YORKTON – There seems a competitive nature among humans that compels us to sport.

We, in general enjoy watching, participating in, and even creating sports.

In the latter case there are always new sports popping up, and a favourite game to mimic with new variations on the theme is golf.

My personal favourite is disc golf, of which I am a huge proponent.

But, there is also foot golf, more popular in Europe, but making inroads here including what might have been the first course in Saskatchewan here at York Lake Golf Course just outside Yorkton.

Another offering that builds solidly on golf – it even uses the same balls and is played on the same courses – is FlingGolf.

“I grew up on a farm west of Philly with two brothers and a lot of sports equipment lying around. We were not over-scheduled, and beyond school athletics, we had time on our hands. The three of us and some neighbour friends spent a lot of that time combining equipment and competing in our own “original sports” programs. Football on skates, ultimate Frisbee on dirt bikes, sledding with a Big Wheel, and one that stuck, golf with a lacrosse stick,” noted the creator Alex Van Alen at flinggolf.com 

“Fast forward a couple, ok several, decades and I was still thinking about that simple idea of hurling a golf ball with a lacrosse stick to hit a tree, or a rock on the other side of the pond. But a lacrosse stick gave no feel and really not much distance. What if I developed a new stick that could allow me to throw the golf ball at least 200 yards, and really control the shots with pinpoint accuracy? And if that were the case, and I made it so that I could play every shot with one stick, could I play it on a golf course?”

By 2014 a prototype fling stick was developed, and now in 2022 a championship has been held. The winner of the 2022 New Swarm Open was Ken Pytluk from Fort Collins, CO who won the four-hole playoff by two strokes.

“It felt great, but something I was even more energized with was the energy of all the players,” said Pytluk in a recent telephone interview.

While players – 40 took part — were competing for a championship, camaraderie won out throughout the event.

“Everybody was helping each out on the course,” said Pytluk. “It was just a great experience overall.”

As for the win “typically of golf, it came down to the short…