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Scott Paa leads Championship Flight after first day Invitational

Staff photo by Jeremy Behnke Mathias Eichten chips toward the pin on Hole 18 on Saturday at the New Ulm Invitational on Saturday at the New Ulm Country Club.

NEW ULM — Playing on his home course, New Ulm’s Scott Paa got off to a good start at the 59th annual New Ulm Invitational on Saturday.

Now Paa will try to distance himself from several competitors who are within striking distance on Day 2, which begins Sunday morning at the New Ulm Contry Club.

Paa, a New Ulm High School graduate, shot a 72 on the first day in the Championship Flight, three strokes better than Brian Reagan and Shane Kriveda who both finished with a 75. Brent Mathiowetz and Colin Huffman both sit in fourth place with a 76 and Ethan Kraus shot a 77 along with Ben Laffen.

“I hit it pretty good, when I made a mistake I was able to get it back to a spot where I could limit it,” Paa said. “There was a couple of pars that I shouldn’t have made that I made to save some scores. It was just kind of a good pace on the round I took it in stride.”

Last year’s first day was washed away due to rain. The temps on Saturday were nearly perfect.

“Weather was perfect, the wind was a good wind to play in, you were getting help on a lot of holes,” Paa said. “The weather couldn’t have been better and the greens were in good shape, the course is in great shape.”

With plenty of good competition chasing him, Paa said he has to keep it together for another 27 holes on Sunday.

“I could play good tomorrow and guys could pass me up, it’s just how it is,” Paa said. “I just gotta worry about my own ball and just keep worrying about what I’m doing. If I shoot a score and a guy beats me, that’s what happens. If you play good, you make them have to play good, too.”

While Paa has a nice early lead in the Championship Flight, the same can be said about Jim Hennig in the First Flight. Hennig shot a 77 on Day 1, two strokes better than second-place Darin Bunkers with a 79. Dan Janke is in third place heading into Day 2 action with an 81.

There is a three-way tie in the Second Flight. Pete Guggisberg, Jake Holm and Randy Kirchberg all sit atop the leaderboard with an 82 heading into Sunday’s action.

Dan Reinhart has a five-stroke lead in the Third Flight with a first-day score of 79. Eric Hensler is currently in second place with an 84 and Peter Kliber has a first-day score of 87.

Eric Schmidt and Dave Black are tied for the lead in the Fourth Flight with a 70 and Ryan Galvin shot a 71.

Jerry Boddy and Jim Hannegan lead the Senior A Flight with a score of 73, ahead of Joe Horan. Don Olson leads the Senior B Flight with a Day 1 score of 66.

The final round begins at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and the Championship Final Nine is set to start at approximately 4 p.m.

Championship Flight

D. Whitely 93, S. Wyczawski 79, K. Atnip 84, R. Herzog 83, C. Jensen 79, S. Kvidera 75, S. Paa 72, N. Rockvam 93, T. Wirtz 78, J. Anderson 79, A. Guggisberg 83, C. Huffman 76, E. Kraus 77, B. Mathiowetz 76, B. Reagan 75, T. Anderson 79, M. Funmaker 83, T. Hirth 84, J. Kautt, B. Laffen 77, B. Prodahl 86, T. Rockvam 82, N. Weisenberger 81

First Flight

D. Anderson 84, A. Downs 86, D. Janke 81, N. Reagan 83, T. Steinbach 86, D. Bunkers 79, D. Ganske 90, R. Paa 82, J. Reagan 91, D. Vandien 90, J. Cohen 84, J. Hennig 77, A. Pettit 83, R. Schmitz 97

Second Flight

P. Anderson 96, R. Geistfeld 85, G. Kjellberg 88, C. Murphy 83, J. Wyczawski 109, M. Eichten 95, P. Guggisberg 82, T. Klibert 98, P. Reagan 90, J. Ahlness 89, C. Gardner 92, J. Holm 82, J. Lindemann 90, C. Spelbrink 90, R. Kirchberg 82

Third Flight

B. Cherney 101, E. Hensler 84, P. Kliber 87, D. Reinhart 79, B. Skillings 95, J. Wesselmann 98, C. Erickson 91, J. Hoffmann 93, J. Lofgren 90, A. Sanders 91, C. Temp 97, B. Wright 97, A. Fromm 91, D. Kartio 98, B. Messer 94, M. Schuetzle 90

Fourth Flight

D. Black 70, M. Furth 74, R. Kamm 74, E. Schmidt 70, A. Watson 81, Jay Engeswick 78, R. Galvin 71, R. Kelm 89, Joey Engeswick 74, T. Hudson 79, A. Long 84, T. Thorson 76

Senior A Flight

J. Boddy 73, J. Hannegan 73, N. Krebsbach 82, J. Raths 78, M. Doyle 76, E. Hayes 75, P. McCall 81, R. Sagedal 87, C. Gerber 80, J. Horan 74, J. Nichols 85

Senior B Flight

J. Black 78, G. Kumerfield 79, D. Olson 66, J. Schmidt 75, P. Eichten 68, M. Maloney 83, P. Portz 79, R. Schnobrich 70, J. Gibbons 71, K. Mondry 77, D. Risius 77, R. Wiltscheck 75

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