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The Cliffs, Kangaroo Island, takes bookings from mid-November

By Travel Desk Edited by PetePublished · 6 min read
View from a sand hill over the narrow neck of Kangaroo Island near Pelican Lagoon, with the lagoon on the left, a road through the scrub and the Southern Ocean on the right
The isthmus near Pelican Lagoon, Kangaroo Island (2005). Photo: Roo72 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 DE

Darius Oliver's clifftop course on Kangaroo Island takes public bookings from mid-November, ten months later than first planned. Green fees are still unpublished. Plus how to get there, where to stay and how to add Royal Adelaide or Kooyonga.

The Cliffs Kangaroo Island will take public bookings from mid-November, Aussie Golfer reported today, ten months after the date first given for preview play. The course sits at Pelican Lagoon, on the narrow neck of land that joins Kangaroo Island’s Dudley Peninsula to the rest of the island, and the island is a 30-minute flight from Adelaide. What it costs to play is still not public: the club’s fees page says only that green fees are “coming soon”.

How the opening slipped

The developer, Sam Atkins, brought in Darius Oliver in 2016, shortly after Cape Wickham opened on King Island. Oliver co-designed Cape Wickham with Mike DeVries. Golf Course Architecture lists what held the project up after that: planning obstacles, bushfires, the Covid-19 pandemic and water infrastructure.

In February 2025 the club announced preview play from January 2026 and an official opening at Easter. By June 2025 ten holes had been grassed and the Easter opening still stood. Neither date held. Exceptional Kangaroo Island, a local tour operator, told the travel trade on 28 September that preview play planned for March 2026 had been delayed, but that the official opening was “still on track for November 2026”. Aussie Golfer’s report says the course still needs time to grow in.

Five holes on the cliff edge

The 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 14th and 15th run along the clifftops above the Southern Ocean, and the 1st, 7th and 13th play south towards the edge. Oliver has compared the site with Cape Wickham: “The Cliffs is set along a more linear coastline, with the seaside golf up on much higher cliffs.”

Planet Golf lists the 8th and 14th as par 3s, the 15th as a par 5 and the 16th as a short par 4. The par-3 12th looks inland over Pelican Lagoon, and the 18th turns back from the coast with a last view of the ocean. Oliver says bunkers are used “sparingly and strategically”. On the inland holes, he says, island pasture grasses in the rolling dunes make the rough. Some holes pass through stands of old bearded heath.

What the club hasn’t published

Besides the green fee, the club has not published the course’s yardage or par, a booking window, or rules on walking. Its FAQ says club, shoe and buggy hire will be available from the pro shop. Golf by Oliver reports that a temporary clubhouse will serve the opening, and the Mercure lodge at American River says the clubhouse restaurant, bar and café are planned for 2027–28. Accommodation on the property will come later. Until the fees appear, the club takes enquiries at hello@thecliffs.com.au.

Until a tee time and a price are confirmed in writing, we would not book flights that can’t be changed.

Ferry or a 30-minute flight

By sea: Cape Jervis, the ferry port, is about 88km south of Adelaide. SeaLink sails to Penneshaw every day except Christmas Day. The Cliffs puts the crossing at about 45 minutes and the drive from Penneshaw to the course at about 20. Kangaroo Island is Australia’s third-largest island, and taking a car across is the simplest way to get around it.

By air: Qantas flies from Adelaide to Kingscote in about 30 minutes. The Cliffs says there are on average 12 flights a week. The course is about 40 minutes’ drive from Kingscote airport.

From Europe there is no direct flight to Adelaide. Emirates (via Dubai), Qatar Airways (via Doha) and Singapore Airlines (via Singapore) all fly in. Adelaide Airport is about 6km from the city centre.

Beds in American River and Kingscote

The closest established base is the Mercure Kangaroo Island Lodge at American River, about 20 minutes from the course. In Kingscote, the island’s main town, the Ozone Hotel is on the seafront and puts itself 35 minutes from the course. The Ellson Hotel, a rebuild of the old Kangaroo Island Seaview Motel in Kingscote, reopens in December with 49 rooms. At the top end, Exceptional Kangaroo Island says it is taking enquiries for 2027 packages pairing The Cliffs with Southern Ocean Lodge and One Kangaroo Island.

November to March: the dry months

Bureau of Meteorology records for Kingscote give an average January maximum of 23.7°C and about 15mm of rain for the month. The average maximum is 20.5°C in November and 22.2°C in March. In July it is 14.6°C, with 77mm of rain.

Royal Adelaide, Kooyonga and the 2027 Women’s Open

Two of South Australia’s best-known courses are in Adelaide’s western suburbs, and both have staged the Women’s Australian Open.

Royal Adelaide was founded in 1892 and moved to Seaton, about 9km north-west of the city centre, in 1906. Alister MacKenzie is one of the designers credited with the course, which has hosted nine Australian Opens (the last in 1998, won by Greg Chalmers). The club calls it “a top-10 Australian course”. It does not publish visitor rates. Interstate and overseas golfers send a booking enquiry through the website, and the club warns that “limited opportunities exist”. The club says fees may rise around the AFL’s Gather Round and LIV Golf Adelaide.

A wide sand bunker in a fairway at Royal Adelaide Golf Club, with trees behind under a blue sky Royal Adelaide (July 2026). Photo: RegionVisitor90 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Kooyonga, at Brooklyn Park, staged this year’s Women’s Australian Open and is about 15 minutes from the city centre. It is a private club, but visitors can apply for tee times. The South Australian Tourism Commission lists visitor green fees of A$395 to A$475.

In March Golf Australia named Royal Adelaide as host of the 2027 Women’s Australian Open, to be played from 11 to 14 March. The club’s website still says it will take no bookings for February or March 2027 until the tournament dates are confirmed. A trip in those months should be built around Kooyonga and The Cliffs.

Sources

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