Amelia will be the first to tell you she’s still not the finished product as a golfer, but she is making incremental strides – one of which came on Tuesday at Wollongong Golf Club.

“AMG” carded an impressive five-under-par 65 to, momentarily at least, set the early pace in the first round of the NSW Open regional qualifier.

Naturally, she’s hopeful this is the first step towards glory when the dust settles on Wednesday, but for now, she’s content the journey itself is beginning to bear fruit.

Fresh from a pair of top-15 finishes against the men in the Australian PGA’s national pro-am series in Grafton and Yamba, Mehmet-Grohn has added a steely mental game to her approach.

“I have started working with a mental coach, Dee Anderson - she’s been awesome,” Mehmet-Grohn said.

“And I went back to my old coach Brendan Barnes last year, which has been really good, too, so we’re starting to hit a stride.”

It is an added bonus for Mehmet-Grohn that both live within a stone’s throw of her Coffs Harbour base, so the one-time random ball of energy is becoming something of a focused “home-grown” warrior.

“It is about just being where my feet are … and it’s really helping me,” she said of her work with Anderson, the mind guru for several Olympians, including the legendary Ian Thorpe.

“I am learning to be present, be where I am, and learning that I can’t change anything I’ve done, or think about things too far ahead.

“It is really nice to have Dee as a backboard.”

Barnes, based at Sawtell, has put those learnings into practical on-course scenarios.

“We have been working on hitting a fairway, hitting a green and having a 2-putt and then if you make one, that’s awesome,” Mehmet-Grohn said.

“Having that mentality really simplifies things for me. I let things go as quickly as I can, so that means when I walk off a green, I walk to the next tee and just pick a line and hit it.

“In the past I’ve had trouble letting go of shots, but even today, I made two sloppy bogeys coming in, but I didn’t think about it until now … I just got up to the next shot and kept going.”

Women are no strangers to NSW Open qualifying series podiums, with Grace Kim having been runner-up in Dubbo in 2021 and Mehmet-Grohn herself third at Coffs Harbour in 2022.

However, it is still a “thing” for those watching on and Mehmet-Grohn thinks it might even work in her favour when the whips are cracking.

“It maybe works to an advantage for me because they [the boys] are just like, ‘What is she doing here?’ and you’re just there doing your thing,” she said.

“If at the end of the day that gets me on the podium, then that’s what it is.

“But yeah, I love mixing it with the boys; it’s fun.

“To be mentioned in same sentence as Gracey would be cool, but if I stick to my game plan and it gets me to the top, then so be it.

“I just have to keep being hungry and aggressive.

“It is an odd combination - you’ve got to be hungry, but then you can’t care about the result.

“Just go hard and then let it go.”