Pelican Lagoon, Australia
The Cliffs Kangaroo Island is an 18-hole links-style golf course designed by Darius Oliver, set on 500-million-year-old cliffs above the Southern Ocean at Pelican Lagoon. Opening in 2026 after more than a decade of development, it is the only purpose-built destination golf course in South Australia.
The Cliffs Kangaroo Island is an 18-hole links-style golf course designed by Darius Oliver, set on 500-million-year-old cliffs above the Southern Ocean at Pelican Lagoon. Opening in 2026 after more than a decade of development, it is the only purpose-built destination golf course in South Australia.
The Cliffs Kangaroo Island occupies a 600-acre coastal property in Pelican Lagoon on Australia's third-largest island, with five holes running directly along clifftops rising above the Southern Ocean. Designed by Darius Oliver, who co-designed Cape Wickham Links on King Island, the routing combines elevated cliff-edge holes with rolling duneland corridors and native vegetation, making it the only dedicated destination golf course in South Australia.
The site at Pelican Lagoon was identified as a potential golf development more than a decade ago by construction contractor Programmed Turnpoint, which has since handled course construction. The South Australian Government designated the project Major Project status following an initial development approval in February 2016, recognising its potential to attract international tourism to the island.
Developer Sam Atkins engaged Darius Oliver to create a routing in 2016, shortly after Cape Wickham Links opened on King Island. Oliver re-assessed the site and pushed holes closer to the clifftops, moving the clubhouse onto the coastal crown reserve to maximise the golfing and visual potential of the landscape.
The project endured a series of significant delays, including planning obstacles, the 2019–20 Kangaroo Island bushfires, the Covid-19 pandemic, and delays with water infrastructure.
Ground was officially broken in December 2022, with a $20 million budget and a projected construction timeline targeting late 2024. Construction of all 18 holes was completed in late 2025, with preview play commencing in early 2026 ahead of the official opening at Easter 2026.
The Cliffs is an 18-hole links-style layout built across rolling duneland on the southern coastline of Kangaroo Island. Oliver's routing places five holes — the 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 14th and 15th — directly along the clifftops, with three further holes (1, 7 and 13) playing towards the cliff edge. The 18th does not reach the coast but provides a final view of the Southern Ocean before returning to the clubhouse.
Away from the clifftops, the internal holes weave through rolling dunes covered in island pasture grasses, native heath forests and remnant dune tussocks. Oliver has noted that several of these inland holes are likely to rank among the favourites for returning visitors. A glimpse of Pelican Lagoon is visible from the par-three 12th, adding variety to the views across the back nine.
Bunkers are used sparingly across the layout. Sand waste areas appear on pure dune holes, while the inland holes feature rough comprising island pasture grasses rather than heavy sand-fill construction. The shaping team, Lindsay Richter, Glen Peck and finisher Cameron Semple, worked previously on Cape Wickham, though Oliver notes the two courses are quite different in character, given Kangaroo Island's more linear coastline and consistently elevated clifftops.
The clubhouse, designed by South Australian practice Walter Brooke, includes a restaurant, bar, café, pro shop and corporate spaces, all with views across the course and Southern Ocean. Accommodation lodges on the western end of the property are planned to open later in 2026.
The Cliffs Kangaroo Island represents more than a decade of persistence from developer Sam Atkins and architect Darius Oliver, delivered through bushfires, a pandemic and significant planning delays. The result is South Australia's first purpose-built destination golf course, positioned on 500-million-year-old cliffs with five holes running directly along the Southern Ocean coastline.
For travelling golfers considering the trip, Kangaroo Island is accessible by ferry from Cape Jervis (approximately 45 minutes to Penneshaw) or by air from Adelaide, with Qantas Dash-8 Q400.
The combination of cliff-top links golf, native fauna, including kangaroos, Tammar wallabies, echidnas and wedge-tailed eagles, and the island's wider tourism infrastructure makes The Cliffs a standalone travel destination rather than simply an add-on to a mainland Australian golf itinerary.
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