Buegler made history after winning the Championship Flight on Sunday at the New Ulm Country Club as he became the youngest champion in tournament history.

To do that, he had to put in a little overtime on the course next to defending champion and eight-time winner Johnny Larson of Springfield. After Larson’s 75 in the second round had him four strokes behind Buegler, he stuck with it and eventually tied Buegler to force a playoff.

It took five playoff holes, played on Holes 10, 11, 18, 10 and 11, but Buegler’s par put on the 11th hole gave him the championship stein.

“Probably one of the coolest moments — it was my coolest moment ever in golf to win a tournament like this,” Buegler said. “Out here at the Country Club, that’s a big deal out here. That’s the tournament that everyone strives to win, and Johnny, especially getting to beat Johnny, someone as good and as talented as him. He’s won it eight times and he would have gone back to back to back right there, so getting to beat a guy like him makes it a little bit cooler.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm’s Mason Buegler takes a tee shot on Hole 16 during the New Ulm Invitational Sunday at the New Ulm Country Club.

The young lion didn’t have it as easy as originally thought following his first-round score of 73 Saturday and improved second-round score of 72 Sunday. Creeping up on him during the extra nine holes was Larson, who shot a 33 there to tie Buegler and force an extra playoff hole.

That extra playoff hole turned into five, however, as the two continued to trade shots and putts. On the fifth playoff hole from Hole 11, Buegler got a straight tee shot and proceeded to par the hole to take down the veteran champion and make history.

“I had a ton of looks that happened after him that I could have closed it out, I didn’t finish any of them,” Buegler said. “I kind of knew coming into 11 as he was going for double [bogey], I had a par putt and I kind of knew that it was closed out, so didn’t have much pressure on that one, which was really nice.”

Buegler, who just finished his junior year of high school with his second consecutive state golf tournament appearance at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan, said he was proud of his first two rounds.

He hit a bit of a snag with a bogey on Hole 10 and double bogey on Hole 12 during the final nine-hole round, though, allowing Larson to creep up on him. Larson made three birdies during the final nine-hole round, while Buegler stayed steady after his double bogey with a birdie on Hole 13 and five consecutive pars to lead to the first playoff hole.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Springfield’s Johnny Larson hits out of trouble during a playoff hole in the Championship Flight of the New Ulm Invitational Sunday at the New Ulm Country Club.

Both players had their chances to put things away during the first four playoff holes, but the added pressure and extra work didn’t help the situation.

As the two finished their 50th total hole of golf in the tournament, Buegler did just enough with a 4-foot putt to leave with a smile and the win.

“That was a struggle today honestly,” Buegler said of the extra holes. “Keeping mentally in it and staying focused, and I feel like I did pretty well. It’s kind of what brought me home at the end of the day.”

Also in the Championship Flight, Colin Huffman shot a 1-under-par 71 on Sunday in the second round and carded a 39 during the final nine-hole round to finish third with a 45-hole total of 190. Paul Andersen finished with a three-round total of 195 for fourth, while Ethan Kraus had a three-round total of 195 for fifth and James Fromm had a three-round total of 196 for sixth. Aiden Guggisberg had a three-round score of 197 for seventh, while Ben Pearson had a three-round total of 198 for eighth.

The Presidential Flight, which saw the bottom nine players from Saturday’s Championship Flight compete on Sunday, was won by another New Ulm Eagles golfer Colton Anderson, who like Buegler just wrapped up his junior year of high school golf. Anderson carded a 79 on Sunday for a two-day total of 163.

The Regular Division Second Flight was won by Mike Peterson, who shot an 87 on Sunday for a two-day score of 168.

The Regular Division Third Flight was won by Ben Calhoun, who had an 88 on Sunday and a two-day total of 172. In the Regular Division Fourth Flight, Brady Dalton won with a total-to-par net score of 73 on Sunday, giving him a two-day net total of 140.

In the Senior First Flight, Mike Ballard had a net score of 78 on Sunday for a two-day net total of 152, defeating Johannes Brad in a playoff. The Senior Second Flight was won by Brian Deinken, who had a net score of 71 Sunday for a two-day net total of 152.

FINAL RESULTS

(Day 1-Day 2 Total. *Championship Flight includes extra nine holes at the end. ** Presidential Flight features nine players who didn’t make Championship Flight cut)

*Championship Flight: Mason Buegler 73-72-37 182 (Playoff), Johnny Larson 74-75-33 182, Colin Huffman 80-71-39 190, Paul Andersen 75-78-39 192, Ethan Kraus 77-77-41 195, James Fromm 78-79-39 196, Aiden Guggisberg 80-78-39 197, Ben Pearson 78-80-40 198, Scott Paa 79-81-40 200, Jeff Ferrell 81-78-43 202, Ethan Kirchberg 80-84-40 204, Phil McClellan 78-87-42.

**Presidential Flight: Colton Anderson 84-79 163, Andrew Metzen 91-79 170, Hunter Hoaglund 86-86 172, Andis Kancans 90-83 173, Matt Holm 89-86 175, Nate Weisenburger 92-87 179, Ryan Okeefe 85-94 179, Luke Krauklis 86-95 181, Ryan Neuman 88-98 186.

First Flight: Shane Kvidera 77-75 152, Nate Voges 78-79 157, Cory Vee 81-78 159, Jack Ballard 81-83 164, Peter Guggisberg 85-80 165, Randall Paa 89-80 169, Jordan Simonette 86-83 169, Jackson Ahlness 84-87 171, Nathan Lassas 88-84 172, Kevin Atnip 86-85 172, Patrick Bock 83-90 173, Brodie Raymond 91-83 174, AJ Lassas 90-85 175, Anthony Sanders 88-89 177, Randy Kirchberg 90-92 182, Ian McNeil 90-NC-NC.

Second Flight: Mike Peterson 81-87 168, Dan Reinhart 89-80 169, Adam Loose 88-83 171, Spencer Landsteiner 87-84 171, Todd Liebrenz 84-87 171, Tim Berg 87-87 174, Ed Hayes 85-89 174, Erich Korth 84-90 174, Gunnar Cowing 89-86 175, Mathias Eichten 92-84 176, Wyatt Peterson 88-88 176, Eric Hensler 86-90 176, Cameron Vee 93-90 183, Jacob Holm 93-95 188, Collin Kral 96-96 192, Jordan Schneider 97-97 194.

Third Flight: Ben Calhoun 84-88 172, Craig Larson 86-87 173, Tony Kliber 86-88 174, Josh Sabatino 88-88 176, John Eichten 88-89 177, Tom Steinbach 92-86 178, Paul Roberts 91-87 178, Jerry Henning 91-88 179, Shane Traulich 84-95 179, Paul Buboltz 90-90 180, Greg Schmitz 93-91 184, Alex King 94-91 185, Tony Sowder 92-93 185, Peter Kliber 95-95 190, Joe Lofgren 100-94 194, Teddy Skillings 94-100 194, Kevin Anhut 99-109 208.

Fourth Net Flight: Brady Dalton 67-73 140, Matt Weight 70-71 141, Tylor Hopp 72-78 150, Jeff Wesselmann 76-76 152, Tony Mielke 81-76 157, Rick Kamm 77-83 160, Tony Hudson 81-82 163, Gregg Holm 86-79 165, Jamel Koubaytari 84-81 165, Greg Thomas 75-91 166, Javen Munce 90-78 168, Dawson Kraus 81-89 170, Ron Kelm 95-86 181, Jesse Janson 91-90 181, Jeff Kresh 101-101 202.

Senior First Net Flight: Mike Ballard 74-78 152 (Playoff), Brad Johannes 79-73 152, Jerry Boddy 81-72 153, Dean Warta 73-84 157, Dan Zarembinski 80-80 160, Ray Sagedal 85-77 162, Jeremy Raths 78-86 164, Paul Kelash 86-80 166, Brian Messer 86-81 167, Phil Leise 78-89 167, Paul Wessel 83-90.

Senior Second Net Flight: Brian Deinken 81-71 152, Gene Voges 77-77 154, Virgil Buysman 75-80 155, Bruce Gieseke 81-77 158, Jim Gibbons 69-90 159, Pete Eichten 78-81 159, Don Olson 79-83 162, Gary Kumerfield 80-84 164, Joe Nichols 82-84 166, Neil Herzog 86-89 175.

Senior Championship Flight: Matt Pearson 77-81 158, Darren Anderson 78-81 159, Jeff Anderson 81-80 161, Wallace Hayenga 78-85 163, Todd McKeeth 87-77 164, Tim Andersen 82-84 166, Ron Atkinson 82-85 167, Pat McCall 87-84, Tony Andersen 86-85 171, Joe Nordahl 90-88 178, Larry Hahka 93-86 179, Mike Doyle 100-93 193, Doug Prins 83-NC NC.