{"id":468155,"date":"2026-02-09T08:30:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/468155\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T08:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:30:16","slug":"liv-golf-star-gets-first-look-at-australias-next-bucket-list-course-and-yes-were-jealous-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/468155\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf star gets first look at Australia\u2019s next bucket-list course \u2013 and, yes, we\u2019re jealous \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>              February 9th, 2026                <\/p>\n<p>\n                By Australian Golf Digest              <\/p>\n<p>One of the rising stars of world golf just ticked off an Aussie course few have ever seen \u2013 and the footage will leave you itching to jump on a plane, or ferry, tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>Fireballs GC\u2019s Josele Ballester kicked off his first-ever LIV Golf Adelaide week with a sneak peek at The Cliffs Kangaroo Island, a spectacular new public course set to open in late 2026. <\/p>\n<p>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.australiangolfdigest.com.au\/cam-smith-opens-up-on-brutal-matt-jones-call-and-why-elvis-smylie-can-be-the-best-golfer-in-the-world\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cam Smith opens up on \u2018brutal\u2019 Matt Jones axing, and why Elvis Smylie can be \u2018the best golfer in the world\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Designed by acclaimed Australian architect\u00a0Darius Oliver, the 18-hole layout sits dramatically on the edge of Kangaroo Island and is already being touted by experts as a must-play.<\/p>\n<p>Ballester is among the\u00a0first people in the world\u00a0to sample the course, before heading to Adelaide for final preparations ahead of LIV Golf Adelaide, which tees off Thursday. Watch the footage here:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been incredible. I didn\u2019t really know what to expect, honestly,\u201d Ballester said. \u201cI did see some pictures online and couldn\u2019t wait to be one of the first to come here and test the course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been cool to see so many kangaroos hopping around the greens. It\u2019s amazing to play a such a great course and engage with nature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Set against the wild, untouched beauty of Kangaroo Island,\u00a0The Cliffs KI\u00a0is a public-access course that leans hard into its natural surroundings \u2013 expansive bushland, roaming wildlife and jaw-dropping coastal scenery.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Josele-Ballester-Kangaroo-Island-LIV-1024x576.webp.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-142667\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Accessible by daily flights with Qantas or ferries with Sealink, Kangaroo Island is already a destination. Soon, it\u2019ll be home to one of Australia\u2019s most anticipated new golf courses.<\/p>\n<p>For Ballester, it was the perfect calm-before-the-storm ahead of LIV Golf Adelaide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis part of South Australia has treated me so well, so hopefully that continues at LIV Golf Adelaide this week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In our eyes, Ballester has already won this week. Lucky bugger!<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about The Cliffs KI, visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thecliffs.com.au.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">thecliffs.com.au.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"February 9th, 2026 By Australian Golf Digest One of the rising stars of world golf just ticked off&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,239275,159564,173991,755,239276,25160,14239,126132,3861,239277,85,239278],"class_list":["post-468155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-darius-oliver","tag-ferries","tag-fireballs","tag-golf","tag-josele-ballester","tag-kangaroo-island","tag-liv-golf","tag-liv-golf-adelaide","tag-qantas","tag-sea-link","tag-sports","tag-the-cliffs-ki"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}