View to a thrill: golf nirvana rises from the ashes of Kangaroo Island
After being battered by bushfires and border closures, Kangaroo Island is swinging back to life as work begins on what will be one of the world’s must-play golf courses.
After being battered by bushfires and border closures, Kangaroo Island is swinging back to life as work begins on what will be one of the world’s must-play golf courses perched on its southern clifftops looking out towards Antarctica.
Having secured the services of internationally renown course designer Darius Oliver, The Cliffs is set to become a much-needed beacon for high-end tourism on the island, still reeling from the complete incineration of the exclusive Southern Ocean Lodge in the January blaze.
But The Cliffs will remain a public course so that even weekend hackers can enjoy what promises to be a stunning links layout that uses its coastal clifftop setting more as an aesthetic backdrop than a punishing obstacle.
The final drawings of the course design remain a closely guarded secret, but The Weekend Australian understands seven of its 18 holes will run parallel to the clifftop, so slicing is not an option.
The course will be situated near the town of American River between Pelican Lagoon and nearby Pennington Bay.
Speaking exclusively to The Weekend Australian, Oliver — who also designed the legendary Cape Wickham course on King Island in Tasmania, ranked No 2 in Australia — said he had never been so excited about designing a golf course.
“I have been to about 2000 golf courses all over the world and I struggle to think of six or seven that are in this league,” he said.
“It’s got the most natural build. The course basically designs itself. Cape Wickham curves like Pebble Beach, but this a straight course. Superficially, it resembles Old Head in Ireland or Cabot Cliffs is Canada, but it has got a totally unique and mesmerising quality that comes from the fact that it’s on Kangaroo Island.
“The views just take your breath away. I want to live here. My wife and I fell in love with the place and I want to retire here.”
The Cliffs will include a restaurant, bar and four high-end suites, but with its location near the towns of American River, Island Beach and Penneshaw, there is also ample hotel and B&B accommodation to satisfy demand.
Project chief executive Sam Atkins said the course was designed as a carbon-neutral project and had satisfied strict environmental criteria, framed around mass plantings of natives and the complete eradication of the box thorn weed that has infested the course’s location and is spreading across the island.
With assistance from the state and federal governments, The Cliffs now has a guaranteed water supply under a $47m water deal. Mr Atkins told The Weekend Australian the clubhouse was expected to open by next Christmas with a soft launch in early 2022, and the course fully operational by the middle of that year.
“It’s going to do so much for KI in terms of employment and jobs and while it will attract a lot of high-end travellers from overseas it is going to be accessible to everyone,” Mr Atkins said.
Kangaroo Island mayor Michael Pengelly said that despite some concerns from local environmentalists, the islanders were “overwhelmingly excited” about the project.
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