Lessons from the Alba Championship Finals

There were spectators. Actual spectators, and plenty of them. Partners, friends, parents, kids and colleagues - watching along, supporting and applauding the golf on show. That includes venue owner/operators who'd travelled to Oslo for the weekend, some of whom even covered travel expenses for the players representing their centers on the weekend. The crowd and community are certainly what left the biggest impression on me.

This was the Alba Championship 2026 Finals. Over the past three months, 500+ players across 50 venues in Norway have been competing in qualifying rounds at their respective venues. Both gross and net categories were in play, and players needed to top their own venue's order of merit to earn a spot in the finals. 80 players made it, each one representing their sim center, not just themselves.

That last bit is the whole idea. Indoor golf venues are good at a lot of things, but most of them don't often have that club feel that makes a golf club feel like a golf club. The competition calendar, the leaderboard, the camaraderie, the sense that the people you're playing alongside are actually your people. That's what we'd like to help build on behalf of our partner venues. A reason to belong somewhere, not just book a bay.

Watching the inaugural finals land last month - venue owners from Bergen, Alesund, Trondheim and Oslo cheering on their players, finalists from all corners of Norway in the same room genuinely excited, nervous and caring who won - that felt like something. As mentioned, these owner/operators were so invested in the event some not only travelled to be there to support their representing players, but they also covered travel and hotel expenses for the weekend. Note - a few players in the net category had never played a serious tournament before, let’s say there were a few nervous tee shots on the first hole!

Speaking of the net category, we had a great mix of players - Cecilie Wikborg (70 years young!) representing Oslo GK, won the ladies' longest drive on the day! Felix Nordhus, from SimulatorGolf Ullevaal, took first place with a net -7. In his own words: very much thanks to his brother “caddying” for him on the day.

In the gross category, we had some serious golf on show. The average Trackman handicap amongst the gross finalists was a mindblowing +3.5! The course setup proved a tough challenge however, with only ten players scoring under par. Two thirds of the influencer trio, Major Golf, nearly made it a clean sweep with a Longest Drive & 3rd place for Fridtjof Rasmussen and a 2nd place for Henrik Heyerdahl (both representing Oslo Golf Lounge). But it was Rune Kristoffersen, of Onegolf Askim, who won it with a flawless -6, 66.

Post-round pizzas and drinks were served, missed putts were discussed and prizes were awarded. After all was said and done, we sent a post-tournament survey and the feedback & results speak for themselves:

I finished 5th in the qualifiers at our center, and came to the final as a spectator as my husband qualified for the final. Absolutely superb set-up.

Fantastic fun to be a part of. I really liked the format with qualifying and final day. Also nice variety on the courses that were played.

Always exciting to compete with others and great to practice playing under pressure!

Serious, but still good atmosphere and good vibes

Easy to participate and very good organization and atmosphere at the final

How likely are you to enter the Alba Championships again?

Booking is at the core of what Alba is, but we pride ourselves in going beyond booking. We constantly ask ourselves what our venues actually need to grow - not necessarily a new tool, feature request or something that fits neatly into a product roadmap. But an event that builds community, competition, camaraderie and loyalty. Hear from Erlend Rødal, co-owner of Birdie Lounge Alesund:

What were your overall impressions of the first Alba Championships, and what impact did it have on your center?

ER: Birdie Lounge loved the idea from the start because it gives us, as a center, the opportunity to offer an even better and more varied service to our customers. We saw an increase in some players training and practising the course before their tournament rounds, and we like that this can keep them engaged through the winter season.

The Alba Championship Finals was a great experience for the participants who represented Birdie Lounge. The "meet and greet" the day before was a rewarding evening with good discussions and exchange of experiences, and of course the tournament which was an exciting tournament with nice players from all over the country and in a way, a perfect end to the tournament season on the simulator.

The tournament has had a very positive effect for Birdie Lounge, which the number of registered players in both classes also confirms. We have been good at offering several tournaments during the winter, but this particular one attracted players from all over the county, due to good marketing both locally by us and nationally, thanks to the efforts by Alba.

We weren’t sure if our vision would land as well as it did in this first year, but we’re thrilled with how engaged our partner venues were, how much the players enjoyed the whole tournament and especially what it has done for our partner venues in terms of community building and driving loyalty. We’re committed to building this bigger and better next year. Did somebody say regional, national and Alba World Championships 2027?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYHpadyWADM