The Grange Club in Adelaide felt the buzz of LIV Golf’s arrival this week, although the Saudi-funded series has brought mixed reactions from players and spectators in the past. Following their initial 2025 event at the Riyadh Golf Club, where Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII clinched the team trophy and Adrian Meronk led the singles with a stunning -17 under par, the circuit swung to Australian turf amidst both enthusiasm for the new season and concern over its impact.
Host to the tournament, The Grange Club, hasn’t forgotten the aftermath of May 2023’s proceedings which left members dismayed at the damage wrought by beer-fuelled revelry – reportedly affecting the course for six weeks and sparking criticism from the local press. Member Trevor Craig vented to The Advertiser: “A profit-making circus has come to town and the people paying the price are the members.
“We’re not a charity, we’re a private club, and I don’t think we’ve been compensated adequately. We’re going to have a mess for six months and then it’s going to be back again.”
Contradicting the sentiment, Barry Linke, the club’s general manager, highlighted the positive feedback received, adding: “We have received many emails, letters and phone calls congratulating the club for delivering the event.” Yet, last year’s edition did not escape critique either, as professional golfers aired grievances about the event’s atmosphere, reports the Mirror US.
Dean Burmester’s frustrations boiled over last year as he clashed with the rowdy crowd during the team playoff on the final day of the event. Burmester and his Stinger captain, Louis Oosthuizen, faced off against Ripper GC’s Cam Smith and Marc Leishman after both teams ended the week at 53-under-par.
The Australian crowd, which heavily backed Smith and Leishman, appeared to get under Burmester’s skin, particularly during his second shot on the 18th hole. As he lined up his approach, Burmester was overheard yelling at the gallery: “Are you serious? Shut the f*** up!” His anger stemmed from the crowd’s incessant heckling, which continued even during his backswing.
Perhaps rattled by the disturbance, Burmester proceeded to hit his shot into a bunker, prompting a thunderous cheer from the crowd. Ultimately, Ripper claimed victory on home soil, thanks to Leishman’s two-putt par. The testy exchange between Burmester and the fans sparked a debate, with pundits like Eddie Pepperell, Andrew Cotter, and Iain Carter discussing the incident on The Chipping Forecast.
Pepperell questioned Burmester’s choice of words during the tense moment, musing: “I don’t know, it’s interesting, I’m just wondering whether… it would have been better just saying, ‘Look, I know you’re excited, but can we just keep it down for one second?’ or, ‘Can you just give me a bit of respect here?
“I don’t know if I would have the courage to tell someone to shut the F up on the golf course, but I would certainly be thinking it. To Iain’s point, ironically for LIV the team event probably helped it – the team element helped that event this week.
“Brendan Steele isn’t, like you say, a big name winner, but actually it was the team side of things that created that whole thing on the 18th there. So ironically for LIV, this time around, the team element clearly added to it.
“But I’m with Iain, of course, and I suspect yourself Andrew, I find it relatively unpalatable generally. I don’t think that it’s a direction golf necessarily needs to go in and, of course, when you have a player in contention telling the crowd to shut the F up I mean…I don’t see how that’s positive on balance.”
