File photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Cathedral’s Ethan Kirchberg tees off at the Section 2A meet. Kirchberg will participate in the boys’ golf Class A state meet.

NEW ULM — New Ulm just missed out on going to the Class AA boys’ golf meet as a team this year, but Glavine Schugel and Aiden Guggisberg are headed back to state for the Eagles. And both figure to have a shot of doing well.

Schugel, a sophomore, tied for 18th as a freshman last year, shooting a two-day score of 150. Guggisberg, a freshman, finished tied for 78th a year ago with a score of 173.

Guggisberg tees off at 1:12 p.m. on Tuesday at Ridges of Sand Creek in Jordan on Hole No. 1. Schugel will tee off at 1:30 p.m. on Hole 1.

“Both guys have improved a lot in different ways this year,” head coach Dan Janke said. “Glavine has improved in every part of his physical game which has helped him this year when consistency has been tough. When he struggled with one part of his game in a round other parts are very strong to keep him at the top of the field. Glavine has always been strong in the mental part of the game and is improving with maturity. That is where Aiden improved the most this year. Confidence, strategy and focus were the main points that Aiden worked on to help him be successful at the end of the season.”

The Eagles finished second at the section meet this year, which was a bit of a disappointment. But there’s plenty of youth on the team and a lot of talent coming up in the program.

“It’s always a disappointment to fall short of our ultimate goal but there were a lot of positives with our performance at sections,” Janke said. “We had our average day on Day 1 which was good enough for second place ahead of a lot of very good teams. Day 2 everybody improved and we shot our best round of the season. Ending the season with your best performance is what every coach hopes for.”

As for Tuesday and Wednesday, both Schugel and Guggisberg have the experience now to know what to expect.

“Both guys have the ability to do very well this week at state,” Janke said. “Glavine’s game is strong in every category and to finish at the top of the field he will put it all together. We played at Ridges earlier this year and most holes he struggled with one element of his game. His metal toughness and other parts of his game were so strong he ended with just three bogies for a 75. The key for Aiden will be consistancy and confidence. When he is hitting good shots and stays in a groove he can play with to top players in the state.”

Class A

Once again, the Sleepy Eye United boys’ golf team is representing Section 2A. And once again, Ben Laffen should be a state title contender.

The SEU boys finished third last year, led by Laffen and Caleb Christensen. Christensen graduated, but the team has plenty of talent back and it is looking for another run.

Laffen finished fourth last year with a 155. His top competition this year may be Mounds Park Academy senior Matt Berning, who finished second overall last year.

Laffen will tee off at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday on the white tees at Pebble Creek in Becker. Teammates Logan Netzke (12:36 p.m.), Andrew Neid (12:27 p.m.), Toby Weiss (12:18 p.m.), Thor Weiss (12:09 p.m.) and Parker Landkammer (12 p.m.) will tee off before him.

Another competitor who could make a run is Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Sam Pfingsten. Pfingsten won the Section 2A individual title one year after finishing tied for 43rd with a 175. He said he worked on his game a lot in the offseason and he also worked on his mental game, which helped him to win the individual title. Pfingsten will tee off at 1:30 p.m. from the white tees.

Springfield’s Mason Kretsch will tee off at 1:21 p.m. from the white tees and New Ulm Cathedral’s Ethan Kirchberg tees off at 1:12 p.m. from the white tees. Wabasso’s Jacob Iverson makes his tournament debut at 12:54 p.m. from the red tees.