GENERAL RODRÍGUEZ, Argentina — With dusk falling, Nico García squatted down to read the perilous 20-foot par putt. Needing only a bogey to win Argentina’s national championship, he sent the ball snaking downhill across the green, where it stopped just short of the hole. He tapped in for victory — not with a putter, but with the instep of his soccer cleat.

García’s game is not golf but footgolf, a hybrid that borrows rules and courses from its more established relation, only with a larger ball, a 21-inch hole and feet instead of clubs. As footgolf emerges as one of the modern alternatives to golf, the subject of fretting over a precipitous drop in participation, Argentina has established itself as the dominant force in the game.

“There’s no doubt that we’re a level above the other countries,” said Christian Otero, 36, Argentina’s top-ranked player.

Footgolf, which is played with a regulation soccer ball on a shortened golf course, was formally invented about six years ago in the Netherlands. It came to Argentina shortly after, in 2010, and has flourished: Organized leagues have been formed across the country and the best players, led by Otero, often compete abroad.