Coming Sunday (weather permitting): new champion at UI Open
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Jun. 19—SAVOY — What we know about the UI Open, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at the University of Illinois Orange Course:
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* A three-peat won't happen. Two-time reigning champion Lyle Burns is not playing.
"He's had something come up, and he's not in," said Mike Wallner, the longtime general manager at the UI Orange and Blue Courses, who has run the tournament since 1995.
In 2025, Burns followed his UI Open victory by taking the Twin City Tournament, too.
* With Burns out, former winner David Keenan jumps into the favorite spot in the main draw. He has won the tournament three times. Also entered: five-time winner Tim Hoss, Jr.
The tournament approaches its 72nd edition, held every year except for 2020 (canceled courtesy of COVID-19).
But Wallner actually credits the pandemic for the revitalization of golf both locally and nationwide.
"COVID did a lot of bad, but it did a lot of good for the golf game," Wallner said. "We're busy all the time now. Back then before COVID, golf was struggling."
Not anymore.
This weekend, for instance, the course at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is packed with spectators for the U.S. Open.
And there is another strong field for the UI Open, with 85 signed up to play at what Steve Kelly lovingly calls "Savoy National."
This year's entry list is one more than the number who played in 2025.
"There's a lot of good players in this area," Wallner said.
The field this weekend does include four-time champion Joe Thompson of Urbana, who warmed up by playing in a father-son event on Thursday at Lake of the Woods Golf Course in Mahomet.
A warning to everyone in the UI Open: Thompson drained a 35-footer Thursday and is feeling pretty good about his game.
Thompson has played in every UI Open since 1970, with the only interruption in the streak the COVID year. That doesn't count as a missed event because nobody played.
Rain, rain, stay away
Most of the previous 71 tournaments have completed 36 holes. But not all of them.
"We've had some 18-hole tournaments," Wallner said.
The weather forecast looks ideal for Saturday, with temperatures in the low 80s and limited chance for rain.
But Sunday could be a problem, with a 70 percent chance of rain and possible thunderstorms.
"I'm looking at it," Wallner said. "I'm trying to figure whatever we can do. We'll get by Saturday, and then we'll figure it out."
"We're not like the PGA Tour," Thompson added, "and come back on Monday."
Great timing
For 55 years, the UI Open has been held the third weekend of June. That matched it up perfectly with the U.S. Open and Father's Day weekend.
Of course, the scores will likely be better at the UI Open than in the national championship, where golfers struggle to break par. The leaders in the clubhouse late in the first round on Thursday were at 2-under.
At the UI Open, the idea is to have a fair setup.
"We're not going to toughen it up," Wallner said. "We've got seniors. We've got ladies. We've got super seniors. We've got men. We're trying to get through at a quicker pace."
Super seniors are anyone age 65 and above. Thompson, who meets the criteria, still plays in the main men's event.
"Traditionally, we would finish the round and everybody would hang around the clubhouse (to watch the U.S. Open)," Thompson said.