Viktor Hovland Accidentally Built Golf's Best Online Community

If you've spent any time on Golf Twitter over the last few years, you've probably stumbled across a Viktor Hovland fan account. They're the ones posting about every shot, sharing memes and debating strokes gained.

What you might not realize is that behind those posts is one of the funniest, kindest little corners of the internet—and four strangers who became genuine friends because they all happened to root for the same Norwegian golfer.

So who are the people behind these accounts? And how did they end up tracking Hovland's every move? I wanted to find out.

The admins behind these four accounts may live thousands of miles apart, but spend five minutes around the "Hovi Hive" and it becomes obvious they're all part of the same group chat.

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Meet the Hovi Hive

Avi (@hovmus) | Manchester, England | Marketing

Discovered golf during a rain delay at a cricket match. Somehow went from running a K-pop account to becoming one of the internet's go-to Hovland shot trackers.

Instagram kept showing me posts and reels of him. So eventually I went down the rabbit hole—and I never really came back.

Cinch (@hovlandtrackr) | North Carolina | Former college baseball pitcher

Created his account while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Today, his meticulous shot tracking and bird alerts have become appointment viewing for Hovland fans.

I found community in the fellow trackers in the Hov Hive.

Madi (@ViktorHovi) | Virginia | Financial analyst

Blames one very specific Masters outfit for becoming obsessed with Viktor Hovland.

The 2023 Masters shirt... you know the one.

Maddie (@hovihead) | Pacific Northwest | Writer

Started posting golf thoughts because none of her friends wanted to hear them. Now she's one of Golf Twitter's resident Hovland historians and proudly admits she's become a "stats nerd."

Time spent online should be fun and goofy.

As different as their paths to golf have been, they all ended up in the same place: cheering for Viktor Hovland and eventually becoming friends because of it. One member of the group is even meeting another for the first time later this summer at a Noah Kahan concert. The two Maddies—who met because of Viktor Hovland—now talk every day. About golf, life and, of course, Viktor Hovland.

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How did you get into golf?

Avi: I was originally a huge cricket fan – being Indian, you’re kind of born into it. In 2023, I was at the Ashes Test between England and Australia at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester. There was a rain delay, and I noticed a ton of people gathered around this massive TV screen near the food stalls. When I looked up, Rory McIlroy was hitting an absolute bomb of a drive at Royal Liverpool, because The Open was on at the same time. I was instantly hooked, and the rest is history.

Cinch: I was a baseball pitcher at the collegiate level, which speaks for itself. If I wasn't practicing, catching up on homework, or lifting, I was at the driving range or on the course with at least 2-3 other pitchers on my team.

Madi J: I’m a bit newer to the golf world but always watched some of the Masters every year. I got hooked when I started noticing Viktor in 2022. I’ve taken up trying to play in the past few years and every aspect has me completely enamored.

Maddie P: When I was 11, my mom started dating my incredible now-stepdad, who is a scratch golfer. I remember watching the 2015 and 2016 Masters with him, rooting on Jordan Spieth and dreaming of going to Augusta one day. From then on, we were always at the driving range and I joined my high school golf team, where I played on varsity for three years.

When did you first become a Hovland fan?

Avi: I became a Hovland fan pretty soon after I got into golf that summer. The algorithm honestly pushed him to me. I clearly remember August and September 2023, when Viktor went on that insane run from the BMW Championship to the Tour Championship and then into the Ryder Cup. Instagram kept showing me posts and reels of him, so eventually I went down the rabbit hole – and I never really came back.

Cinch: I've been a Hovland fan ever since I saw him win low amateur in the 2019 Masters, but grew as I made some nordic friends in my high school and found out my girlfriend was a big fan of him. Now we both look forward to watching him compete on weekends.

Madi J: 2022 is when I started keeping track of his game, but 2023 is when I really locked in. The 2023 Masters shirt — you know which one I’m talking about. The Azalea shirt, I think it was called. I would say ever since the Masters that year I’ve watched almost all of his tournaments.

Maddie P: I watched the 2018 NCAA D1 Men's Golf Championship and remember seeing Wolff and Hovland absolutely dominate at Karsten Creek. I followed both of them on Instagram then, but didn't really start following Viktor closely until the 2023 season when he had his three-win season! That made me pay a little more attention.

What separates the Hovland fanbase from other fanbases you see online?

Avi: We have the greatest sense of humor. But more than that, we’re a very resilient fanbase. We ride or die for Viktor. The slump in 2024 didn’t break us. I remember all of us still tuning in to every single tournament without fail, and we’ve kept doing that ever since. What makes it special is that we all come from different backgrounds, different professions, and different parts of the world, but somehow we’ve become really close friends through this little niche online community supporting our favourite Norwegian golfer. Other fanbases on golf twitter can be quite harsh on their favourite players. With us, even when we joke about Viktor, it’s always in jest. Deep down, everyone knows we’re fully behind him.

Madi J: It feels like we all work as a team. We’re constantly sharing each other’s content. The memes and the edits. I mean there’s truly nothing better than the camaraderie in Hovi Nation. I’ve grown close with a lot of them.

Maddie P: I think that we, like Viktor, don't take ourselves too seriously. We rally around each other even on the bad weeks (and there have been quite a few over the past two years). We goof around and feed off each other's energy. We have so much fun together, and the keyword is together. We are all friends and actively chat each week; some of us are even close personal friends who keep up with one another's lives outside of golf Twitter.

When did you make your Hovland account?

Avi: The account I use now actually started as a k-pop account, then became a cricket account, and eventually turned into a Hovland account in 2024, when I started properly tuning in to all of Viktor’s tournaments. At first, I didn’t tweet that much. I mostly replied to the Viktor Hovland Tracker’s tweets (@HoviTracker) all the time. Around 2025 is when I really started tweeting more, and that’s also the season I became closer with other Hovland stans!

Cinch: I made my account at the start of the 2025 season. I suffered a torn UCL my senior year of collegiate baseball just two weeks before our first game. So while my closest friends and teammates were traveling to games, I was in my dorm, in an arm brace, watching golf and tweeting. I went through some low times balancing saying goodbye to the sport I've played my whole life and also navigating graduate school applications; but I found community in the fellow trackers in the hov hive. I've grown from a couple dozen followers to over 300, and have tripled my time on ebird finding the perfect bird to match a circle on the scorecard.

Madi J: I made my account in July 2024 during The Open. When we were in the trenches some would say. At this point, I was so obsessed with golf in general I really wanted an outlet to share my thoughts because I didn’t know many people into golf so Hovland Updates was born.

Maddie P: I made my account right after the 2025 Players. The first tournament I tracked/was around for was the 2025 Valspar, where Viktor won after a rough 2024 and three missed cuts in a row!

How has it evolved over time?

Avi: At the start, I didn’t really talk about myself on the account. I mostly just talked about Viktor and golf. I think my account really blew up in summer 2025, when I followed Viktor for all four rounds at the Genesis Scottish Open and then The Open at Royal Portrush. Viktor didn’t get much featured coverage at The Open, so I started posting clips of each of his shots on Twitter that I filmed with my phone while following him!

A Norwegian journalist for Eurosport gave me a shoutout, asking people to follow me because I was posting videos of all Viktor’s shots. Suddenly, hundreds of Norwegians and Viktor Hovland fans started following me over those couple of months.

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Maddie P: I initially made it because I couldn't tweet about golf on my personal Twitter as my job is somewhat public-facing. I wanted to just be able to tweet about golf freely and make silly jokes, but now I'm a full-on shot tracker, basically reporting each shot of every tournament Viktor plays in (when I can! Life does get in the way of golf Twitter, believe it or not!). Being a writer, I'm so bad at math and numbers, but my involvement in the golf world has turned me into a total stats nerd. Studying post-round stats and comparing numbers and strokes gained data is truly one of my favorite activities. I practically live on datagolf.com. I think time spent online should be fun and goofy, we don't always need to say exactly the right thing or come across as someone who knows everything. I just like to have fun at the end of the day!

What’s one change/quote/moment that made you think he’d figure it out and win again soon?

Avi: I don’t remember the exact moment he said it, and I know he has said it more than once, but it was something along the lines of: “I know how good I can get.”

Viktor is known for being quite harsh on himself, so hearing him say that really stuck with me. The first time I heard it, I knew he’d win again soon.

He comes across as so intelligent and so self-aware. You can tell he genuinely wants to reach the level he believes he’s capable of. It sometimes feels like he’s constantly fighting his own demons – which, honestly, is true of anyone who plays golf at any level – but in that moment, there was like a light inside him.

Madi J: Obviously he’s talked a lot about not feeling comfortable over the ball for awhile now but seeing the driver start to get back in form and hear him talk positively in interviews recently about working towards a better swing has really had me on the edge of my seat just feeling like it was all going to click soon. I could go into a rant on this one but I’ll leave it at that (Viktor if you're reading this keep the iDi driving iron IN THE BAG! Favorite club of his, hands by far)!

Maddie P: It’s hard to pinpoint one moment because it’s been such an up-and-down season, but seeing him grind it out on the range after missing the cut at the U.S. Open a few weeks ago, I knew that he was going to be playing some great golf soon enough. This week, in his post-round three interview, Viktor said something that he has said many many times before: that he’s not focused on the score, he’s focused on the process. Hearing him say that going into Sunday gave me the confidence that he could take this one home.

What have the last few days been like?

Avi: Genuinely surreal. I was a bit busy earlier in the week, so I couldn’t keep tabs on the tournament as closely as usual. I was actually following the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship a bit more closely at first. Even when Viktor is in contention, I try not to put too much faith into it, just in case it doesn’t work out. I was burned too hard by the PGA Championship at Valhalla in 2024 and the U.S. Open at Oakmont in 2025, so I was pretty calm and mellow heading into the final round. The rain delay definitely helped calm my nerves for a bit, and I distracted myself with the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship during that time. But once play resumed, my heart was in my mouth. That final hole was terrifying. Then we all had to go to bed and wait for the playoff to resume the next day. When it finally happened, I was working from home and completely losing my mind. And then it happened. I couldn’t believe it. I just sat in silence in my room, staring at the screen. I felt so many emotions, but mostly I thought about my friends in the Hovland fanbase and how excited and emotional they must have been feeling too.

In that moment, more than anything, I wished we were all in the same room watching it together and sharing a massive hug. I felt the same way during the Valspar win last year.

Madi J: Unreal. After the bogey free second round I started to get scared (good). His iron game has always been one of the best but seeing dart after dart and then being able to hold off Scottie was just awesome. I have goosebumps typing this.

Maddie P: Absolutely wild. Coming off of a missed cut, I was glad he remained in the field, but to have a good first day and an incredible second day and be able to build off of that momentum through the week was more than I could’ve asked for at the beginning of this season. I want to echo that having a community like the Hovland stan accounts is so wonderful. We get to celebrate and revel in pure joy together as we watch Viktor play amazing golf and add some amazing accomplishments to his resumé. I burst into tears when he won, mostly because I was so happy for Viktor for getting it done, but also I felt relief. Didn’t realize how much tension I had been holding all weekend just hoping that he could pull it off.

Golf often starts as a hobby. Sometimes, if you're lucky, it turns into a community. For four strangers spread across three countries, Viktor Hovland happened to be the thing that brought them together.

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