Writing from North Barrington, Illinois
Monday, August 10, 2026
Move over, Jack.
The Golden Bear might have designed the golf course at The Club at Wynstone, but his old course record of 6-under 66, set on opening day in 1989, is now a distant fourth statistically.
Jack Nicklaus’s mark fell in 2007, a member whose name can’t be deciphered on his scorecard posting a 65. That was matched Monday morning in the first round of the 77th Illinois Open by Timmy Crawford of Arlington Heights, who was finishing on the 18th green about the time Illinois sophomore Dujuan Snyman, South African-born and Australian-bred, put the finishing touch to his course-record 8-under 64 on the ninth green.
Snyman’s feat was eye-popping, but wait, there’s more. Snyman’s record lasted about 20 minutes, until 2024 champion Charlie Nikitas of Glenview crashed the party with a 9-under 63.
By the end of lunch hour, Nikitas’ achievement had been matched by Michael Davan of Zionsville, Ind., whose collegiate stint at Parkland College in Champaign qualifies him to play in the Illinois Open. By the end of the morning wave, the duo of Nikitas and Davan led a trio at 8-under, Crawford at 7-under and a quartet at 5-under.
The reason for the low scores: the weather. Extreme heat a few weeks ago just as Wynstone was holding its member-guest and pushing the agronomic envelope stressed the greens, and while they were coming back, 2.21 inches of rain over the weekend both softened the course and put the greens at risk again if they were sped up. So Illinois PGA and Wynstone officials agreed to a less pernicious setup than is usually the case for the Illinois Open.
The combination of easier pin positions, slower dartboard-like greens and the soaked layout triggering lift-clean-and-place options for the players brought forth the record scores and a wholesale assault on par. In the morning wave alone, 34 of 78 players were under the par of 72 and another 10 were at par.
“You just have to hit it in the fairway, especially with the rough up, the greens soft and the ball in your hand,” said Nikitas. “Just a solid round. I was comfortable. I’m sleeping in my own bed. Both my parents were out here, my coach, my cousins, even my grandma.”
Nikitas has three top 10s on the PGA Tour Americas circuit, pro golf’s version of single A baseball, and has seven scores of 63, 64 or 65 on it this season. The trick is to having multiple solid rounds the same week. That’s happening. In his most recent outing, he had a pair of 65s in the Osprey Valley Open, and managed a pair of 64s a fortnight ago.
“It’s getting comfortable,” Nikitas reiterated. “I birdied the first three holes today. In the past, maybe I would have gripped it a little tighter, but maybe I’m getting used to doing it a little more often."
While Nikitas, 27, chases his professional dream, Davan, having given that a go, is grounded in club work, teaching at Plum Creek Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. A month ago, his bid for the Indiana Open title came up short in a sudden-death playoff at Brickyard Crossing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his second straight runner-up placing in the Hoosier state’s championship.
“I got some putts to fall early and rode that wave,” Davan said after his 10-birdie, 1-bogey round, the best of the former a 50-foot birdie putt on No. 15. “Ball in hand makes it a little easier, but I can see where this golf course could show its teeth if it was firm and fast.”
No club-based professional has won the Illinois Open since 1988, when Todd Tremaglio, an assistant at Chicago Golf Club, outlasted D.A. Points in a playoff.
“We’ve still got a lot of golf left, but it’s good to get off to that start you always dream of,” Davan said.
Snyman, who authored a 65 on Olympia Fields’ U.S. Open-tough North Course last fall, was feeling pretty good about his 64, especially his near-ace on the par-3 14th.
“I don’t know how it didn’t go in,” Snyman said of his deuce on the 132-yard hole, negotiated with a gap wedge. “Landed just past the flag and spun back.” It moved him to 4-under through five holes.
“The greens were soft but balls weren’t spinning off the greens,” Snyman said. “I don’t think I have a course record anywhere, so this is a first for me.”
Or it was until Nikitas and Davan barged in. At the least, Snyman is within striking distance with 36 holes left, and eight strokes ahead of his coach, Mike Small, who went around in even par 72.
Perennial contender Luke Gannon of downstate Monticello – 6-under on par 5s thanks to a pair of eagles – and Morton native Tommy Kuhl also crafted 64s, while Crawford scattered eight birdies across his card, blighted by only one bogey.
“You’ll definitely have to keep making birdies,” Crawford said. “There’s not much wind in the forecast.”
Around Wynstone
The field averaged 74.09, or 2.09 strokes over par, on the 7,020-yard test. All four par-5s were among the six holes playing under par. … Nikitas co-leads the field and paces the dozen former champions on hand, with Tim “Tee-K” Kelly, David Perkins and Curtis Malm grouped at 5-under 67, among those tied for seventh. … Wynstone head professional Joe Strahl managed one birdie but had an untidy 97, 25 over for his home course, including two triple-bogey and two quads, and was last in the field of 156.
– Tim Cronin