Melbourne might own the history in golf, but Adelaide has the momentum.
You don’t need to live in Victoria or South Australia to understand there’s more than a little history between Melbourne and Adelaide. Whether it’s rooted in Aussie Rules or lingering resentment after Jeff Kennett’s Victorian Government pinched the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix from Adelaide in the mid-1990s, there’s a deep-seated rivalry between the two cities.
That animosity has been less visible in tournament golf. Melbourne, long considered the premier golf city in the country (and possibly the world), was ahead in a race it seemingly couldn’t lose. But golf tournaments are about more than the host venue – a lesson first learned during the successful stretch of Women’s Australian Opens held in Adelaide pre-COVID, and one reinforced since courtesy of LIV Golf Adelaide.
This February marks a month-long golf bonanza for Adelaide. After a wildly successful men’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne in early December, focus now switches to the City of Churches for a pair of significant events. LIV Golf’s fourth edition in Adelaide – and final staging at Grange Golf Club – adds a day’s action from February 12-15 after the league’s move to a 72-hole format, before the Women’s Australian Open returns to Kooyonga Golf Club (next year’s LIV host) from March 12-15. It’s been a long time since Adelaide has seen such sustained activity in elite golf.
I spent the New Year period in Adelaide seeing family but also managed to soak in many of the city’s best attractions. We spent New Year’s Eve at the Big Bash League match at Adelaide Oval and, two nights later, sat in a packed Adelaide Entertainment Centre as the 36ers came from behind to topple the Sydney Kings in an enthralling NBL contest. Golf-wise, I toured the recently renovated Glenelg Golf Club layout and hit balls on the driving range at The Pat GC. It was so busy the range ran out of balls, while foursome after foursome streamed off the first tee on a glorious summer’s day.
Adelaide is a more complete destination – for golf and otherwise – than it often gets credit for. I frequently think back to my first time in the city (the last of the Australian capitals I visited) when a friend and his brother, both locals, showed me the best of town. Our trip included the ‘Big Four’ golf courses, but also the famous Adelaide Fringe Festival, Glenelg Beach and a pub or two. It left a lasting impression.
I love Melbourne for many of the same reasons, but it has always struck me as odd that it became the (largely self-proclaimed) sporting capital of the world. Sure, plenty of big events go there, but is the population really any more knowledgeable than elsewhere? For instance, does anyone in Melbourne realise there are two rugby codes in this country? Not many, in my experience.
Melbourne might own the history, but Adelaide has the momentum. If the men’s national championship makes a semi-permanent home in Melbourne in the next few years, that won’t be a bad thing based on the golf courses alone. However, it’s currently engaged in a tight match with Adelaide, which has birdied half the holes on the front nine, largely off the back of becoming the cornerstone of each season’s LIV schedule.
The spotlight will only grow brighter as Kooyonga Golf Club hosts LIV as a one-off ahead of LIV Golf Adelaide’s permanent new home taking over in 2028: the revamped North Adelaide course. While that week, two years from now, is sure to be epic, the remodelled venue will give Adelaide golfers another top-notch place to forge memories during the other 51 weeks of the year.
If Sydney lands the on-the-move Australian PGA Championship as rumoured, South-East Queensland looks set to sit on the reserves bench in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane. That would leave Melbourne and Adelaide sharing the bulk of the load in Australian tournament golf in the short term.
That’s not a bad double act.
Top 5 moments from tournament golf in Adelaide
5. Chase Koepka’s earth-shaking ace at LIV Golf Adelaide in 2023.
4. Greg Chalmers’ 1998 Australian Open win against a stacked field at Royal Adelaide.
3. Annika Sorenstam’s first victory outside Sweden as a professional, at the 1994 Women’s Australian Open at Royal Adelaide.
2. The Peter Thomson vs David Graham 18-hole playoff for the 1972 Australian Open at Kooyonga.
1. Greg Norman’s first professional victory, the 1976 West Lakes Classic at Grange.
Photograph by mark brake/getty images
