Ohr hoping to strike gold at Kemper Lakes

Writing from Kildeer, Illinois

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

A sorta-kinda PGA Tour hopeful, a full-blown Tour hopeful and a crafty club professional.

That’s your top three players for the final round of the 76th Illinois Open at Kemper Lakes Golf Club.

The protagonists, in order on the leader board:

Brian Ohr, 26, of Northbrook, who is teaching as much as he’s playing these days after a run at the Tour. He’s at 4-under 140 after adding a 3-under 69 Tuesday to his opening 71, the only player to score two under-par rounds at Kemper Lakes, a.k.a. the big course of horrors.

Timmy Crawford, 24, of Arlington Heights, chasing the dream of a Tour card sooner rather than later and sitting at even-par 144 after Tuesday’s 69.

Travis Johns, 47, lead teaching professional at Medinah Country Club, the big West Side club whose remodeled No. 3 course can be as tough or tougher than Kemper Lakes, depending on tee and cup positions and the disposition of those setting it up. Johns, the overnight leader, is also even par after adding a 4-under 76 to his opening 4-under 68.

Crawford and Johns, while four strokes in arrears, are the closest competitors to Ohr, who this days splits his time between teaching at Louis Sauer’s Next Level Golf in Northbook, and playing on the developmental APGA Tour.

Illinois coach Mike Small and Andy Svoboda of Oak Brook, head pro at Butler National, are tied for fourth at 1-over 145. The trio tied for sixth at 2-over 146 consists of Dylan Meyer, Michael Feagles and Bobby Beaubien.

“I just played steady, conservative golf,” Ohr said of Tuesday’s circuit. “I can’t try to beat the golf course. Just go with the flow and take the opportunities as they come. I’m grateful to be in this position.

“I’ve played out here a lot. One of my close friends is Jim Billiter, who was the head pro here. I think I’m comfortable at this golf course.”

But, Ohr said, Kemper Lakes in tournament condition is a different animal.

“It’s a lot easier usually, and still very difficult,” Ohr said.

“Brian is a class act and a really good player,” said Johns, in his threesome Monday and Tuesday. “Hits a nice little fade. I really like his game.”

Johns is chasing not only an Illinois Open win, but a career state grand slam. He’s won each of the other three tournaments open to professionals, the Illinois PGA, the Illinois Match Play, and the Illinois Players. And he’s thought of it.

“The funny thing is I leave the hardest one, with all the Tour players that come back – I guess if I win it against the Tour players, then I’ve earned it,” said Johns, who won a Match Play crown at Kemper Lakes.

Johns would also be the first Illinois Section club professional to win since Todd Tremaglio beat then-amateur D.A. Points in a playoff in 1998. Mike Small is a section member, but a coach and thus in a different classification than Johns and Tremaglio.

“I didn’t know what to expect not playing very much coming into it,” Johns said.

Johns suffered a quartet of three-putts on his outward nine, Kemper’s back nine, including a double-bogey 6 at the treacherous 18th prompted by a bad swing. He rallied and played the front nine in 2-under, including a trio of birdies, play more in keeping with his opening round.

“It was weird,” Johns said. “I hadn’t played that much golf. Normally you can get slowed down in you mind, but here I had 16-17-18 to play.”

But he survived and is as much in contention as anyone.

Crawford was 1-under for the day through 11 holes and missed the fairway on the right with his tee shot on the par-4 12th, but holed out for an eagle with an 8-iron and coasted home from there.

“A lot of ups and downs,” Crawford said of his pro experience so far. “It’s difficult. You have to play well.”

Crawford finished fifth in a Korn Ferry tournament last year after Monday qualifying, earning about $32,000, but hasn’t had a similar success since. Winning Wednesday would at least pay for each stage of Tour qualifying this fall and leave some money left over.

“I gained a lot of experience seeing where my game was,” Crawford. “I didn’t play great the rest of the year but I learned a lot.”

Around Kemper Lakes

The cut fell at 11-over-par 155 and included 52 players. The 13 amateurs advancing include Illinois Amateur champion Jordan Less. … Set up at 7,100 yards, Kemper Lakes was marginally easier in the second round, averaging 78.63 strokes. … Credit for perseverance goes to Joey Gavac of Chicago, who rebounded from his opening 102 with a second-round 93, a score that would have been much better but for his septuple-bogey 12 on the par-5 11th and the quintuple-bogey 10 on the par-5 15th.

– Tim Cronin

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

Summy trounces Fang in Western Am final

Writing from Glencoe, Illinois

Saturday, August 2, 2025

Jase Summy and Ethan Fang grew up about 40 miles from each other in Texas, Summy in Keller, Fang in Plano. They’ve been playing golf against each other since they were 10 and 11, Summy the elder by a few months. Good health and good golf swings willing, they’ll be playing each other for another 40 years, until one or the other tires of the senior tour.

Saturday afternoon, Summy went 1-up on Fang in significant championships. Summy scored a 6 and 5 victory over Fang in the 123rd championship match of the Western Amateur. That secures bragging rights until they meet again – perhaps in a fortnight in the United States Amateur, perhaps in the professional ranks in a couple of years.

Fang entered the higher-ranked player in the world rankings – No. 3 to Summy’s No. 9 – and had an easier time of it in his morning semifinal, but that meant nothing once Summy dropped a 12-footer for birdie on the par-3 second and two-putted for birdie from 50 feet on the par-5 third.

Summy was 2 up and was on his way. Fang closed the gap with a birdie on No. 7, but when Summy won Nos. 8, 9 and 10 with a pair of pars and a birdie, it was just a matter of time.

The par-5 13th is where time ran out. Fang rinsed his approach to the green, and once he failed to hole a desperation par putt, his hat was off and hand was extended. Golf’s version of Bedlam – Summy represents Oklahoma, Fang Oklahoma State – was over in three quarters. Summy is the first Sooner to win the Western Amateur since Charlie Coe in 1950.

“It was a tough week,” said Summy, who played 67 match play holes in two days after 72 stroke-play holes in qualifying. “I felt I did a good job preparing mentally and physically. It was cool playing against Ethan. We’ve been playing together and against each other for a long time. It was still really competitive, but at the end of the day, we’re still friends.”

The margin matched the largest in a final since the 18-hole format was adopted in 1961. John Klauk defeated Adam Robinson by a similar 6 and 5 margin at Point O Woods in 2002. It was also 16 holes shorter than last year’s 29-hole marathon in which Ian Gilligan outparred Jack Turner.

Summy, 4-under in 13 holes to Fang’s 4-over, including the usual concessions,  considered the 50 or so minutes between the dramatic end of his semifinal over Zackary Swanwick and the 90-odd minutes Fang rested after romping over Jacob Modleski a bit of an advantage.

“I knew I was swinging it good and felt confident,” Summy said. “I started to have some good pace on the greens. I knew where I was with my game.”

He made the final after trailing Swanwick 1 down on the 18th tee, and then saw his tee shot, and Swanwick’s, find fairway bunkers to the right. But Summy was next to the green with his second shot, and while he needed three more to get in the hole, Swanwick made a dog’s breakfast of it, taking 6 and double-bogeying his way to the 19th hole.

“I was just trying to make a good four, and ended up making bogey and it was enough to win,” Summy said of the 18th. “I hit it in that bunker two or three times in stroke play. I don’t like that bunker and it doesn’t like me.”

On the 19th, Swanwick three-putted from above the hole and was down the highway. Summy, who hadn’t led all morning, put his approach below the hole, two-putted, and was into the final.

Now, he not only has the George Thorne trophy in his clutches, but might have a berth on the Walker Cup team as well. Knocking off the world No. 3 can’t hurt him.

“I’d like to think I’m in a pretty good spot,” Summy said. “Nothing’s final, so I need to have another good week at the U.S. Am to further justify my case to be on the team.”

He’s a logical pick at this point, and he’d join the already-selected Fang in the team showcase.

“The ball-tracking was good,” Fang said of his morning adventure with Modleski, a 5 and 3 cartoon. “The afternoon match, I played pretty good on the front nine, but a couple things got loose.”

Fang didn’t miss a fairway until the 10th hole, but he’d lost the previous two to Summy, the eighth by failing to save par on No. 8, then by making a hash of the par-3 ninth.

“I tried forcing things when I was 2- or 3-down and they didn’t go my way. It’s all good,” Fang said. “I’ve got 20 or 30 years more of golf left in me. I’ll take the positives from the week and keep doing my thing.”

Around Skokie

Both players hit eight of nine fairways, with Summy hitting 11 of 13 greens and Fang nine greens. … Fang’s next stops are the U.S. Amateur and the Walker Cup. “One of things you want to do is represent Team USA as a college golfer, and at Cypress Point, too, which doesn’t suck,” Fang said. “I’m excited for both, but the Walker Cup is going to be special.” … Skokie superintendent Don Cross is to be commended for setting up a golf course both challenging and beautiful. Walking about was like walking in an oil painting. … Next year’s Western Amateur is at Beverly on the border of Chicago and Evergreen Park, while the 2027 edition, the 125th, is at Knollwood Club.

– Tim Cronin

It’s Bedlam: Fang, Summy advance to Western Am final

Writing from Glencoe, Illinois

Saturday, August 2, 2025

The No. 3 and No. 9 players in world amateur golf will play for the championship of the 123rd Western Amateur.

On the first tee at Skokie Country Club at 1:20 p.m.: Ethan Fang of Plano, Tex., and Oklahoma State (he’s No. 3), and Jase Summy of Keller, Tex., and Oklahoma (he’s No. 9).

In other words, golf’s version of Bedlam.

Fang summarily dispatched Jacob Modelski of Notre Dame and Noblesville, Ind., 5 and 3 with a performance featuring six birdies in 15 holes. Fang won the par-3 second with a par and was never headed against the No. 18 amateur in the world rankings.

Swanwick, ranked No. 93, had more trouble with Jase Summy, a senior at Oklahoma from Keller, Tex.,   Summy was 2 down at the turn and won the 13th and 15th holes with birdies, losing the 14th to Swanwick’s birdie, to narrow the gap to one hole down the stretch. But Summy took advantage of Swanwick’s botched 18th hole – deep rough off the tee, a second to the fairway, a third spinning off the green, then two putts once on it, to win the last with a bogey to Swanwick’s double. That forced an extra hole, which Summy won with a par thanks to Swanwick three-putting from above the hole on the maddeningly-sloped first green.

– Tim Cronin

Fang rolls into Western Am semis

Writing from Glencoe, Illinois

Friday, August 1, 2025

It’s good to be Ethan Fang these days. Even when something goes wrong, everything comes out all right.

Take the par-5 13th hole at Skokie Country Club, which at 602 yards is harder than a tax audit. Fang hammered his drive down the left side of the fairway, as did opponent Benjamin James. Each had about 300 yards with the wind unhelpful. Fang, 3 up in the match and hitting first, reached for his driver, swung and hooked his shot into gnarly fescue to the left. The ball could not be found during or after the allotted three minutes, and Fang conceded the hole.

“That was definitely a bold play,” Fang said. “I just tied to get it up there as far as I could.”

It was also a strategically smart play. Had Fang reached the green in two – James did not with his second – an eagle 3 would have moved him 4 up with five holes to play. Instead, he still had a 2 up advantage.

Fang won the match 3 and 1 when James’ biggest gamble of the match – hitting his second to the par-4 17th from the left rough through a copse of trees and over a neighbor’s back yard – didn’t come off. It crashed into a tree, caromed left and nearly ended up in a wishing well.

That errant shot and subsequent handshake moved Fang into Saturday’s first semifinal match. The Oklahoma State junior plays Notre Dame junior Jacob Modleski of Noblesville, Ind., ranked 18th in the world, at 8 a.m. Zackary Swanwick of New Zealand, a Florida sophomore, and Jase Summy of Keller, Tex., and Oklahoma, will follow at 8:12 a.m., with the winners meeting in the 123rd Western Amateur championship match Saturday afternoon.

“I’m pretty excited,” Fang said. “Today was staying patient and hitting greens. I was hitting it good so kind of let him make the mistakes, let him try to chase me.”

Fang is chasing a unique double. Nobody has won the Western Am and the British Amateur in the same year. Only Charlie Yates, Frank Stranahan and Steve Melnyk have won both championships in a career.

“That’s good company,” Fang said.

He’d make a nice fourth, but nothing can be assumed in match play. Swanwick’s 1 up quarterfinal victory over Scotland’s Cameron Adam was accomplished by winning there holes, two with bogeys, including the last, a 5 to Adam’s double-bogey 6. Both where bunkered close to the lip off the tee on the 18th.

“Words I can’t say,” Swanwick said of his thoughts then. He hammered a wedge to the fairway, knocked his third to the front of the green and two-putted for the win. “I’ve won holes with eights and nines before, so bogey isn’t bad.”

Swanwick, 93rd in the world rankings compared to Summy’s No. 9 position, is trying to become the second Florida Gator in succession to win the title. Ian Gilligan did so last year in a title match that went 11 extra holes.

And if it comes to Swanwick and Fang in the final?

“You just do your own thing, swing your own swing,” Swanwick said. “Do what the 19 years of work’s been all about.”

– Tim Cronin