The Cliffs Kangaroo Island: Australia’s Most Anticipated New Golf Course
The Cliffs Kangaroo Island is edging closer to its late-2026 opening, and the spectacular images emerging from the course suggest Australia may have another genuine destination golf heavyweight on its hands.
For years, Australian golfers have been hearing whispers about The Cliffs Kangaroo Island. Now, with spectacular new photos and video emerging from the property, it’s becoming easier to understand why the course has generated so much anticipation ahead of its expected opening in late 2026.
I’ve had the occasional conversation with course designer Darius Oliver over the past decade, and this project has been on his radar for a very long time.
‘Long before fairways were grassed and the golfing world began getting its first glimpses of the finished product, Darius would speak enthusiastically about the remarkable stretch of Kangaroo Island coastline he had been given to work with. As someone originally from Adelaide, and consequently a slightly parochial South Australian, I’ve followed the project with keen interest ever since.
During a conversation on the Talk Birdie To Me podcast, Oliver summed up the challenge perfectly.
“Kangaroo Island is such an amazing island that I want the golf course to do the island justice, and to do the property justice,” Oliver said.
Kangaroo Island already possesses one of Australia’s great natural assets. The pressure on The Cliffs isn’t simply to create a good golf course. It’s to create a golf experience worthy of one of the country’s most spectacular locations.
The latest imagery from the course is genuinely eye-catching. Dramatic cliff-edge holes perched above the Southern Ocean, rumpled fairways tumbling through natural terrain and an unmistakable sense that this is golf in a truly wild corner of Australia.
For a project that has spent so many years building anticipation, the early visuals suggest the reality may be living up to the hype.
Of course, Kangaroo Island has always come with a caveat. Everyone who visits seems to return with stories about how spectacular it is, but they also mention the journey. It’s not a destination golfers will simply stumble upon. Getting there requires a little effort.
Barnbougle Dunes proved that two decades ago. Golfers from around Australia, and increasingly from around the world, will happily travel if they know the golf waiting at the other end is something they’ll never forget.
Perhaps that’s why I’m so excited by what’s beginning to emerge from The Cliffs.
I can still remember the anticipation before Barnbougle Dunes opened, then Lost Farm, and later Cape Wickham. More recently, 7 Mile Beach arrived to similar fanfare. In every case, the result justified the hype. These weren’t simply new golf courses. They became destinations that golfers wanted to visit again and again.
Right now, I find myself feeling that same sense of anticipation about The Cliffs Kangaroo Island.
That’s why The Cliffs is such an intriguing prospect. The course not only needs to be good, but it also needs to be worth the journey. Based on the first look we’re getting and the early feedback filtering through golf circles, there’s every reason to believe it might just achieve that.
If so, Kangaroo Island could soon find itself home to one of Australia’s most sought-after golf experiences. And as a proud South Australian, I’d love nothing more than to see that happen.
