Beljan Back And Looking Better

By Ken Klavon, USGA

	Charlie Beljan watches a putt during Tuesday's stroke-play qualifying round at Merion Golf Club. (John Mummert/USGA)

Ardmore, Pa. – Charlie Beljan tried to ignore the pain. He figured he could play his way through the two bulging discs in his back that flared up this past spring semester at the University of New Mexico.

But the throbbing ache intensified to the point that he couldn’t take it anymore. His season came to a crashing halt. The 6-foot-3 man-tree from Mesa, Ariz., had been felled. There would be no NCAA Championships. No playing in the sectional qualifier for the U.S. Open. A two-month sabbatical from strenuous activity, including golf, awaited him like a gurney with rigid straps.  If he had to pinpoint the cause, he guessed it would be from weight-lifting, although he wasn’t exactly sure.

One thing was for certain.

"I sat on the couch for two months," said the 2002 U.S. Junior Amateur champion after following up a 6-under-par 64 Monday at Philadelphia Country Club with a 6-over 76 at Merion Golf Club on Tuesday. The even-par 140 total easily qualified him for the match-play portion of the championship that commences on Wednesday.

And how frustrating was that?

"Very, very frustrating," he said. "There’s only so much TV you can watch."

Up until his Aug. 1-2 36-hole qualifier at Long Bow Golf Club in Mesa, Beljan did little except for the prescribed exercises to strengthen his back. In fact, the first competitive golf he played was the actual qualifier. As he tried practicing for the two-day event, he recalled the first time he set out to play 18.

"I couldn’t even walk nine holes," he said. His legs had recoiled from inactivity.

So to make match play for a second time in three Amateurs was special, despite a saddened heart. That’s because his 20-year-old girlfriend, Katie Heffel, had to catch a plane Tuesday evening to get back to Kansas State University, where she is a junior on the school’s golf team. Heffel served as Beljan’s caddie in the qualifier and through the qualifying rounds this week. The two met eight years ago while playing at Altamesa Country Club in Mesa. They dated on and off in the seventh and eighth grades, then didn’t talk for about four years. Last year they reunited.

Sometimes having a girlfriend on the bag has the potential to be detrimental because it’s hard to separate the personal side from the business at hand. But not in this situation.

"It’s nerve-racking," said Heffer. "It’s exciting to see golf of a different caliber. I try to keep him calm, relaxed and we joke. You have to keep it low-light."

Or consider Beljan’s take.

"She keeps me level-headed," he said. "I don’t want to get mad out there, so she keeps me from being an idiot."

Heffer did all the things a regular caddie would do. She read greens and discussed what to hit, especially if he was in-between clubs. Beljan said with her gone he isn’t sure what he’ll do. He was reminded – all within an earshot – that in 2002 at the U.S. Junior at Atlanta Athletic Club he carried his own bag en route to winning the title.

One of 11 USGA champions in the field this week, Beljan looks comfortable, as though he’s undergone a transformation. No longer does he look unpolished, nor does he try to pound everything off the tee as he has in past events. It’s all part of the maturation process.

After defeating Zac Reynolds in 20 holes to win in 2002, the two-time Arizona Player of Year earned an exemption into the Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. When he arrived on-site, he looked like the wide-eyed rookie who had just been called up to the big leagues. A smile chiseled on his face and yet to grow into his frame, he intimated then that he’d be thrilled beyond belief to make the cut. He did, making it to the third round of match play before losing to Spencer Levin, 5 and 4. Then he had a precipitous fall. The next year at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club he failed to make the cut. And last year he didn’t qualify to play in the championship at Winged Foot.

Now, he’s more appreciative of where he is and what he’s doing.

"I wanted to get back to the Amateur because I remember how much fun the Junior was," he said.

His 64 at Philadelphia Country Club tied for the second-lowest stroke-play score in Amateur history. Realizing another 64 wouldn’t guarantee him anything in match play, he approached Merion differently than he would have had in the past.

"I was thinking of playing it cautious," said Belgian, tolerating two double bogeys Tuesday. The younger Beljan would have possibly blown a gasket immediately, unable to file the miscues away. Merion was a solid test of his patience because he’d be the first one to admit that he can be overly aggressive.

"I knew it was going to be tough, especially coming to a golf course like this," he said of his round at Merion. "Par was going to be my best friend today.

"I’ve matured a lot. I’m understanding what it takes to be more patient. You can’t come to a course like this and pound it. Just try to hit fairways and greens. The putts will fall when they want to. Mentally my game has changed [from three years ago]."

Which could be enough for the man-tree to go far this week.

Ken Klavon is the USGA’s web editor. E-mail him with comments or questions at kklavon@usga.org.