LIV's financial losses do not deter SA premier from $50m golf course
The current plan is for LIV Golf to move to the Kooyonga Golf Club in 2027 and then to a new course at North Adelaide being designed by golfing great Greg Norman. (Supplied)
In short:
The SA premier has rejected suggestions LIV Golf's losses of more than $1 billion will make his government's North Adelaide golf course redevelopment plan a risky investment.
The state government this year took control of the city council's course to spearhead a $50 million redevelopment led by Greg Norman Golf Course Design.
What's next?
The government has revealed that the Kooyonga Golf Club in Lockleys will host LIV Golf Adelaide — which has so far been hosted by Grange Golf Club — in 2027.
Premier Peter Malinauskas says his government's plan to spend $50 million on redeveloping a public golf course in North Adelaide is "not dependent" on hosting LIV Golf, following revelations the Saudi-backed tournament has lost more than a billion dollars in three years.
It comes as the state government today revealed that the Kooyonga Golf Club in Lockleys will host LIV Golf Adelaide in 2027, ahead of the tournament's planned move to a redeveloped North Adelaide golf course in 2028.
Grange Golf Club has hosted the event since its inception in 2023 and will hold it for the last time in 2026.
The premier this year unveiled a deal extending to 2031. (ABC News)
The premier said Kooyonga was "obviously one of the pre-eminent golf clubs in the nation" and noted that the course was closer to the city than Grange.
"The course itself is of even a higher standard than what we've seen in the past, and that represents an opportunity to showcase yet another magnificent golfing tradition here in South Australia,"he said.
"It's a proud club. It's one that's hosted plenty of professional tournaments in the past … it's got a record of success in hosting events like this."
Adelaide has the hosting rights for LIV Golf until 2031.
The Malinauskas government earlier this year took control of Adelaide City Council's North Adelaide golf course to spearhead a $50 million redevelopment led by Greg Norman Golf Course Design.
LIV Golf finances in question
The Kooyonga announcement comes in a week where the spotlight has been on LIV Golf's finances.
Documents lodged with the UK's Companies House earlier this month show LIV Golf's UK arm — which is responsible for the golf tour's operations outside the United States — lost $US461.3 million ($702 million) in 2024.
That's on top of $US393.9 million lost in 2023 and $US243.7 million lost in the 18 months to the end of 2022.
With total losses amounting to more than $US1.1 billion over three years, the company's directors wrote that there is "a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt over the Group and Parent Company's ability to continue as a going concern".
The LIV competition has been played at the Grange Golf Club. (ABC News: Rory McClaren)
But the directors also noted the Saudi Public Investment Fund — one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world — has a "willingness and ability … to provide the necessary financial support".
"The directors believe that the Group and Parent Company has continued access to sufficient financial resources to support the business to meet its liability as and when they fall due," the filing states.
The state opposition seized on the financial filings this week to raise questions about both LIV Golf and the North Adelaide course.
"We're not doing our job as an opposition if we don't ask about what impact this is going to have on the future of LIV Golf," Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia told ABC Radio.
"It's unsustainable for an organisation to have hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
"We want to know what exposure has the South Australian taxpayer got especially if LIV continues to suffer these losses."
Mr Tarzia also said there was "a lot of scepticism" that the North Adelaide redevelopment will be ready by 2028 given "we still haven't seen the designs".
But the premier rejected those concerns today, saying "the only reason why it [the course] won't be ready is if the Liberal Party keep opposing it the way they do and they come to government".
Asked if it was risky to be investing in North Adelaide given LIV Golf's finances, Mr Malinauskas said: "No, because we are investing in the North Adelaide public golf course irrespective of the opportunity with LIV."
"LIV helps improve the economics of the proposition, but it's not dependent upon it, because what we will have is a public facility for public use every single week of the year when it's not being used for tournament," he said.
The North Adelaide course has been put forward as the site for future LIV tournaments, after Grange and then Kooyonga host the event. (ABC News: Carl Saville)
He also said once the North Adelaide course is finished, there will be "nowhere else in the world that has got such a highly ranked public golf course effectively in the CBD".
"Why wouldn't we bring that opportunity to life?" Mr Malinauskas said.
"Now of course there'll be all the naysayers and the complainants, there'll be all the NIMBYs, there'll be the people that want to protest and complain.
"But as a government we believe in just getting things done, and what we'll see once the ribbon is cut is something for the state to be proud of."
Adelaide event LIV's best performer
LIV Golf UK's financial filings also revealed that its Australian operations were its biggest money spinner, generating $25.8 million in revenue in 2024.
The Adelaide event represented roughly 40 per cent of the company's $64.9 million in revenue last year.
North Adelaide Golf Club president Kevin Naughton was undeterred by LIV's losses, saying any exercise necessitating "the construction of new infrastructure" and the creation of "an entire new entity" typically involved heavy up-front costs.
"You're always going to carry heavy losses early — if that's their business model, that's fine," he said.
"I did note that 40 per cent of the revenue generated so far has come out of the Adelaide event, and I take that to mean that the whole world would look at that and say, 'Boy, Adelaide is kind of the place to be for major events like that.'"
LIV Golf Adelaide tournament director Nick Haslam said he was "probably not best to comment" on whether LIV Golf UK's losses affected the event's future viability.
"Other than certainly from the performance of this tournament, you've seen … we've had 102,000 people come here in 2025," he told reporters today.
"We've got 15 corporate partners. Year on year, that corporate partner portfolio for the Adelaide tournament has grown and we're looking to continue to do that.
"As far as LIV, I'm probably not best to comment other than to say that they've had some really good headway with some of their global partners they've announced in recent times."