PITTSVILLE, Wis. (WSAW) – A Pittsville native is on a mission to make disc golf a globally recognized and practiced sport. Eli Swansen’s biggest step in that campaign is a recent first-place finish in New Zealand.
The Marshfield graduate, once an amateur out of Central Wisconsin, is now a mainstay in the disc golf pro tour.
Building a passion
Swansen’s passion was built the summer of his seventh-grade year when he had his first go at Marshfield’s Heftko Pool disc golf course.
“My original intentions were like, I’m always a really competitive person. So let me go out, let me beat my friends,” Swansen said.
It’s Swansen’s competitive spirit that etched his name in the disc golf history books. He holds the record for the longest tournament ace ever in the sport, drilling a hole in one from 634 feet during an event in Sparta.
“You need a little bit of help and a little bit of luck to have something like that happen, and I feel blessed that that was something that came to me,” Swansen said.
But a rain delay would wash away Swansen’s chance at the tournament title, a result he says is yet to be settled.
“We at some point may have an off week and I am flying home and I’m going to try and win that event. But for now it will stay, unfortunately, as an asterisk on the scoreboard for me,” Swansen said.
New Zealand victory
Swansen would reach new heights in New Zealand, competing in the 2026 Australia-Asian Open.
“Pretty quickly, I threw some good shots. And I was like, okay, I’m kind of feeling it right here,” Swansen said.
He gained ground quickly with three key birdies on holes 12, 14 and 16.
“I was like, okay, wow, I am completely in the driver’s seat all of a sudden,” Swansen said.
Needing just a layup on hole 18 to lock in his first-place finish, Swansen secured the victory.
“Winning something like that, feels like a culmination of all the years of work and effort that I’ve put in. You know, these dreams and aspirations of having a lot of the things that are happening to me right now happen,” Swansen said.
Sharing the sport
Beyond the record-setting outings and global titles, Swansen’s biggest goal is to share the thrill of the sport he loves so deeply with the entire world.
“That is the moment I think a lot of people fall in love with the game, is that time when you can throw a disk on an angle. And watch it move to a new angle. It’s like whoa, I was the one in control of that,” Swansen said.
With his title as the newest Australia-Asian tournament champion, Swansen hopes to inspire the youth throughout Central Wisconsin and beyond to take a chance, get outdoors and try something new.
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