Dutch golfer Christel Boeljon no longer haunted by stalker Christel Boeljon on her way to winning the Australian Ladies Masters last year. Picture: Brendan Radke Source: Gold Coast Bulletin DEFENDING champion Christel Boeljon spent a worrying part of 2012 fearful she'd see the face of a stalker in any gallery following her at US and European events. Only now that the episode is well behind her can the leading Dutch player explain what it's like to play again without tension in her limbs and mind for her return to the Volvik Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast. It was very strange. It did affect everything, not just my game," Boeljon, 26, said yesterday of the angst-ridden months last year that extended beyond the stalker's last sighting in July. It started in the US but he eventually travelled to Europe and that's where it got more serious. Because he was on the course every day, going back to the apartment or where I was staying alone made me very uncomfortable. I'm proud of how I dealt with it. The LPGA (in the US) kept me safe but it just takes time (to get over). That is especially the case since former world No.1 Monica Seles was stabbed courtside by an obsessed Steffi Graf fan at a tennis tournament in Hamburg two decades ago and top female sportswomen Serena Williams and Katarina Witt have also been rattled emotionally by stalkers. It's a sign of Boeljon's steel that yesterday she did not want to use the stalker drama as an excuse for a lull in her 2012 results after two crowning achievements early in the year when she won the Ladies Masters and Turkish Airlines Open. She's excited about 2013 being a new start but did elaborate on the mental demons she had to deal with for a Dutch golfing website. "It caused tension in my body and that does not help when you're trying to play golf," Boeljon said. It's not something you just let go. You just look at the gallery and think you might see him again. At first it seemed just a fan but it soon became clear that he wanted more. Eventually he was forbidden even to watch. He sent things and even travelled to Europe. That was pretty scary.