Will play Olympics alongside Thomas Detry, who inspired path to Champaign

It was a decade ago, nine holes in the December chill at Belgium’s Royal Waterloo Country Club, but Adrien Dumont de Chassart remembers the day vividly.

That’s because it changed his life’s trajectory.

Dumont de Chassart, then 14, shared a round with Thomas Detry, then a college standout at the University of Illinois under head men’s golf coach Mike Small. The players’ parents knew each other and connected for the nine-hole round in December (typical high temperatures in the 40s F). Detry’s dad joined them at Royal Waterloo in Lasne, Belgium, a Brussels suburb not far from Dumont de Chassart’s hometown of Villers-la-Ville.

Not only did Detry rave about the Illinois program – putting the bug in the young teenager’s ear – but he later told Small to keep an eye out for Dumont de Chassart. Small followed through, recruiting Dumont de Chassart to play for the Fighting Illini.

“Since I was probably 12, I had always wanted to go (to the United States for college golf),” Dumont de Chassart said by phone earlier this week. “Once I started talking to Detry … I knew I wanted to go there (to Illinois). Once I had the opportunity to talk with Coach and get a chance to go there, I accepted it pretty quickly.”

Detry did warn Dumont de Chassart about the early wake-up times required for morning workouts, but that didn’t scare him off. He crossed the pond, bound for Champaign, Illinois, and is glad he did. He excelled for the Fighting Illini, finishing No. 3 on the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking to earn automatic Korn Ferry Tour membership. And upon winning the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX in his first pro start he was #TOURBound.

Fast forward to this week, and TOUR rookie Dumont de Chassart is making his first John Deere Classic start at TPC Deere Run, just two-and-a-half hours from Champaign. And next month, Detry and Dumont de Chassart will represent Belgium at the Olympic Men’s Golf Competition at Le Golf National in Paris. They qualified as Belgium’s top two players on the Official World Golf Ranking.

(The Olympics field is comprised of the top two available players from each country until the 60-player field is filled. For countries with more than two players inside the world’s top 15, up to four are eligible.)

Dumont de Chassart is excited for the John Deere, just as he is eagerly anticipating his Olympics debut, representing the Belgian flag alongside Detry, who has been so instrumental in his career. Dumont de Chassart even has an eye on catching some tennis if he can get away. (He played competitive tennis as a junior until he realized all those topspin forehands were leading to huge hooks on the golf course, and he turned to golf full-time.)

As with college golf, Detry, 31, can tell Dumont de Chassart what to expect in Paris, having finished T16 at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Yes, their age difference prevented them from becoming teammates in Champaign, but they’ll be teammates at Le Golf National.

And it all started with nine holes back home in the winter chill.

“It was just really cool to have the opportunity to play with him and learn a little bit from him,” Dumont de Chassart said. “It’s going to be awesome. I know Detry has already played in one Olympics, so it will be good to learn from him a little bit.

“It’s going to be really exciting,” he added. “… It will be nice to be able to spend a week together and get that Belgian vibe in Paris going.”