#38 [Journey to Scratch] The Click, Playing in the Mud, and Playing a Complete Round

the-click-playing-ep-38

Episode Introduction and Summary

In this episode of The Scratch Golfer’s Mindset Podcast, Paul Salter recounts his personal journey towards breaking 90 on the golf course, culminating in a new low round of 87. On a peaceful pre-hurricane day in Tampa, Paul reflects on his mindset shift and technical improvements that led to this achievement. From adjusting to muddy conditions and maintaining focus under pressure to managing emotions and executing a consistent swing, Paul breaks down his experience shot by shot.

He shares how hypnosis for golf has been an integral part of his journey, helping him stay calm and focused even in tough conditions. Paul details how he applied lessons from his coach, Melvin, and discusses key strategies like reflection, mental resilience, and visualization, which contributed to his improved performance. Despite facing challenges like out-of-bounds shots and tough lies, Paul remained committed to his process, demonstrating the mental toughness necessary to reach new goals.

Listeners will gain insight into how to overcome mental hurdles, manage on-course frustration, and use tools like hypnosis to break through scoring barriers. Whether you’re working to break 90 or improve your overall golf mindset, this episode offers valuable takeaways to help you elevate your game, both mentally and physically.

Tune in as Paul also previews an exciting upcoming interview with Jon Sherman, a plus-two handicap golfer and mental game expert, set to air on October 9th. You won’t want to miss the valuable insights Jon will share about the mental side of golf.

P.S. If you’re interested in learning more about how mindset coaching and hypnotherapy can help you get unstuck from the proverbial bunker of poor performance on the course and in your business, click here to schedule a coaching discovery call with me. 

Key Points:

  • I brought a good attitude and plenty of snacks.
  • The automaticity in my swing just clicked.
  • I hit 10 fairways and was lethal off the tee.
  • The mud made it difficult to score well.
  • I played 18 holes in three hours, it was incredible.
  • I shot an 87, my new low round to date.
  • I need to repeat this performance in a competitive setting.
  • The mental game is crucial for golf success.
  • I have been dreaming about breaking 90 for months.
  • Future goals include tournament golf and fatherhood.

Key Quotes:

  • “There’s no need for this. You should not be topping balls or chunking shots. You know what to do. Lock it up and lock it in.”
  • “I just fucking striped my nine. My nine carried at least 165, which is just new for me. Ended up making a really good putt to save bogey there.”
  • “So I put a lot of time in with Melvin and on my own dialing in my swing with the five wood, three wood and the driver and even some of my long irons as well. So this was the best off the tee box I had done. But the problem for me was that second shot.”

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Time Stamps:

  • 00:00: Setting the Scene for a Golf Round
  • 05:51: Lessons Learned from Recent Coaching
  • 11:58: The Impact of Weather on Golf Performance
  • 18:05: Achieving a Personal Best: Breaking 90
  • 23:12: Looking Ahead: Future Goals and Aspirations

Transcript:

The Golf Hypnotherapist (00:02.488)

It’s 8 45 in the morning on a beautiful sunny day. I’ve arrived at the clubhouse Lexington Oaks, Wesley Chapel, Florida, just outside of Tampa. I’ve never played this course before. I’m meeting up with my good buddy, my regular playing partner, Aaron, and I’m ready to rock. I’m dialed in. I brought a good attitude. I brought plenty of snacks and I am ready to go. And as I’m waiting in line to just check in, I’m going to grab some balls.

and balls to play with and a large bucket of balls. So they’ve got plenty of time to warm up for a 10, 12 tee time. I overhear the conversation in front of me. The golf course got three inches of rain in less than two hours last night. Buckle up. It’s going to be muddy golf. And that’s about the extent to which I gave that piece of information. Any further thoughts?

And as I went on to the range, met up with Aaron, spent adequate time on the range, really taking my time, each shot so intentional, I can confidently tell you, this is the best I’ve been striking the ball. Not a single miss hit from gap wedge all the way down to five iron, five wood, three wood driver, head on over to the spacious separate chipping green, and I’m putting into practice what I have learned.

from my most recent lesson with Melvin and things feel good. I know exactly what to do with my gap wedge, my 52 and my 60. I still need to purchase a 56 neither here nor there. I head on over to the putting green and I am just putting the ball right where I want it. And before I proceed with this story, hey, welcome back to another episode of the scratch golfers mindset podcast. I am your host, Paul Salter, the golf hip no therapist and

That’s the scene this past Saturday morning again on a beautiful sunny day. I don’t think the temperature got out of the low 80s. We had some occasional cloud coverage and a nice gentle breeze throughout what ended up being about a five hour round. Before I dive into recapping that round, I want to go back six days before the previous Sunday, my most recent lesson with coach Melvin who by the way is going to join me for an episode of the pod. We’re recording on

The Golf Hypnotherapist (02:28.756)

October 21st, so it means it’ll probably come out late November early December, but really looking forward to that. This man is a library, a wealth of knowledge with 31 plus years or so of teaching. Really, really cool guy. But with that said, the best way to summarize my most recent lesson, things just clicked. I don’t know how else to describe it. They just clicked.

the automaticity, the unconscious reaction in terms of executing my core swing, whether I have a five iron, a five wood, a gap wedge, or anything in between in my hand was just dialed the fuck in. I know my stance, my ball placement. know as soon as my hip or as soon as I want to initiate my takeaway, my hip starts.

Really? I can’t my god the word is escaping me really starts loading and pushing back if you’re watching me on video you see me doing it and I know there’s like a Momentary pause right initiate my backswing and as soon as I’m ready to begin my downswing It’s like I am stuck lost happily stuck in the matrix And I’m sorry if my sound cut out because I was literally standing up and I just tell myself subconsciously or sometimes I’m aware Commit and I swing down and through that ball

Something clicked. had incredible shots on the range with Melvin coaching right there by my side. Plenty of cool, unique drills holding a range basket between my legs, working on, you know, the equivalent of a broom stick on my back, me tall as I got that thoracic rotation going and we’re locked in. So something clicked. It clicked. I was able to replicate that same swing the very next day and then come the Monday.

I was nursing and aggravated back Friday, Saturday, Sunday of that week. And I ended up having to take three consecutive days off from the gym. I didn’t touch a golf club with the goal of being able to play on Friday of this week. So I know you’ve got a lot to keep track of on this timeline here. So I took a lot of time off. I was going to play nine, maybe 18 Friday morning, ended up deciding not to decided to hit the range and some chipping and putting. I’m glad I did. And still

The Golf Hypnotherapist (04:52.224)

incredible feeling so consistent confident on the range not a single miss it that really big update on the range they allowed us to move off of the turf so we’re hitting on fresh grass and it was just feeling really good so I’m bringing all this positive energy this confidence into the round Saturday morning picking up where this podcast episode really began and there is a long backup of carts and what’s really unique about this course

is that the first t box is like literally right next to the cart congregation area and there’s an aqua range and the first t box is just there like whether you want to or not you’ve got 50 plus spectators in your grill and you got a line of carts forming for every t time that is to follow you if you are up on the t box so we plug into line we’re already running about 15 minutes behind schedule it’s absolutely cart path only because they got so much rain the night before and

Not five minutes before we’re about to tee off, my playing partner Aaron looks at me and we’ve just gotten paired with another single and he’s like, you want to play white or blue today? I’m like, we’ll just play white. Like keep it the same, simple. This is what I’m doing. I want to break 90 from whites. He just kind of gives me a shrug and an eye roll. He’s like, all right. And I was like, double check the yardage. Like what’s the difference? And the difference ended up being about 400 yards, maybe each respective nine. So.

not too terrible of a difference. So I said, whatever, fuck it. A few minutes ago, we’ll play from blue, which is new for me. I’ve done it once before and I’m there. Crowd is around me. I’m up to tee up first amongst our group. I’ve got a five wood, pretty straightforward, slight dog leg left. I just need to poke it about 200 to 220 somewhere in down there. Crowd’s all around me playing partners are staring me down. Striped right down the fucking middle of the fairway.

only to literally just get stuck. No roll, not an inch, just completely engulfed in the mud, nonetheless in the middle of the fairway. And that might have proven to be the highlight of the round. And to be frank, it was an outstanding round. I hit 10 fairways. I was lethal off the tee box by my standards, meaning just the ball. I felt the most control off the tee box that I’ve ever felt to date in

The Golf Hypnotherapist (07:16.204)

That’s a really promising sign because if you’ve been listening to the past few episodes, I’ve been inconsistent as hell. You five to eight OBs per round and really setting myself, digging myself a hole to start every single round and each individual hole as of late. So I put a lot of time in with Melvin and on my own dialing in my swing with the five wood, three wood and the driver and even some of my long irons as well. So this was the best off the tee box I had done. But the problem for me was that second shot.

I hit down on the ball. really tried to compress the ball. My second shot went maybe a quarter of an inch. I’m not sure to this day if the mud was so wet and unforgiving that I just smacked the ball straight down even further, or if the ball rolled back into its initial hole, because I had to dig it out of there from where it landed. So I either whiffed, topped, or briefly dusted or grazed my second shot.

And that pretty much summed up my irons the entire day. I would drive it to the fairway. I would chunk or thin my iron. The mud was just a mess. mean, my shoes left completely brown. Thank God shoes are safe in the washer there. Didn’t room or anything. They’re brand new today. And I chipped out of my mind, 32 putts, but I could not hit out of the fairway to save my life. And I kept putting the ball in the fairway. There was so much mud. It was swampy.

And I’m incredibly proud of myself for just being able to laugh and say, you know what? I’m going to focus on whatever it is I can control. And I didn’t have a scorecard for this when I was taking notes in my, in my phone. And let me just tell you some of the theme of my notes. just had a numbered list and I was just confirming whether I hit the fairway, the green and how many putts fairway fairway mud, one putt fringe to putt fairway mud, miss to putt out of bounds, fairway mud bunker.

Good chip two, out of bounds, fairway missed. There’s just fairway and mud, fairway mud, fairway mud, fairway mud. So much mud really taking away my ability to score well on a day I was really striking the ball consistently. shot a 96, 32 putts, five penalty shots, 10 fairways, one green in regulation, one fringe in regulation. No, two fringe in regulation. A total of 51 on the front.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (09:35.288)

45 on the back for a 96 that day. Felt great. And if you haven’t been listening to the news, the weather, there’s a hurricane impending. Coming here down. I’m just outside of Tampa. I’m safe as the time of recording this Monday morning or Monday afternoon. No plans to evacuate. We’re inland and north of Tampa enough. We should be safe, may lose power. All good there. So I decided I wanted to squeeze in nine holes this morning.

And on, when I, I’ll set the scene in a moment, but about four holes in, I got a text message from my one o’clock call, who’s a local Floridian asking to reschedule. So now suddenly, rather than feeling rushed to squeeze in nine, maybe take a chance at 18 if I have a strong front nine, I had all the time in the world. And you bet I took full advantage of it. So I show up 7.30 in the morning. It’s Monday, it’s.

incredibly gray overcast, a little breezy, maybe some occasional gusts of wind. It’s a little pitter-patter sprinkle. It’s not raining and it actually never rains. I am the only person there. I’m the only person on the range, not a soul in the clubhouse. I see one group take off in front of me off the first hole. I hit maybe a total of 15 or 20 balls on the range. I hit chipped six shots. I putted six or nine balls.

And the day before I had called, I made a 9 a.m. tea time and the guy told me there’s a group of eight going out in front of you. Come early, we’ll let you go in front of them. But with the uncertainty of the weather, the unpredictability, I called up to that group on the fifth hole. I passed them. I didn’t see another single pairing or sole other than the lawn care and maintenance team the rest of the round. I played 18 holes in three hours ish, two and a half. It was incredible.

Absolutely incredible. But let’s backtrack and let’s start us off and give you the rundown. Because this was a special round for many reasons. It was so peaceful, so isolating in the most positive way, the ability I had to just stop, slow down, soak in the peace. And you know, there was kind of an ominous feeling about the weather. You know, this hurricane is going to be significant by what they’re saying.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (11:58.452)

And it was like the calm before the storm. was such an indescribable experience being out there. It’s gray. The green is extra bright in the trees and the fairways though. There’s that gentle breeze and occasional gusts that howls and makes you pause and step away from the ball. And it’s empty. It’s so quiet. And that’s really a rare moment. And I know that the snowbirds are in route post hurricane and I’ll never get around like this again. So like I mentioned,

I had plans to play nine after I finished the nine, I like rushed into the clubhouse. I’m like, play in the back nine. Let me, let me pay for that and get that taken care of. But we start on the front nine for today’s rundown of what ended up being a special round that clicked and off the tee box. We hook our driver a little bit. We kind of pulled it a bit. Fortunately for us, it is a dog leg left. It was actually my five wood, not driver. So the ball’s completely in play. I

hit the green, two putt, bada boom, bada bing, we’re starting with par. The next hole, we push our driver right, goes out of bounds, not the way we wanna start. This hole is, to be frank, has given us nightmares lately. We have not played it well. And ultimately, not much to say after that. We topped our second shot, crushed our third shot, ended up getting there for a three putt and double bogeying the par five. But we’re back in business on the third where

We didn’t hit a green in regulation. We hit a fringe in regulation. So we’re parring number three, doubling the par four fourth. We hit one out of bounds. We topped another ball. So right at this moment, it was like, dude, slow down. You literally have no need for urgency. it was, at this point, I can confirm I’m the only ones on the course. Basically I’m about to pass the group in front of me. My call has already asked to reschedule and I have a serious talk with myself like.

There’s no need for this. You should not be topping balls or chunking shots. You know what to do. Lock it up and lock it in. So on the fifth hole, we hit a fringe in regulation and we end up, let me see, where’d I go? So we bogey in a two putt on the fifth hole. On the sixth, same thing, we bogey two putt. We did have an out of bounds there. So our ability to recover was absolutely incredible. Could have been a par, wasted opportunity, but we made it work. On the seventh, another dope double.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (14:23.348)

out of bounds, a chunk shot and a fortunate, fortunate one putt from about 12 to 16 feet. So we’re eight holes in, seven holes in, we’re four out of bounds, not helping the calls. On eight, we par the par three, eight, we bogey the par four, nine, and we come in with 16 putts, four greens in regulation, a couple fringes, only one fairway, four out of bounds, and we still managed a card of 45. We had

One, two, three pars on the front nine, a couple bows, couple doubles. And to date, we are now one and a half rounds in without any triples. I failed to mention that on my Lexington Oaks round from Saturday. I didn’t have a single triple bogey. That’s the first round I’ve ever done that. So that’s a big, big positive. Turning to the back nine, which to be frank.

It’s a scoreable, attackable set of nine holes. It is not the hardest nine holes you will ever play. And at this point, I don’t know my score. I know I’m close. had an imagination I shot between a 44 and a 47. So it ended up being a 45 in hindsight. So on the turn, we go pay for the bath night, we get some water, we take a deep breath, and we just know there is no urgency at all. The golf course is my oasis of opportunity, and I’m gonna dial it in.

first tee on our first shot on the 10th tee box. I piped a five wood out there just right to the fairway. And then I left my next one short. Then I chipped and it rolled across the entire green onto some really nasty fringe. Didn’t play well three putt that one. So I’m starting the back nine with a double then on 11 fucking waxed my driver.

And then I took a five iron that I hit that probably carried about two 15, two 20 out of the rough landed just short of the hole chipped it up in two putt for a par on 11. We bring that positivity for another par on 12 a bogey on the par three 13th. And that’s only because it was a one 51, one 52 club. decided to hit my nine.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (16:41.844)

I just fucking striped my nine. My nine carried at least 165, which is just new for me. Ended up making a really good putt to save bogey there. Bogeyed the 15th par four, parred the 15th par five, and that’s a hole in the past that’s really got me. I fucking crushed my drive. I hit a worm burner laser with my five wood from the fairway and got up two putt there. Missed a birdie. Bogeyed 16.

Birdied 17, that was incredible. I sunk at least a 20, probably 20 to 24 foot putt for birdie on 17. And then on 18, I made the conscious choice. Like here I know I’m close at this point. I haven’t looked at my scorecard, but I made the conscious choice on 18. It’s a 300, it was playing 315, really, really narrow dogleg right. And that dogleg right is over water. Ball needs to carry about 265 over the water if you want to go for the green.

And I did that. put the driver out because it had been hot on the back nine and I’m into the wind. I let that sucker rip and I swear it comes up like two, three yards short. So I have to drop, did my best finishing straw, made double on 18 to card 16 putts on the back. I had two penalty strokes on the back, giving me a total of six.

plus six on penalty strokes, 32 putts. I hit four greens and one fringe on the back. I hit two fairways and I carded a fucking 42 on the back, giving me an 87 for the round. Solo pre-Hurricane golf, the new low round to date, an 87.

And I think I’m still processing because what’s really unique about this experience has been a goal I’ve had my sights set on for a few months. I’ve been working tirelessly at it. I knew it would come. I had micro experiences with a confidence waiver because I just didn’t feel consistent and grounded in my swing. Like my swing was repeatable on demand and I’m trending towards that direction very much so now. I knew this golfer was in there.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (18:55.382)

He’s been in there for a good month. And I said, a little over 10 days ago or so, it clicked. Something in my swing clicked. The putting’s always been improving in the right direction. 32 to 36 putts tends to be the norm. think lifetime, my putting averages in like high 34s. The chipping clicked because we spent a good chunk of our lesson just dialing in a couple of different things. I know what to do in different situations. It’s just my thought process.

Whenever I’m not quite sure what to do with the lie, the angle, the distance, I have a conversation in my head just going through my checkboxes to reinforce my commitment to each adjustment and ultimately the single technique I will commit to and execute to produce the shot I need and desire. And this is just the beginning. I’m gonna go repeat this playing in a two-some or a four-some. wanna make sure.

You know, I’ve reached the goal. Yes. I’m also going to go repeat this several times. I’m going to keep breaking 90, get a boatload of scores in the 80 and start putting things together. Cause we step back six OBs. I mean, there’s technically 81. Let’s say we take away half of those. There’s an 84. The opportunities there. had one three putt where I just, it was on the second hole. I didn’t warm up putting. I mean, yes, that’s an excuse. It just is what it is.

Puddings dialing in, there was a few birdie putts I missed that I felt were very makeable and I know they will drop as I continue to practice and of course I had the one drop. I mean, shit, we’re here. We’re in a really good place, so.

Gonna take some time to really update what the new goal and timeline is. I do know the first imminent goal is I need to repeat this. I need to break 90 again, specifically not on my own on an empty golf course before a hurricane. And I’m not taking anything away from my score today. I am so fucking proud of myself because I have been dreaming about this, envisioning this, putting in countless reps in the backyard, in the garage, and of course on the range. Really, really excited and happy with the outcome.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (20:57.336)

2025 brings not only fatherhood, it also brings tournament golf. And obviously we’re a little ways away from that. And I will continue to put in the time and effort to prepare myself, but we’re going to get incredibly uncomfortable playing a lot of tournament golf here at the turn of the new year. And I will wait and see as I kind of just sit back, enjoy this moment to update you on what the exact next goal is. But as my client and friend reminded me, I guess I have to update.

my official intro to the pod. think we need to rework or upgrade triple digit golfer because he is a man who lives in the past and you and me, my friend, we live in the present looking toward the future one day, one moment, one swing at a time. And that’s where we’re at.

I thank you so much for tuning in, for continuing to follow along, for your support, your kind words in the early stages of this journey thus far. This will be a fun moment to look back on once I am a scratch golfer and just really be able to sit back and reflect on the importance of the micro or the short-term goals that empowered me and fueled me to get to where I need to be every step of the way. And that reminds me, if you’ve not yet listened to…

I believe it’s episode 25, your golf identity. This is where I break down my approach in terms of not only my ultimate goal of breaking 90 before November 13th, which today is October 7th, so we’re well ahead of schedule, but I break down my performance goals, my outcome goals, my focus, and ultimately give you an in-depth overview into my goal setting approach and my identity transformation approach, which I leveraged heavily to step into the golfer.

I am today. So that’s a phenomenal listen for you. I highly recommend it. Be on the lookout this Thursday, October 9th. We have none other than John Sherman on the show as a guest and you are gonna absolutely love this episode. John, if you don’t know him, I mean, you’re crazy. Go follow him. You’ll get all a wonderful warm introduction to him on Thursday. But this man is a wealth of knowledge, all things mental game of golf. He happens to be, I believe he’s a plus two or a plus three handicap himself.

The Golf Hypnotherapist (23:12.642)

So this was a fun, informative and valuable conversation. I know you’re gonna love coming out on Thursday, October 9th. And that is where we are, believe it or not too, coming up on 50 episodes of the pod. Exciting. You know, I’ve already recorded out toward about 45 or 47 with my guests. So we’re really getting there. It’s a fun, exciting place to be. I look forward to seeing where we are three, six and even 12 months from now as well.

Well, thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful week of play and practice out there on the range or wherever it is you are getting some specific practice time in. Have a great day. I will catch you in the next episode.

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PAUL SALTER

Paul Salter - known as The Golf Hypnotherapist - is a High-Performance Mindset Coach who leverages hypnosis and powerful subconscious reprogramming techniques to help golfers of all ages and skill levels overcome the mental hazards of their minds so they shoot lower scores and play to their potential.