One of the better golfers ever to come out of Western New York is, at 52, back at it full bore
Balen back in the swing with Champions Tour
Lackawanna’s Mark Balen was near 50 when golf grabbed him in its jaws again and wouldn’t let him go. Subtle improvement led to a quest for more greater improvement. Significant strides had friends urging him to take aim at the Champions Tour. And what Balen learned along the way, while recapturing a swing that is legend in these parts, is that, man, golf can be darn addictive.
One of the better golfers ever to come out of Western New York is, at 52, back at it full bore. He’s hop-scotching around the country playing in Monday qualifiers on the Champions Tour, a privilege he earned for the second straight year through a top-30 finish at Champions Tour Qualifying School. He was out at Crag Burn Friday afternoon, testing his game against a slew of college players and mini-tour players, guys who hit it miles, looking to take another step toward what would be his third appearance in a U. S. Open. And he got the job done, too, tying for second with a 1- under 71 that propelled him into sectional qualifying in Columbus, Ohio.
That means that next month Balen will be competing for his first U. S. Open spot in 16 years in the shadow of his old stomping grounds, Ohio State, where he’s bottled magic before, teaming with the likes of Joey Sindelar and John Cook to help the Buckeyes to the 1979 national title. Yeah, now that golf once again has him in its clutches, now that he concedes age might soon be an obstacle to opportunity, Balen is yearning for an encore in the national championship. He tied for 43rd at Winged Foot in 1984 and missed the cut at Baltusrol in ’93.
“Especially this year,” Balen said. “Bethpage, we’ve had our New York State Opens there every year. I had a couple third-place finishes there a while back. It’s awfully long. Obviously it doesn’t fit my game that well anymore. But it’s a beautiful place and it would be neat to go back to again.”
In the interim, Balen will continue his pursuit on the Champions Tour. Last weekend he earned his way into the field at the Regions Charity Classic in Birmingham, Ala., tied for 68th, earned about $1,600. Last year he qualified for four tournaments, missing a cut at the Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill. All told, he earned about $10,000, which doesn’t begin to cover expenses given all the journey entails.
“There are 25 guys [out of QSchool] in qualifying and we play for spots on Mondays,” Balen said. “What they kind of don’t say is if you’ve won a Tour event in the past you can go into Monday qualifying if you’re non-exempt. Last year we had probably 40, 45 players for nine spots. This year they’ve changed it where we’re back to 30, but we only have four spots. They took five spots away from us.”
Balen’s situation is far different from that of Lonnie Nielsen, the former Crag Burn pro who earned fully exempt Champions tour status in 2005, when the top 15 received full tour cards. Nielsen is nearing $4 million in earnings. Either Balen plays well in the Monday qualifier, or he’s on his way back to Lackawanna. That can make for a lot of short trips to distant parts of the country.
“Last year I only missed one tournament [qualifier],” Balen said. “We had about 20 open qualifiers last year, and then there’s a few tournaments that are just strictly [filled] off the money list. And this year we’ve had five so far, and I’ve gone to all five, made one last week in Birmingham. And I’ll go to all the rest of them.
“I guess it’s a little different when you’re younger and it’s kind of like, ‘I got next year to work on my game,’ or ‘I’ll go back to the school and play.’ I just turned 52 and obviously this is going to get harder every year physically. So I’m just figuring on giving it my best shot, work on things, and see how it goes.”
A return to golf was far from Balen’s mind most of the past decade. He broke multiple bones in his shoulder in a ski accident when he was 37 and played casually thereafter.
“It kind of derailed me for a few years there,” he said. “And then I didn’t play very well. I had kind of gotten out of golf when I was 42 or 43. Started working for the Department of Education here through my dad, who was a teacher here. I got to 49, and I just kind of worked it a little harder and it started coming around and friends convinced me to give it a shot.”
Back on tour, at 52, with a game reminiscent of his past.
“I really didn’t plan on it,” Balen said. “Now that I’ve gotten into it it’s fun again, it’s addicting again,”
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