As an Adelaide golf holiday specialist, Golf Explorer clients frequently ask the simple question, ‘What are the best golf courses in Adelaide?’ Being the exclusive golf tour operator for the Four Reds Golf and wine packages, Golf Explorer has sent hundreds of Australians and international visitors on golf holidays to Adelaide, South Australia.
There’s nothing they love better than packaging up the ideal Adelaide golf courses, accommodation and transfers for their clients. If you are travelling from interstate or from overseas, you are probably looking to play the best maintained, the highest-ranked or even the most scenic courses on offer within the State of South Australia.
As luck would have it, Adelaide is blessed with some truly spectacular, world-class golf courses and four of the best are located within a 5km radius of each other and just a 20- minute drive from the city centre. This makes it totally feasible to stay, either in the heart of the Adelaide CBD, or by the sandy white beaches of the popular beachside suburb of Glenelg and take short transfers to the golf course and back each day. It’s almost as if the city of Adelaide was designed around the concept of golfing holiday breaks!
So, let’s dive a little deeper into golf courses in Adelaide and compare their most noteworthy attributes Adelaide City Courses:
Adelaide city golf courses
The Royal Adelaide Golf Club
The highest ranking and perhaps most prestigious of all Adelaide golf courses, Royal Adelaide is ranked within the top 100 golf courses in the world. Located in the suburb of Seaton 9 kilometres from the CBD and 2 kilometres from the coast, it is a championship layout that has the distinctive characteristics of a links course. Founded in 1892, it was the first golf club to open for business in Adelaide. Over the years, it has played host to many prestigious tournaments, including The Australian Open and the South Australian Open. Members and visitors alike comment on the joy of playing a links style course so close to a major city centre.
Kooyonga Golf Club
Kooyonga Golf Club is situated just 15 minutes from the central business district of Adelaide and set among undulating sandhills. It has hosted many international and interstate championships and has always enjoyed a high ranking amongst private clubs in Australia. There is much to be enjoyed at Kooyonga including the land, the routing, the turf and above all the bunkering. It’s a wonderful test of golf on a beautifully presented golf course that simply won’t disappoint.
The Grange Golf Club (West Course)
Grange Golf Club is home to two championship 18-hole golf course, namely The West Course and The East Course. Generally considered the superior of the two courses, the West Course measures 6,840 yards from the back markers. It begins with a relatively easy par 5 and finishes with four testing par four holes. There are some very enjoyable tree-lined holes to be played in between making for a standout, traditional parkland track. Grange West Course played host to the 2016 and 2019 Women’s Australian Open.
The Grange Golf Club (East Course)
Grange East Golf Course was redesigned by the great Greg Norman in 2012 and ranked within Australia’s top 50 golf courses shortly afterwards. Incorporating wetlands and a forestry into the design, The East Course varies in style from the West Course. With a variety of both long and short holes, to score well it requires the focussed attention of even the most professional of golfers. Most of the greens are slightly less undulating than the West Course but still challenge even the best golfer, particularly in the summer when they run hard and fast.
Glenelg Golf Club
Glenelg is a lovely parkland members course situated in a coastal suburb of Adelaide. Built on a rolling sandy base, the course features elements of links golf. Even in the middle of the hot dry South Australian summer, Glenelg is famed for its beautifully conditioned, manicured greens. After a round at Glenelg, many golfers comment that the placement and style of the characteristic red sand bunkers, really add to the challenge. Glenelg Golf Club will appeal to the thinking golfer; it requires strategy and often calls for the use of every club in your bag!
Regional South Australia golf courses
Mount Osmond Golf Club
Just a 15-minute drive from the CBD, Mount Osmond Golf Club offers golfers glorious views of the City of Adelaide, Mount Lofty Ranges and South Australian coastline. Boasting an attractive heritage clubhouse, wide undulating fairways, challenging greens and a stimulating course layout, Mount Osmond is highly regarded by members and visitors alike. At this course, visitors are always welcome. What better way to enjoy a round and familiarise yourself with the topography of Adelaide and the surrounding area. After playing Mount Osmond, clients frequently tell us that it was their most enjoyable round of golf in Adelaide.
Links Lady Bay Golf Course
If it’s stunning ocean views and rolling vistas you are after, then look no further than Links Lady Bay Golf Course. Just an hour’s drive from Adelaide city Centre, this gem of a course is set in the beautiful tranquil, South Australian countryside. Get away from it all and enjoy the added bonus of spotting wild birds and kangaroos in their natural habitat, during your round. Strong enough from the back tees to test gifted golfers, yet fair enough to be enjoyed by the average golfer, this championship golf course is considered one of South Australia’s finest.
Mount Compass Golf Course
Located in the heart of South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula and an easy 45-minute drive from Adelaide city centre, Mount Compass Golf Club is certainly worth adding to any golf in Adelaide bucket-list. The layout of Mount Compass golf course delivers fun and a strategic round for golfers of all standards. In 2021 this South Australian gem rose 17 places to reach No.42 in Golf Australia magazine’s Top-100 Public Access Courses ranking, making it one of Australia’s most improved courses in recent years.
Tanunda Pines Golf Course
This world-class golf course is a stunning 18-hole, par-72 course with 100-year-old gum trees lining fairways that undulate across the hilltops of the Barossa Ranges. Located in the famous Barossa Valley wine region, just an hours’ drive from Adelaide, a round at Tanunda Pines is ideally combined with a visit to some of South Australia’s most prestigious cellar doors. This pretty, recently re-sequenced course won’t disappoint.
If you are short on time and want to centre your Adelaide golf break around city courses, then you might want to consider the Four Reds golf and wine packages. Combine a round on each of Adelaide’s four premier metropolitan golf courses (The Royal Adelaide Golf Club, Grange Golf Club, Kooyonga Golf Club & Glenelg Golf Club) and at the end of each round enjoy a bottle of specially paired premium South Australian red wine and a delicious, regionally sourced tasting platter. Packages include accommodation and transfers.
If, on the other hand, you prefer a mix of city and regional golf in Adelaide, don’t hesitate to contact Golf Explorer to discuss tailoring a South Australian golf package to suit your needs.
Whichever way you look at it, golfers in Adelaide are truly spoilt for choice. Come join them and see what all the fuss is about!
