Balcatta locals Leon Bianchina, Tom Wikitera and Maks Luburic are set to tee off in Australia’s largest golf league this month in the 2025 X-League Competition.
The trio will join eight other teams from as far as Christchurch, Cairns and Darwin to compete in the annual Championship which is the Southern Hemisphere’s largest tech-powered golf competition.
Hosted at a state-of-the-art facility in Melbourne, the tournament’s finals cap off the X-League’s 14th consecutive year and are an accomplishment that over 1,000 X-League players vie for when they sign up at one of X-Golf’s 32 hubs.
33-year-old tradie Bianchina will trade in his tools for a tee as he competes for the title alongside Luburic and his former rival Wikitera, who he used to try to outdrive at their local X-Golf.
“Tony used to be my biggest rival,” laughs Bianchina. “We’d always fight for that number one spot and try to outmuscle each other. That rivalry has turned us into good mates. Now, we’re on the same side and we can’t wait to bring the title home to WA.”
The pair have completely different techniques, while Luburic adopts a more traditional swing: “Maks is our team’s classy golfer and with his perfect form balancing us out, we’re feeling pretty good going into the champs.”
X-League runs three 10-week seasons each year where teams compete across nine-hole handicap matches, a testament to the souring popularity of Esports.
X-Golf’s Nick Treble says stories like the Balcatta team’s are exactly why the team continues to forge ahead to revolutionise what is one of the world’s most traditional sports.
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“You’ve got the mateship of a local footy team, the buzz of Esports and the realism of the best tech currently on the global market,” he explains. “We’re very proud to reimagine a sport that we all love and we really value watching everyday golfers push themselves, improve and build communities around the game.”
X-Golf simulators, which were built by Melbourne-based brothers Ben and Charles Styles, have become renowned for ultra realistic gameplay where every day golfers benefit from high-definition cameras, lasers, impact sensors and infrared technology to see each shot tracked with precision.
Golf Australia reports a nine percent lift in participation year-on-year and Australia’s Esports market surpassed $200 million in revenue in 2024, so it is clear that high-tech social sports are here to stay.
To learn more about X-League, visit xgolf.com.au/x-league.
Image Credit: Supplied
