Goodbye Grange, Hello Kooyonga: A Look Ahead to LIV Golf Adelaide 2027
This season’s LIV Golf Adelaide tournament was one for the ages. 4Aces GC’s Anthony Kim accomplished one of the greatest feats in modern-day sports, holding off top LIV talent like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau en route to a three-shot victory. Also, the all-Australian conglomerate of Ripper GC took home the team title, standing two clear of the field at 55-under over the course of four rounds. This year’s LIV event in Adelaide was as rowdy as ever, thanks to the 115,000 fans that attended the tournament over its four-day span, along with its all-star lineup of post-round artists, headlined by the Australian-born FISHER. Kim’s win for the ages and Ripper’s triumph on home turf were the perfect send-off as LIV Golf Adelaide moves from The Grange Golf Club to Kooyonga Golf Club for the 2027 season.
LIV Golf announced the dates for its reigning three-time World’s Best Golf Event in South Australia on Feb. 11th. In addition to moving about five miles south to Kooyonga Golf Club next year, LIV Golf Adelaide will also be played March 18th-21st, almost five weeks later in the year than this season’s tournament. Despite a move in venue and schedule, South Australia’s premier golf event will still attract its quintessential raucous crowds and deep lineup of post-play concert guests. Also, the hometown favorites, Ripper GC, will also be back, gunning for their third LIV Golf Adelaide victory.
Since its inception, the “much anticipated highlight of the global golfing calendar” has drawn premier crowds and fans alike since 2023. Players buy into the “untraditional” noise of the crowds and live for the par-three 12th hole at The Grange Golf Club, also known as The Watering Hole. As LIV Golf Adelaide has grown over the years, so has its impact and magnitude. Even South Australia’s Premier, Peter Malinauskas, has grown very fond of the state’s LIV event, considering it “a major success for South Australia and global golf.”
As for the course itself, Kooyonga Golf Club’s layout is very similar to its past counterpart, The Grange Golf Club. The par-four and par-five holes feature fairways lined with very little rough, dusty, firm waste areas, and an abundance of trees. The club’s original designer, H.L. “Cargie” Rymill, is familiar with Adelaide’s golf scene, thanks to his past playing days and designs. A traditional design, featuring undulating bentgrass greens and Santa Ana couch grass fairways, lined with deep, sandy bunkers, is eerily similar to The Grange’s layout. Within the past 16 years, Crafter + Mogford Golf Strategies has been advising Kooyonga Golf Club on changes to the course’s architecture. For example, the original Rymill design is relatively untouched, but the past veldt grass areas on the course have been replaced by fescues and indigenous grasses, contributing to sustainability efforts. Also, the fairways were widened in 2012.
Additionally, the Kooyonga Golf Club has already hosted the 2018 Women’s Australian Open and multiple Australian Opens in the past, so it is used to professional play. Its lack of margin for error off the tee, driveable par-four fifth hole, and two hole-in-one opportunities in the par-three seventh and 14th holes are all strikingly similar to The Grange’s course features. Players who excel in accuracy off the tee and precision with their short irons should be able to separate themselves from the field at Kooyonga next season. LIV players who fit this mold include the aforementioned Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, who has finished within the top 25 in the past three LIV Adelaide events, and Dean Burmester, who has finished within the top 12 in all four LIV Adelaide events.
At the end of the day, the constantly evolving professional golf scene and LIV Golf League will inevitably shake up the field at LIV Golf Adelaide. For example, this LIV Golf season was preceded by the LIV Golf Promotions event, resulting in the biggest field in LIV’s history. The departure of Brooks Koepka and multiple free agent signings also shuffled the rosters around; expect the same for next year’s field. Despite the predicted shift in field and change in venue, LIV Golf Adelaide next season is expected to draw its usual tens of thousands of attendees, featuring bumping tunes and a star-studded field that will light up Kooyonga Golf Club.
