The men and women’s Australian Open golf championships will be hosted at the redeveloped North Adelaide Golf Course from 2028, the Premier announced today.
It comes a week after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) told players and staff it would stop funding the multi-billion-dollar LIV Golf circuit that was due to be played on the upgraded park lands course, leaving the competition’s future up in the air.
The new deal would give the city site hosting rights for three opens for both the men and women’s codes from 2028 to 2034, with the Premier making an announcement at a press conference with Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland at the course.
Malinauskas said the government had reached a long-term deal with Golf Australia that would see a newly upgraded championship-standard course at the North Adelaide Public Golf Course play host to an Australian Open every year from 2028 to 2034, including three men’s and three women’s Australian Opens.
The first men’s Australian Open at North Adelaide will be staged in 2028.
It will be just the third time the major event has been hosted outside New South Wales or Victoria in more than half a century.
“The Australian Open is a must stop event on the Australian sporting calendar, and we have the potential to grow it here in Adelaide,” Malinauskas said.
“It has only ventured out of New South Wales or Victoria twice in half a century.
“Central to this move is the investment we are delivering in North Adelaide, a world-class public golf course uniquely located in our stunning Park Lands overlooking the CBD.
“Whether they are playing golf, walking or cycling through it, South Australians will have the benefit of enjoying this high-quality course for the vast majority of the year.”
The tournament has been hosted in Adelaide once before in 1998, and it’s return would be the second time it has been held outside of Victoria or New South Wales.
The news comes after a local action group held a vigil for the 585 trees facing the chop in the $45 million taxpayer-funded golf course redevelopment, and after calls from the Greens in state parliament’s upper house to revert funding from the golf course upgrade to provide free public transport amid the fuel crisis.
Adelaide first hosted LIV Golf in 2023, with the state government investing heavily in its future including starting preliminary works on North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment in its bid to grow the event in the state.
The Premier has said the course was a community facility and the entire state would benefit from the works.
The Saudis announced it would pull the plug on funding after investing $8.5 billion into the tournament, and up until last Thursday Premier Peter Malinauskas said communications from LIV were “they very much intend to be here next year”.
The Premier his government would need to know by October 2026 at the latest if there would be impacts to the 2027 Adelaide event.
More to come.