It's hard to put Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Tommy Kuhl's friendship into words. The pair will even admit that themselves.

But, what started as long-distance communication over social media has morphed into a relationship that has become more than a friendship, and instead, something much closer to a brotherhood.

"There's not a lot of beating around the bush with our relationship. We're pretty honest with each other, and I think he'll say the same," Kuhl said. "I don't think I'd be as good as I am right now without him. He's obviously an All-American, top-10 player in the world, and he pushes me to be better. I don't think we like losing to each other. Sometimes that's hard as best friends, but I think we've both accepted it, and that's what makes it fun."

Dumont de Chassart and Kuhl first connected during their senior years of high school after they both committed to Illinois and were set to compete at the Sage Valley Junior Invitational, one of the most prestigious junior golf tournaments in the world. With Dumont de Chassart commuting to the event from Belgium and Kuhl making the trip from Morton, Illinois, the pair asked to room together, and the rest is history. 

Drawn to Kuhl's warm and welcoming presence, Dumont de Chassart, who regularly competed in the United States during the winters leading up to his commitment to Illinois, says the connection was instant despite their different backgrounds. 

"He's just a very nice guy," Dumont de Chassart said. "He has a big network. He knows a lot of people, and people really appreciate him, so it was very easy for me to make him a friend. He was very welcoming, and he was excited to play at Illinois and to play with me."

Kuhl could tell Dumont de Chassart was incredibly serious, disciplined, and focused, which earned his immediate respect and admiration. 

"I could tell the first time I met him that he was very serious, and he was obviously a heck of a player," Kuhl said. "You see him nowadays and how he carries himself, and there's a reason why he's good. He's a stud, and he carries himself in a very positive way."

Staying relatively in touch while also dealing with the significant time change between their two native countries, the pair also roomed together as freshmen in 2018-19, a year during which both players adjusted to college golf, a new environment, and – for Dumont de Chassart – a new language. After leaning on each other throughout that first campaign, the subsequent season came with a new set of challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Dumont de Chassart unable to make the trip back home, he turned to his roommate, and the Kuhl family opened up their home as the world shut down.

"His parents are basically like my same parents," Dumont de Chassart said. "I stayed with them for two months, and they've always been very nice to me. They've been helping my parents and myself try to adjust and adapt to living here in the U.S."

Their friendship has also brought out their competitive sides. They don't like losing to each other, and they aren't afraid to admit it. As roommates for the last five years, that has often made things awkward at home, and they occasionally have disagreements that leave the golf course and result in a lack of communication for hours and sometimes even days.

They have found ways to combat their competitive personalities, though, using it as a way to improve as individuals and as a team.

"There have been some times where he'll beat me or I'll beat him," Kuhl said. "I drive him around everywhere because he doesn't have a car, so sometimes it's a little awkward and we don't talk for a while. At the end of the day, we laugh about it and have fun. That's just our competitive side. We want to beat each other, but at the end of the day, we're brothers, we're best friends, and it only pushes us to be better."

Dumont de Chassart echoed the sentiment, saying he uses the competition to push his longtime teammate and roommate – and himself – to be better.

"You're as good as your last day," Dumont de Chassart said. "Let's say he beat me yesterday, and I beat him today, I guess we're kind of even. I think you just have to adapt, and at the end of the day, the goal is to win nationals. If I'm pushing him to be better, and he's pushing me to be better, that's great for the team. I think it's good that we're all very competitive within the team, and that just increases our chances to do well at the end of the season."

Now in their fifth seasons, Dumont de Chassart and Kuhl are playing the best golf of their respective careers, and they both aspire to play professionally after the conclusion of the 2023 postseason. The duo went several weeks into the season with an identical stroke average, and both players rank among the best golfers in the country; Golfstat ranks Dumont de Chassart as the fourth-best golfer and Kuhl the sixth-best golfer in the nation.

Both Illini fifth-year seniors earned All-Big Ten First-Team honors in each of the past two seasons, and they were both named to the Ben Hogan Award watch list, an award annually given to the best college golfer based on performances at the collegiate, amateur, and professional levels. The pair was also included on the Fred Haskins Award watch list in the fall, an accolade awarded to the men's college golfer of the year.

Ever since recruiting Dumont de Chassart and Kuhl, head coach Mike Small could tell they would make an impact and go on to have successful college careers as soon as they committed and ultimately stepped onto campus.

"They've both been all in since the time they arrived, and that's a big deal," Small said. "I can say that not all kids, especially in a lot of programs around the country, are all in. Those two are all in on Illinois golf, all in on themselves, all in on the team. They want to be good, so to have that mindset, that personality, that work ethic, that discipline, and conviction to the program has made it seamless for those guys."

As the Illini look to advance through the NCAA Regioonoals and return to the NCAA Championship after missing out last season, Dumont de Chassart and Kuhl will continue to be key pieces to the team's success in their final collegiate postseason. Kuhl, who dreamt of representing the Orange and Blue ever since middle school, wants to bring home the program's first-ever national title to round out an accolade-filled college career.

"I really want to win a national championship," Kuhl said. "I want that legacy to be marked on this program, and I think everyone will say the same. I also want to leave as someone who came in, not really a top junior recruit in the country, and worked my tail off to get to this point. I just want to show people that that's what this program is about. You can come in not as a high recruit, work hard, get better, and then see results. That's how I want to leave here."

Dumont de Chassart, the three-time reigning Big Ten Golfer of the Year and back-to-back Big Ten Les Bolstad Award winner ffor the leagues low stroke average, has his eyes locked on national glory to round out an otherwise nearly blemish-free college career. After not knowing much about the Big Ten and conference and national awards when he first arrived on campus, Dumont de Chassart will leave Illinois as one of the most accomplished golfers in program history.

Having now won every Big Ten Championship in which they ever competed, Dumont de Chassart and Kuhl will look to guide the Illini back to the NCAA Championship when the team competes at the NCAA Bath Regional as the top-seeded program from May 15-17 at Eagle Eye Golf Club in Bath, Michigan.

"It's my last year, so obviously Tommy and I want to do something great for the program," Dumont de Chassart said. "We don't have any more chances. We've never won a national championship yet, so that's something that would be very cool for Tommy and me to do, especially in our last year. It adds a little pressure, but I think we're more mature now and we're better players than we were a couple years ago."