostic of their whole game. I get to see everything. I see what they do well. I see what they do before shots as they set up to the ball during their swing, after the shots, and in between shots. I get to see every single type of shot, not just golf swings in a pretty sterile environment. I get to see how they react to other people playing with them, which is a huge distraction. And I also get to see how they handle the environment and what they do to allow for that.

Basically, the number one reason is I got sick of people coming to me telling me what was wrong with their golf game when they are amateurs. They don't actually know, and it's extremely hard to read the label from inside the jar, which means that you can't really see what the big problems are in your game when you're right in the middle of it. You have emotions that get in the way and all sorts of things.

That's not to say that I don't do swing technique and golf lessons, but it is only done after we have done the full assessment where I can give you three or four things that will help you to play the game better straight away the very next day so you don't have to get worse before you get better. I then identify the main skill areas that they need to get better at to get to the kind of level they want to get to. And then I give them an option to work with me so that I can teach them how to train with purpose, so that they don't waste their time practicing things that aren't actually going to move the needle in their golf game.

All of these things are the reason why I do what I do and it's the number one reason why people should not be looking for a golf lesson as the first thing to help them get better at the game of golf and it should not be done just at the driving range or in a simulator because that's only a small fraction of their total golf game.

A typical price for a one-hour swing lesson at a driving range is around $120 to $160 an hour. When you look at on-course sessions elsewhere, they generally start from about $200 an hour because the coach has to cover green fees, carts, and their time out on the course for two to two-and-a-half hours. And those are usually done strictly one-on-one, which ends up hitting your wallet for $300 to $400 a session.

My 2-hour Play With the Pro On-Course Diagnostic is $150. We do it in a small group of no more than four, and there is a very deliberate reason for that. We do not play golf by ourselves; we play golf with other people. Learning how to deal with the distraction of playing partners and staying focused on what you can control in your own game is a skill in itself.

For $150, you get two hours out on the course with a PGA Professional, your game assessment, your CoachNow space, and you learn how to handle the on-course environment. For beginners, I run a $29 Come and Try clinic and a $349 Get Into Golf program. For golfers wanting structured long-term results, I offer the $850 Game Changer program and my flagship 9 Shots Lower in 9 Weeks, Guaranteed program.

My coaching is based out of the Emerald Lakes Golf Club and Coaching Centre in Carrara. The initial on-course diagnostics are generally run in the afternoons on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday, depending on course availability.

Emerald Lakes is easily one of the best value-for-money and most challenging golf courses on the Gold Coast. It is called Emerald Lakes for a reason—there is water everywhere. That makes it a fantastic test because it forces good decision-making and planning if you want to play well.

The other massive benefit of being stationed here is that it is easily the biggest coaching and practicing facility on the Gold Coast. We have over 60 hitting bays, two large putting greens, full lighting for evening practice, and a dedicated indoor coaching centre with world-class technology available whenever we need it.

I offer the best journey from absolute beginner to golfer on the Gold Coast. It starts with a Come and Try session where the only thing I guarantee is that within one hour, you will hit the ball in the air and in the direction you want. People find pure joy in that alone. That session includes a drink afterwards and an invitation into the next step, which is my Get Into Golf program.

That is a six-week program where we teach you all the core skills of the game, the lingo, the behavior, and the etiquette. We introduce you to new people, get you comfortable in a golf environment, and cover everything you need to know about actually getting into the game and making it a part of your life, along with all the health benefits that go with it.

From there, we have the Saturday Social Golf group which runs every second Saturday, where the only rule we have is that there are none. The whole idea is that we start you in the shallow end and work you up to the deep end if you want to go there.

By all means, you can stay in the shallow end the whole time. You can come out, hit the odd shot, listen to music, drive around in a cart for a couple of hours, and just enjoy the environment and the company. Or you can get a little more serious, learn some of the rules and etiquette, and move on to my other programs where you can really get stuck in.

I’ve had plenty of people start out at my Come and Try clinic who are now joining me on golf tours around Australia and overseas, playing in club competitions by themselves, and making friends for life.

The biggest difference between lessons and coaching comes down to what you actually get. Traditional lessons provide information and knowledge, and we have all heard the saying that knowledge is power. But knowledge is useless unless you actually know what to do with it and how to use it effectively.

That is the major flaw with the standard lesson model. You show up for an hour, get hit with a bunch of information, and then the pro says "see you next week" or "see you in a month." You are left entirely to yourself to figure it out. And inevitably—trust me, I used to do this exact thing for years—you perceive something a bit differently than the pro intended. You head off, practice diligently for a month, and end up worse than when you started, swimming in a whole new bunch of problems. Then you go back a month later and the pro says, "that's not what I told you to do." It's a broken model that used to drive me nuts.

My coaching works completely differently. First, we start with a diagnostic to work out what is actually going on with your entire game. From there, you get a set of skills you can improve straight away on the course—problem-solving tools that drop your frustration, stop you from losing balls, help you hit the ball better, finish on the green more often, three-putt less, and get out of bunkers. You get that straight away without needing to tear your swing apart.

Second, coaching doesn't stop when you walk off the lesson tee. I heavily use a dedicated coaching app (CoachNow) that gives every client their own private space. It allows them to record their own swings, drop their thoughts on how their game is feeling, upload stats, and share scorecards straight into a library that I have full access to. If I see a client heading in the wrong direction between sessions or after a round, I can jump in with a quick voice note or a short video to pull them right back on track. That continuous feedback loop is massive for helping clients actually retain what they learn.

Beyond that, you might also need to work on things in a supervised environment where expert eyes are watching you train. That is why I run my Get Better at Golf training sessions. You learn how to train properly so that when you practice by yourself, you actually know how to improve. My ultimate goal is to teach you to become your own best coach and put myself out of a job.

Third, I teach you how to be your own caddy—handling all the on-course decision-making. A caddy uses foresight to make the game easier so you can score better without necessarily hitting the ball any better. One of the best things a golfer can ever say to me is, "Paul, I didn't hit it great today, but look at that score, it's my best one ever." That means they caddied for themselves brilliantly.

Finally, I teach you how to practice in a way that actually transfers to the golf course. Most people who grind for hours get frustrated because their game goes backwards, simply because they don't have the right feedback loop. I am a performance coach. I am all about results where it matters—out on the course under pressure. Once we do the heavy lifting to build those new habits upfront, it's just maintenance. You have a set of eyes and ears keeping you on autopilot so you never drift too far off track.