Second stage registration has opened today, if you haven’t signed up already, what are you waiting for? Go, go, go!

Our ten questions interviewee for today is Belgium’s Maxime Tanghe. Maxime has been one of the most exciting young European talents for….well… what feels like too long to keep calling him young and yet he still is! He’s making the short hop across the channel in June to a course he has a happy history with.

I first had the pleasure of seeing Maxime play at the age of 12 during the British Open at Quarry Park in 2008. He destroyed the Junior Boys division, including a slightly older James Luton, with a score good enough to have been second in the tough Amateur division. His long accurate driving and pinpoint putting was way beyond his years and marked him out as one to watch for the future.

His biggest win to date has been the Swiss Chili Open B Tier at the start of this month beating a 135 person field including notable names Sylvain Gouge, Croydon Disc Golf’s adopted son Dominik Stampfer and his fellow Quarry Park competitor Tony Ferro. He took his only other B tier win way back in 2012 when he was crowned the Belgium Open Champion at the tender age of 16.

Maxime took a break from the sport for the 2016 and 2017 seasons and then made a flying return last year at the British Open at Quarry Park when he was just edged into second by Icelandic wonderkid Blaer. We’re really excited to see this battle rekindled in 2019!

The podium from the 2018 British Open at Quarry Park, Maxime, Blaer and Jay “Yeti” Reading

There is a bright future for Maxime in the sport and we fully expect to see an A tier win in the coming years alongside a major manufacturer sponsorship.

Question time!

When did you start playing Disc Golf?

I started at the age of 10 thanks to my dad, it was around 2006

A young Maxime pictured with his brother

Who’s your Disc Golf hero?

Jesper Lundmark when he was still playing, awesome to watch. Then Paul Ulibarri because of his unusual style and his great taste for good clothing.

What is your proudest moment in Disc Golf?

European championships 2007 in Ronchinnes (Belgium) I had been playing for like a year, I don’t know how they made it possible for me to play but in the first round, I’m not sure about the hole but it’s a crazy par 5 in the woods, there are like 10 groups waiting to play and I throw that awesome drive in front of all these people.

First Time I taste this awesome feeling of being applauded by dozens of people!

What’s your favourite disc?

R-Pro Aviar (*Editor, we’ve got none in stock so we’ll link to an even better putter instead 🙂 )

What’s your favourite hole at Quarry Park?

Hole 13 if I remember correctly.

Where’s your favourite place to play?

Jarva discgolf park in Sweden. (It’s going to disappear next year unfortunately)

Who is the next up and coming talent in your country?

Maxime Dupret if he takes time to practice.

Maxime drives at the Swiss Chili Open

What are your Disc Golf Goals?

My goal for this year is to come back and play more tournaments.

For the following years, to build a camping car for touring in USA where I want to become one of the best players in the world. And also developing Disc golf around the world, we have big projects to come with my brother and my dad.

What advice would you give to any young aspiring players?

There are a lot of things to talk about.

I remember, at the beginning, I was playing almost everyday. I was practising before doing my homework! So first thing to do is move your ass, go in any park around your house and throw discs. You receive nothing without any effort.

Second thing is passion. Love what you do. Enjoy all the rounds, all the tournaments, all the people you’re playing with. I think disc-golf community is really chill, enjoy it, it’s not the same everywhere. You will struggle to improve if you don’t really like what you are doing.

Third point is self control. Emotions are your biggest enemy. Always be chill, never get mad. Everybody says it but who’s applying it? The winners. I recommend every young players to go on Youtube and check Jomez productions. Check Paul McBeth or any other player at the top. It’s a rare thing to see them get angry after a bad shot or after somebody moves behind the basket. It’s so easy to get mad at something or someone but it takes courage and discipline not to.

Last one is maybe harder to believe for some people. But believe you are already a great player, imagine you as a champion before any game and half of the battle is won. BELIEVE IN YOUR GAME. TRUST YOURSELF. I think applying those four points can make any player a great one.

You almost won it last year are you going to take the Quarry Park Open title in 2019?

I think there are great players who are going to play there but I trust my game a 100% this year so I hope to go back home with victory

Maxime taking on top European pros Simon Lizotte and Henrik Johanssen in the finals of the 2013 Dutch Open

Stage 2 registration is now open, sign up here