LIV Golf Adelaide cash should help finish The Dunes course at Port Hughes, proponents say

Taking the sport to the regions is a hallmark of the AFL’s Gather Round – now there’s a push for LIV golf to do the same. Find out which club has swung into action for a cash boost.

Proponents of a Greg Norman-designed links club on Yorke Peninsula want the State Government to use the cash boost provided by LIV Golf to finish the course’s final nine holes.

The Dunes at Port Hughes has long been planned as an 18-hole PGA-standard course but remains incomplete after original developers went into receivership in 2012.

The course is now home to The Copperclub and boasts 340 members who dream their nine holes, designed by Norman, might one day become 18.

Copperclub golf and operations manager Rohan Bock and Member for Narungga Fraser Ellis have lobbied Premier Peter Malinauskas to make the completion of the course a legacy of the LIV Golf phenomenon in SA.

The Dunes at Port Hughes. Supplied by Colliers International

“Unfortunately, The Dunes has been stuck as a nine-hole course since development stalled some years ago and there is no prospect of the community club having the resources to finish the course themselves,” Mr Ellis said in a letter to the Premier.

“The initial developer no longer has stewardship of the project and the new owner has no intention of finishing the course.

“The Greg Norman course design … still exists and the land is still available.”

Mr Ellis said one of the reasons the AFL’s Gather Round had been so successful was because of State Government efforts to share the benefits between metropolitan and regional residents.

“New ovals in the Adelaide Hills and Barossa have been welcomed in those communities and ensured there is widespread support throughout the state,” he said.

“The opportunity now exists to do the same for golf and help a community club finish its course that was designed by the person who helped bring LIV Golf here – Greg Norman.”

Mr Bock said an 18-hole course at The Dunes would attract visitors to the Copper Coast during both the AFL’s Gather Round and LIV Golf’s annual Adelaide event. He said adding the extra nine holes would probably cost about $9m.

Greg Norman visits the golf course he has designed at The Dunes, Port Hughes in 2010. Picture: Jo-anna Robinson

Mr Malinauskas in February announced a deal for LIV Golf Adelaide to switch from Grange Golf Club to a new course, to be designed by Greg Norman, in North Adelaide 2028. The new course is set to cost taxpayers ten of millions of dollars.

A state government spokesman said there were no plans to invest in The Dunes.

“The State Government’s investments in Barossa Park and the North Adelaide public golf course will help grow both LIV Golf and Gather Round, and attract other major events, while at the same time delivering greatly improved community facilities for the public to enjoy,” he said.

Queensland developer Metacap has taken carriage of the Port Hughes development. Acquisitions and marketing director Steve Condon said an 18-hole course at The Dunes was not currently included in its plans.

Originally published as LIV Golf Adelaide cash should help finish The Dunes course at Port Hughes, proponents say