Thomas Pratt, the captain of Leavitt’s golf team, says there’s more to a successful round of golf than hitting a ball square on the face of the club. The game, he believes, is 80% mental.

“You kind of got to have the memory of a goldfish,” Pratt said. “Like, you hit a bad shot, you’ve got to forget about it, because that’s the only way to keep going.”

With the high school golf season opening this week, players and coaches throughout Maine are stressing the importance of a strong, sound mental approach.

Golfers not feeling pressure tend to perform better. Cheverus coach Billy Goodman coached state championship teams in 2002 and 2008 at Deering and led the Stags to a second-place finish at the Class A championship last season. All of those teams, he said, didn’t face the pressure that comes with being considered a title favorite.

“In golf, especially last year, we weren’t expected to finish in the top three or five, and we did well,” Goodman said. “Without pressure, we performed well.”

Pressure, though, can’t always be avoided. Leavitt coach Harry Haylock said a nervous player’s hands tend to shake, and usually the anxiety begins on the first tee box.

Haylock said the Hornets try to combat nerves by practicing pressure-filled situations.

“I know that certain kids don’t like to be watched, but I purposely have myself and others approach the tee box when they’re getting ready to hit because I know what it’s going to be like when they’re at either Natanis or playing against Lincoln (Academy) or Morse,” Haylock said. “You know, that first tee box with everyone around, it’s nerve-wracking — I know what it was for me (during) my first tournament.”

Even reigning state champions and future NCAA Division I golfers get nervous. Gardiner senior Jack Quinn, the 2024 Class B champion who is committed to play at the University of Rhode Island, hit his tee shot out of bounds on the 18th hole of the final round of the Charlie’s Maine Open earlier this month. Afterward, he blamed the pressure he felt for the errant shot.

Jack Quinn putts on the ninth green during the opening round of the Charlie’s Maine Open earlier this month. (Joe Phelan/Staff Photographer)

The 17-year-old held on to finish as the top amateur in the field and win the junior division title.

He said his key to overcoming nerves is focus.

“It’s kind of like a whole mental thing over the ball,” said Quinn, last year’s Varsity Maine Boys Golfer of the Year. “(My) memory gets fogged and (I) need to toughen (it out). Just kind of stick to what I know.”

Falmouth’s Dante Iannetta said his key is slowing things down.

“For me, it’s really at the start of a tournament, it’s like the first two, maybe three holes when you start to feel it, if it’s important,” Iannetta said. “But once you start getting past that point, you start going shot by shot, and you kind of forget about the overall picture of it.”

BOUNCE BACK

Bad shots are likely going to happen during a round, but coaches want to make sure their players don’t compound their mistakes with more bad shots. Iannetta said that after bad shots, Falmouth coach AJ Simokaitis talks to him about getting the ball into the middle of the fairway.

Dante Iannetta of Falmouth chips onto the eighth green during the opening round of the Charlie’s Maine Open earlier this month. (Joe Phelan/Staff Photographer)

Messalonskee sophomore Greyson Dooley said his tee shots can stray too far in either direction when he’s nervous. When that happens, his coaches tell him to get the ball back in play and finish the hole with as low a score as possible.

“They just tell me to just try to find a way, just get back in the fairway, try to make par,” Dooley said. “If you don’t, make a bogey, it’s fine. Take your medicine.”

Some high school players take note of what the world’s best player, Scottie Scheffler, does when he has a hiccup. Scheffler led the PGA Tour this season with a 36.50% bounce-back rate, which is the frequency that a player follows a bogey with a birdie on the next hole. The tour average was 21.03%.

“That’s the mental side of the game right there,” Cheverus senior Matthew Paradis said. “So, I mean, he does it the best. I mean, can’t get much better than Scottie, so …”

Haylock said that to become mentally stronger, golfers have to want to work on it.

“I try to tell these guys to seek some of that stuff out,” Haylock said. “But if you want to perform at that level, you don’t have to be told to go do it. If you have to be told to do it, you’re not doing it for the right reason.”

Leavitt coach Harry Haylock talks with junior Liam Turcotte during practice last week. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

Quinn, for instance, watches videos and reads about the mental side of golf.

“I do my research, but I know I can come out here and be just fine,” Quinn said.

SELF-CORRECTION

Paradis and Goodman are both involved in team sports. Paradis plays for the Cheverus/Yarmouth co-op boys hockey team, which has won the last two Class B state championships, and Goodman has won multiple state championships with the girls basketball teams at McAuley and Cheverus.

Paradis said the mental side of hockey is much easier than golf.

“Hockey is a lot more (of a) team sport. You’re going to have people backing you up,” Paradis said. “Where (in) golf, it’s you, yourself and I. You can’t really do much if you make a bad shot.”

Coaching golf and basketball also are different. During a basketball game, Goodman can make adjustments when his team is struggling. During a golf match, the players are mostly on their own once they tee off.

“I can’t keep my eye on everyone, so I have to trust that they’re going to keep their cool,” Goodman said. “If they have a bad shot or are having a bad hole, then they need to let it go. It’s tough because you have to self-correct sometimes. On any given day, you have a bad day and you’re out. In basketball, I can make subs. If I see someone not doing well in golf, there’s no subbing.”