With the past five tournament champions and 15 of the 16 championship flight qualifiers from 2025 in the field come Friday, the 78th edition of the Idylwylde Invitational promises to be a good one.

Hamilton native Jimmy duDomaine returns to defend the title he captured last July, one year after making his debut at the event by carding the low score on Friday with a round 70 in 2024.

Joining duDomaine in the afternoon tee-offs on day one this year are Johnny Savlina (2024 champion), Joey Kremer (2023), Vince Palladino (2022) and Don Martone (2021), as well as 2024 & 2025 finalist Ryan Neil from North Bay.

In terms of championship flight play (top 16 in the field of 192 golfers), Joey Kremer and Ryan Bastien are carrying five-year streaks into the make or break round this year.

As usual, tournament entries include some veterans of the scene who have enjoyed success in the past and certainly have the game to be there on Sunday (Kyle Rank, Mike Roberts, Mark Disano, Jacob Lacko) as well as the young guys looking to crack through for the very first time (Aiden Deng, Vincent Palladino, Ayrton Longe, Ryan Di Salle and others).

Of the 2025 championship flight, only Lively native Kurt Kowaluk was unable to return, as golfers prepare for the wildness that comes with the Friday night playoff, a drama that has unfolded in every tournament since 2010.

With the final foursome teeing off just before 2:00 p.m., it's likely that playoff action will start around 7:30 p.m. - one year ago, seven golfers were vying for five spots, with the cutoff decided after just one hole.