File photo by Travis Rosenau Johnny Larson holds the New Ulm Invitational Championship Flight trophy while posing for a photo with his family on June 15, 2025, at the New Ulm Country Club. Holding Larson’s stein trophy is his daughter, Ihler, while his son, Crew, grabs a hold of the Invitational trophy. Pictured in the back is Larson’s wife, Missy.

NEW ULM — With eight-time Championship Flight winner Johnny Larson back again, it may be unwise to say the 66th annual New Ulm Invitational Golf Tournament is anyone’s tournament this weekend.

The all-time leader in Invitational wins and winner the past two years is set to defend his crown against a field of talented golfers at the New Ulm Country Club, with the Championship Flight beginning Saturday morning with 18 holes. It concludes Sunday with a second 18-hole round and one final nine-hole round for those who make the cut.

Larson won three New Ulm Invitationals in a row from 2007-2009 and is looking to repeat that run with a win this weekend.

“Johnny’s won it eight times, and I saw him the other day, he’s literally played nine holes of golf this year,” New Ulm Country Club Golf Director of Golf Tim Huffman said. “He did get a bag of range balls and go to the range that day, so that could help, but as far as ball strikers go, he’s one of the best ball strikers that I’ve ever played with and I’ve played with some good players. If his putting was like a PGA Tour professional’s putting, he would be on tour. He hits the ball that good.”

Regardless of Larson’s dominance, there are several other hungry players looking to make a name for themselves in the tournament this year.

Huffman said New Ulm’s Ben Pearson, who finished third last year in his first-ever Invitational, returns this year and can hit the ball a long way. Huffman said he also expects returner Jimmy Fromm to be solid in the Championship Flight, along with Scott Paa and 17-year-old New Ulm High School golfer Mason Buegler.

This year, the Championship Flight golfers on the bottom half of the leaderboard after Day 1 will drop to a special President’s Flight, making for more competition all around. The Senior Championship Flight age was also raised from 45 to 50 and moved up to the white tees this year.

Before the tournament gets going with all flights, Friday is a fun night to attend as the ever-popular Championship Shootout for Championship Flight golfers takes place. The shootout features golfers playing Holes 10, 11 and 18 in a knockout format.

This year, Saturday night will have a Chopper Shootout as well.

“We take 36 guys, 18 of them go with one shootout, the lower handicap choppers, and then the other guys go in another shootout, so there’s two shootouts on Saturday,” Huffman said.

Huffman is happy with how the course is right now and he doesn’t expect it to change much before the tournament begins, saying the rough will present the biggest challenges for players.

“Course right now is in beautiful condition,” Huffman said. “We had very little winter kill last year and what we had has recovered. The greens are fast and they’ve been a bit firmer, but they’re starting to soften up now with the rains that we’ve had and the sprinklers and watering too.

“I think the rough is very thick right now, so there’s going to be a premium on hitting it in the fairway. You get it in the rough and if you have a wedge, you’re fine, but if you have a 3 wood or something, then it’s going to be pretty tough out of the rough.”

New Ulm’s weekend forecast currently shows partly sunny weather and highs in the mid 70s.