Johns chases Illinois Open title

Writing from Kildeer, Illinois

Monday, August 4, 2025

It’s not every day that an Illinois PGA member, a fellow who attends to the needs of his members more than his own golf game, wins the Illinois Open. Aside from Illinois coach Mike Small, who needs to only tend to his Division I players and has won the state championship on four occasions, it hasn’t happened since Todd Tremaglio, then an assistant at Chicago Golf Club, beat D.A. Points in a playoff at Orchard Valley in 1998.

That’s nearly a generation ago. And until ace teacher Travis Johns, who hangs his shingle at Medinah Country Club, posted a sparkling 4-under-par 68 at Kemper Lakes Golf Club in the opening round of the 76th edition on Monday morning, no club pro had led after 18 holes since Dakun Chang and Andy Mickelson shared the point after a lap of the 2018 scrap at The Glen Club.

Johns, who says he’s barely played any golf in recent weeks, is atop the table thanks to a round punctuated by an eagle 3 on the par-5 11th, a risk-reward hole with a pond fronting the green that often cows players into laying up with their downhill second. Not Johns, who might not be as long as he once was off the tee, but is still long enough.

He hammered his second shot to the back of the green, then rolled in the longish putt to advance to 2-under. He added birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 to arrive at 4-under, just as a light wind came up, and stayed there.

“My expectations were pretty low for today,” Johns said. “When the wind picks up a little bit, it suits my game. It was nice to get out there and concentrate on golf a little bit.”

That moved him ahead of early finisher Varun Chopra, a 24-year-old vagabond who went to both Illinois and Northwestern along the way, and whose 3-under 69 was the day’s next-best round. Chopra, who has traveled the world from the Colorado Open to the Asian Development Tour to Morocco to hone his game with a view toward PGA Tour qualifying, opened with a bogey on No. 10, then birdied four of his next five holes to move to the front. Birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 got him to 5-under before a double-bogey on the par-4 fifth trimmed his sails.

“I just told myself to stay patient,” Chopra said. “I laid up on 11 because I was in a 50-50 spot to go for it. A bogey (on the opening hole) can happen to anyone. It was a good day.”

Chopra sung Kemper Lakes’ praises, calling it “a good golf course that doesn’t get as much hype as it should. It’s phenomenal.”

Dylan Meyer of Evansville, Ind., and amateur Chadd Slutzky of Deer Park are tied for third at 2-under 70. Brian Ohr of Northbrook and Illini’s coach Mike Small, who mentored Meyer in Champaign, are tied for fifth at 1-under 71. Among the six some tied for seventh at even par 72 are Andy Svoboda of Oak Brook and amateur Grant Roscich of Glen Ellyn.

Around Kemper Lakes

Gary Hallberg hoped to make a good showing in his first Illinois Open in decades, but the 67-year-old Illinois Golf Hall of Famer, recently returned to his native from Colorado, opened with an untidy 11-over 83, the only birdie a 4 on the par-5 11th. Hallberg won the championship at Elgin Country Club in 1977 as an amateur, the first amateur to do so, and tied for sixth at Elgin the following year. … The 7,496-yard length was a large contributor to the average score of 80.28, regardless of the use of lift, clean and place in fairways to combat thin grass in some areas. Some shorter tees will be used the last two days to allow for more pernicious pin placements. … Kemper Lakes was a beast to some. High score of the day was a 30-over 102 authored by Village Links of Glen Ellyn assistant Joey Gavac. It included an 11 on the par-5 seventh. There was also an 11 on the par-4 18th, which contributed to the 96 posted by Brian Kirhofer of Aurora. John Platt also scored 96, with a 10 on the par-5 fifth. … Amateur Joe Cermak of Mount Prospect pulled the pin after a triple-bogey 7 on the 10th hole, which moved him to 11-over. In comparison, Northfield’s Joe Zawaski, 7-over through nine, slammed his tee shot into the water off the 10th tee and walked off. Joe Benson (87) and amateur Philip Arouca (89) also withdrew. … When the Illinois PGA last played their section championship at Kemper Lakes in 2002, the course was set up at a maximum of 6,819 yards.

– Tim Cronin