Alba Golf

Hi All,

As always, it’s been a while since my last post 😂. But unlike the last few months, I’ve actually managed to play a few rounds of golf! Wait, what?! The Spanish golfer is back to actually playing golf? Yep, you heard that right, buying clubs worked. I think I can officially say that I’m starting to build some momentum again.

As I mentioned in my last post, I hadn’t played any golf in London since moving here in July. Because of that, I didn’t really see the point in bringing my clubs with me. That turned into an endless cycle: I didn’t have my clubs, so I made excuses not to play golf, which then became another excuse for not bringing my clubs over in the first place. Then one day, the urge to play golf suddenly hit me again.

As you already know, that led me to frantically searching for a golf set so I could finally get rid of the “I don’t have clubs” excuse. In the process, I ended up joining several London golf Facebook groups, most of which were packed with scammers and not particularly useful. However, one of those groups turned out to be much more valuable than I expected. That’s where I met a guy called Cameron. Surprisingly, he didn’t message me to scam me or sell me something random. Instead, he invited me to try an app called Alba, which he described as being “built by golfers, for golfers.”

So, what is Alba?

The idea is simple. You choose the type of golf experience you’re looking for, social, competitive, casual, focused on improvement, or somewhere in between. You share a bit about yourself, and the app helps match you with like-minded golfers and available tee times that fit your style, at least, that’s what Cameron promised.

In reality, the app does exist, and it works really well. However, because they still haven’t quite reached critical mass yet, they currently rely quite heavily on a WhatsApp community alongside the app. The community helps golfers connect, while games are ultimately booked through Alba itself.

To be honest, when I first saw the WhatsApp group, I thought it looked pretty sketchy. Why would a company building an app for connecting golfers need a WhatsApp group if that’s supposed to be the app’s main purpose? After a few days in the community, though, I realised it actually made a lot of sense.

Cameron and his team want the app to focus on matching golfers and organising games. But before people are comfortable doing that, we often have questions that are easier to ask in a familiar environment. During my first week, I probably spammed the group chat with questions like: Does the app take a commission? Where do people usually play? Do I need to be a member of a club? Is x club actually any good?

The WhatsApp community gives people confidence that there are real golfers behind the platform. It creates trust before they even open the app, which ultimately makes the whole experience better.

But have I actually used Alba? And what do I think about it? The answer is yes!, and I’ve genuinely gotten a lot out of it.So far, I’ve played two rounds through Alba: one at Addington Golf Club, which is effectively their home course, and another at Trent Park yesterday. 

The first round at Addington was actually with a friend I already knew, but this time I decided to go solo and fully trust the app and the process. I ended up having a great time. Thanks to the preferences and matching system, I met some genuinely fun people to play with and got the opportunity to experience courses that I probably wouldn’t have visited otherwise. I’ll also be publishing some course reviews soon, where I’ll share my thoughts on those courses in more detail.

Overall, here’s my verdict on Alba:

Design: 3/5 – There’s still plenty of room for improvement.

Functionality: 4/5 – I haven’t encountered any issues, but it could do more to encourage users to discover and join new matches.

Community: 5/5 – I haven’t had a single negative experience with anyone I’ve met through the platform.

I think the biggest thing Alba is missing right now is critical mass. The concept works, the community is great, and the product has real potential. They simply need more golfers to know they exist. Hopefully this post helps spread the word a little, or at the very least it will give their SEO a small boost.

As always, thanks for reading. Now that I’m finally getting back into golf, I’d love to get out for a round with some of you soon.

Feel free to get in touch!

PS: Apart from the occasional hosel rocket, I can say that 3 iron is an absolute weapon!

Alba website: https://www.golfalba.co/

Trent Park 16th Hole

Beer post addington round

Golf clubs through the tube