Belinda Ji is 23. She looks 23, but it actually feels like she’s been playing elite-level golf for 23 years already.
Some have been lucky enough to have watched her play since the amazing day in 2015 that she became the youngest player to have teed up in the Women’s New South Wales Open.
And all in the time since have been taken by her polite, approachable demeanour. She always seems to have time on her side.
Ji fans needn’t fear – that warmth hasn’t suddenly evaporated.
But something has changed.
There’s no doubt about it.
She’s “home” this week, trying to qualify for her state Open again via her first look at Mollymook’s Hilltop course.
And today she made a good fist of her opening round, one of five women to share the early lead.
As ever, when requested to do media duties, she obliged with a smile.
But her words were different.
For the first time, they reflected a young woman – as opposed to a wide-eyed girl with no pressures.
It wasn’t urgent, just, perhaps, time sensitive.
Ji is back from her first long-term experience as a global professional – a 16-week odyssey through the outer reaches of European golf on the LET’s Access Series.
It took her to 13 events in that span – in places as far flung as a Slovakian ski field and a three-week Swedish trek – and yielded four top-10 finishes.
More importantly, though, it has given her a mission.
She already has return Access Series status in 2026, but she’s now desperate to get on the main European stage – and beyond – as her first year as a touring pro winds down.
“I feel like professional golf is a whole different life now I’ve been in Europe,” the Sydneysider said.
“You’re on your own, you’re travelling and booking everything yourself, and there is just so much more independence that you learn through it.”
“It’s a big change. Like, I knew it was going to be tough, but I feel like being away from home four months really showed me how tough it can be.”
“And in a way, this is what I want.”
“I want to be stronger, I want to be challenged and I feel like that’s where I reach my full potential, so I am grateful that I got to experience that.”
Ji said she learnt as much about herself off the course as she did about her game on it.
But it’s clearly the golf that has come into sharper focus back on home soil.
“I didn’t have great results yet, but I feel like it gave me a lot of positive signs.”
“Like, I now know that if I am playing well I am able to be in contention.”
“But I think the biggest thing I learned is how to adapt well and particularly on the greens, I feel like putting was like my lowest hanging fruit (that was exposed for me to fix) and I’ve been working so hard on it since.”
“If I can sharpen that up and then while everything else is improving at the same time, my game should be in a good place.”
Ji has earmarked the upcoming key events of the Aussie summer, all co-sanctioned with the LET, as her time to take that leap from her Access status without another trip to the “back-blocks”.
And she also knows that she might have to push smiling Belinda to the side if she’s in one of these big events when the whips are cracking.
“Yeah, sometimes I might have to. I mean, yes, we have really good friends here, but everyone ends up competing against each other.”
“You obviously want your friends to do well, but at the end of the day, you just have to do the best you can and focus on yourself.”
“So I’ve learned a lot about just doing my best and how I can try to block out all the noise as well.”
‘That was a big reality check.”
“I think if you try not think about it, but you know that that is the reality, the rankings and how much is in your bank account and things like that.”
“But I also know that when I play my best golf, none of that is actually in my mind, so I think you’ve just got to focus on what is going to help you and be disciplined sometimes to think like that and just deal with what happens.”
Ji said she has a new-found admiration for the ultra-consistent stars of the LPGA and European tours.
And a new drive to join them.
“I really developed a love of playing golf in Europe, but ultimately I would want to play on the LPGA Tour. But you have to do it in steps and for now, I want to play on the LET and see how that goes,” she said with trademark politeness.
The smile is still there.
But you can hear the change.
She’s 23 with a bullet.
