Golf

'Eyes on the Aussie Open': SA premier wants more golf

Feb 12, 2026

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas and LIV Golf chief Scott O'Neil have grand plans for Adelaide's event. -AAP Image

South Australia has set its sights on hosting the men's Australian Open when a $45 million redevelopment of the North Adelaide golf course is completed.

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LIV Golf's Adelaide tournament will shift location when the Greg Norman redesign of the North Adelaide course is completed for the 2028 event.

The redeveloped course on the fringe of Adelaide's central business district has also been earmarked as a host of the women's Australian Open, which SA will host for the next three years.

And SA Premier Peter Malinauskas wants to add the men's national open - to be hosted in Victoria for the next two years - to his state's roster of golf tournaments.

The redevelopment of North Adelaide, currently the site of three public courses, will start in April.

"There is a timeline that is .... ambitious," Malinauskas said on Thursday.

"But everything thus far is on track and we're really excited about it."

Malinauskas was flanked by LIV Golf's chief executive Scott O'Neil at a media conference at the Grange Golf Club, which is currently hosting its last LIV tournament.

Adelaide has secured hosting rights for a LIV tournament until 2031. The event will move to Adelaide's Kooyonga course next year before shifting again to North Adelaide in 2028.

"In Sydney, they've got a golf course (Moore Park) in the city and they're halving it, which I'm grateful for," Malinauskas said.

"Because it will mean that we're the only place in the country that has got a golf course in the city.

"Once we take that golf course and turn it into an elite golf course, it will be a legacy for the state forever."

Malinauskas said North Adelaide would host the women's Australian Open, a LIV tournament "and maybe another tournament here or there."

"We have got eyes on the (men's) Aussie Open," he said.

"And the rest of the time it's the people of South Australia paying public golf course prices for a course that will be at the standard that other members have to pay thousands of dollars a year to get access to.

"I think that's magnificent ... and the people in Sydney who won't be able to play in Moore Park anymore, they can come and play in Adelaide, too. Except we're going to charge you like a wounded bull - and that's the truth.

"There's going to be a South Australian taxpayer price (at North Adelaide) and then there's going to be a rest-of-the-country price. And we're going to charge as much as we can get away with."