TaylorMade Golf signs standout German Maximilian Schmitt

TaylorMade Golf Company today announced that Maximilian Schmitt will begin his journey in professional golf as a staff athlete having signed a long-term, through-the-bag deal with the brand.

Schmitt, 19, was inspired to take up the sport as a youngster by his grandmother and joins the TaylorMade Tour Team following a fine amateur career in which he was a standout player in Junior Golf, representing Europe in the Junior Ryder Cup in 2014 and also being crowned European Junior Champion that year. He competed for Europe in the Jacques Leglise Trophy for the next two years, whilst also taking the individual honours in the 2016 European Boys Team Championships, winning the stroke play event.

He reached a career-high of 4th spot in the World Amateur rankings and will now step up to this season’s European Challenge Tour, having earned full-playing rights following three victories on the Pro Golf Tour last year, including the Tour Championship. He’s also already made his bow on the full European Tour, finishing T59 in the BMW International Open as an amateur in 2017.

‘I’m extremely proud and excited to be a TaylorMade athlete. The list of names on their Tour roster is incredible, and I feel privileged to be joining that stable of athletes. I’m looking forward to gaming the new product in 2018 and beyond,’ said Schmitt, who hails from Andernach outside Frankfurt.

Ahead of his first appearance on the European Challenge Tour this season, Schmitt spent time with TaylorMade Tour expert Mark Thistleton at the Performance Lab at Wentworth in Surrey, working specifically on the athlete’s metalwood configuration for the new season.

‘It’s exciting to work with the next generation of talented athletes such as Max, and it’s clear he has an excellent future ahead of him. In addition to P730 irons, we added the new M3 driver to his bag as well as two M3 fairway metals. His miss with the driver is typically low heel, but the TwistFace innovation has helped to minimise that and it also protects ball speed too,’ said Thistleton.

Schmitt begins his European Challenge Tour season at the Barclays Kenya Open on March 22.

What’s in the bag?

M3 460cc 8.5* set to 8*, Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 60 X

M3 17* set to 15.5*, Aldila Synergy 70 X

M3 19* Rescue set to 18.5*, Matrix HM3 85 X

P790 2 Iron, Matrix HM3 95 X

P730 4-9 Iron, KBS Tour X

MG Wedges 48 (46*), 50*, 54*, 60*, Dynamic Gold S300

Spider Tour Black putter