Player Blog: Thomas Detry

In this week's Player Blog, Thomas Detry talks his friendship with Thomas Pieters, winning by 12 shots on the Challenge Tour, speaking four languages, and his future goals... 

I didn’t feel totally comfortable in my first few weeks on the European Tourbecause you don’t know where to go, you don’t know where to register and everything is brand new, but that’s a normal feeling to have and it helped massively that in my first event on tour at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, I finished third. That was a big thing for me. I came onto the European Tour not knowing what to expect, and then boom, you realise that you can win out here straight away too, and that changes everything. I feel good out here now, and a big part of that feeling comes from having Thomas Pieters and Nicolas Colsaerts around – they can guide me and they’ve introduced me to so many people, which has really helped me settle.

I feel like my consistency is one of the strong points of my game.I make a lot of pars, I don’t tend to shoot high numbers too much. My short game and long irons are strong as well. The thing I really want to work on is my driving, but I don’t consider it a weakness really – I could improve on every aspect of my game, but the driving is probably the main thing.

I speak four languages.I’m happy with the four for now, but maybe I could improve on my German. I understand a bit, but I need to work on it. Maybe one day I could learn Mandarin too. But speaking a few languages has been a massive advantage on tour and has really helped me get to know all of the guys. My grandmother is from Spain so I learnt that when I was younger so I’m able to speak to all of the Spanish guys, and speak Dutch or Flemish with the Dutch guys. And of course English with all the other guys. Every time you make an effort to speak someone else’s language people are more likely to open up and be nice to you.

I’m born and bred in Brussels and that’s where I still call home now.I studied for four years in college in the US near Chicago, and when I was away in the States I loved it over there and used to think that Brussels wasn’t that nice. But when you’re away from home all the time like I am now you realise just how nice your home is. The whole city is great, and I know it so well. I think the quality of life in Brussels and Belgium is very good. I sometimes get recognised when I’m at home, but that’s only started to happen recently.

Myself and Thomas Pieters have known each other since we were eight or nine, but the more and more we played in the national team, the more time we spent together. We then went on to spend one year together at the same college in the US, and now we’re on the European Tour we get to see each other. If we’re playing different events we’ll still stay in touch. And if I need advice from either Thomas or Nico then they’ve always been there for me. If I’m at home in Belgium I sometimes head over to Antwerp to say hi to Thomas and he sometimes comes to Brussels too. We just have a few drinks together and chill.

The Ryder Cup in France isn’t in my head, I don’t think about it when I’m making birdies or playing well - I’m just focusing on my game from week to week and if I make it then great, but it’s not really a goal, it would just be a consequence of me playing really well. You need to be confident to play in The Ryder Cup, and I’m confident. You need that mindset. I think even if you’re the most confident person in the world you’ll still be nervous at The Ryder Cup, but you need that confidence and the belief that you can achieve things in those big events. A Pieters-Detry fourballs pairing for Europe would be awesome! The Belgian flag would be flying high that day!

I think people would say I’m a nice guy,but when I’m competing I have that edge that you need. It’s amazing – when I play golf with my family and friends and am all friendly to everyone, I play terribly. I need that edge. I need to have that tournament feel and that’s why I always like to play for something, even it’s just five or ten euros. It helps me. I’m quite intense when I’m the course actually, and although I try not to get too emotional out there, sometimes I need to express my frustrations – I need to have that outlet to express myself, because once I’ve got rid of it I’m really good at bouncing back and then making a birdie after a bogey.

I think the new formats and the things the European Tour are doing are awesome!You can’t just stand still and keep golf as it was 50 years ago, especially now with everything that’s happening on social media. I played in Perth at the ISPS HANDA World Super Six and played in the GolfSixes in England as well, and had so much fun. I’d love to see more of those events in the future.

When I was I contention in South Africa I was buzzing,but when I was in contention in Munich I was so calm. You obviously feel something, but I was hitting greens and fairways at the BMW International Open and my emotions were so under control. I think the more you’re in contention the better you’ll deal with those situations. I was so close to getting that first win, but I think it will come soon. The margins are so small, but I think it will be my time soon – I just need to keep putting myself in position!

I can’t wait to get out there this week at the Made in Denmark and experience the unique atmosphere of the 16th hole. My good friend Andreas Hartø proposed on that hole, so after seeing that buzz on Himmerland Hill on tv, I can’t wait to experience it for myself, and to find out just how loud it actually is.