Adelaide accommodation providers have had another field day at the expense of sports fans, with staggering prices across the board ahead of the rebel LIV Golf tournament this weekend.
On the back of more than 220,000 footy fans packing into Adelaide for the AFL’s Gather Round, 63,000 golf nuts are expected to pile into the Grange Golf Club for the LIV tournament.
And with a big majority of them coming from overseas or interstate, it’s seen as a ‘high-spending, high-worth’ group – and they’ll need to be to afford to keep a roof over their head.
The Stamford Grand in the beachside suburb of Glenelg only has three rooms, according to booking.com, left for the basic double bed which will set you back $828 for two nights, while at the Mayfair in the CBD a similar room will cost $1127 for Friday and Saturday night.
The Atura hotel at the Adelaide Airport is $894 for two-night stay in a double-bed room, while the Crowne Plaza in the CBD will set you back $898.
Aussie cult hero Cameron Smith is one of the hugely talented LIV golfers to head Down Under for the event in Adelaide – and fans are flocking to see him
Airbnb owners have posted exorbitant prices for very basic, bare rooms while LIV Golf is in Adelaide. This room with just a bed and desk costs $1732 over two nights. Visitors will also have to pay extra for heating, aircon, laundry and parking
A stay in this brick home in the beachside suburb of North Brighton – where median rent is $640 per week – has been listed at an eye-watering $8119
This room in Glenelg, which shares a bathroom, costs $1124 for two nights
This bedroom is part of a two-bedroom house close to Grange Golf Club that will set fans back $2772
The high prices and low availability has also extended to AirBnb properties that are either outdated, overpriced or very modest suburban houses – or all three.
As revealed in a Daily Mail Australia article ahead of Gather Round, one such example of that was a eight-bedroom brick home in North Brighton, a 30 minute drive from the course.
It was advertised for an eye-watering $19,431 for three nights, which didn’t appear to have been taken up, and despite being lowered to $8119 for two nights this weekend, is still at a staggering price.
A two-bedroom home around the corner from the course will set fans back $2772, while one room in Glenelg that shares a bathroom is going for $1124.
Another listing was for a private room in a four-bedroom house at the edge of the CBD, though visitors will have to share a bathroom, and pay a surcharge for laundry, parking, heating, aircon and internet. A $800 cleaning fee is part of the price.
Photos in the listing show a bare room with a just a mattress covered in a plastic sheet, small bedside table and basic study desk.
You’ll have to shell out $1732 to stay there for two nights, with the prime location a big drawcard.
Hotel industry insider Peter Hurley said there will be a very different demographic of sporting fans flocking to Adelaide to see Aussie stars like Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman tee off in Greg Norman’s rebel league.
‘There will probably be less families – this will be a high-spending, high-worth group,’ he told the Adelaide Advertiser.
‘We should be at close to 100 per cent capacity this weekend for the event but it will be a slightly different market, a lot more internationals will be coming in for this.
‘They won’t be after cafeteria meals, they will be dining in style and spending big – if they can see the value.’
Aussie golfers (left to right) Matt Jones, Jediah Morgan, Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman will be heading to Adelaide to compete as the Ripper GC team
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman actually won his first-ever professional tournament at the Grange Golf Club, way back in 1976
It’s certainly going to be a wild few days for golf fans.
A photo of the so-called ‘Party Hole’ at the 12th hole Grange Golf Club shows the fairway lined with stands, and watering hole for merry revellers at the end, which is sure to go off.
The course was in fact the scene for Norman’s first ever professional win – the 1976 West Lakes Classic – and is a picture of serenity sandwiched halfway between the Adelaide CBD and beach.
South Australia’s Tourism Minister, Zoe Bettison, said the coup of drawing the wildly popular LIV tournament was massive for the state.
‘LIV Golf brings some of the world’s best golf players to South Australia for the tournament’s first time on our nation’s shores, attracting interstate and international crowds, who are coming to Adelaide to see their favourite sportsmen, and experience what South Australia has to offer,’ she said,
‘With over 63,000 tickets sold across corporate and general admission, including all ground-passes having sold out, our state’s tourism and hospitality industry is preparing for another huge weekend, which translates to more visitors, more economic activity and more jobs for the industry.’
Gates open at 9am, with wall-to-wall action across all three days. The event will be broadcast live on Channel 7.