King Island’s Ocean Dunes golf course has been renamed King Links as part of a $38 million upgrade, including a 48-room hotel due to open in February.
The course has taken on the King Crab as its new visual identity. The lodge hotel is due to open on February 1, 2027, with a new clubhouse and on-course restaurant set to follow in early 2028.
King Island Mayor Marcus Blackie said the hotel would be a “game changer”, adding new accommodation that would bring more golfers and tourists to the island.
“The construction at the moment is employing a lot of people. In particular, local apprentices have been hired, which has been a fantastic win-win arrangement for King Island and for locals,” he said.
Second-year carpentry apprentice Seth Bowling, who lives on King Island, said it was the first time he had worked on a project like it.
“I’ve been loving it,” he said.
Apprentice carpenter Seth Alroy, who moved to the island from northern New South Wales about a year ago, said he would “100%” recommend working there.
“Everything’s a lot sort of slower and a lot more intimate,” he said.
Blackie said extra workers’ accommodation had been set up on the island to house the construction crew.
“So growing pains, but very good problems for a mayor to have,” he said.
King Links chair Andrew Muir said the course was among the world’s top 50 bucket-list golf courses, along with nearby Cape Wickham.
Muir said the club was “very thankful for the government and their support for their $10 million loan”.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the project would “elevate Tasmania’s position as a leader on the international stage of golf”.
“The rebirth of this spectacular course as King Links, King Island represents the next chapter in our state’s world-class tourism story,” he said.
Rockliff said the project mostly employed Tasmanians, including seven local apprentices “who are gaining invaluable world-class trade experience”.
“This isn’t just an investment in a premier global golf destination, it’s an investment in our people,” he said.
He said accommodation had been “a chicken and the egg thing when it comes to … development on the island”.
“I just see we’re on the cusp of something fantastic for King Island,” he said.
Rockliff pointed to the dairy being secured, the reopened mine and the island’s links courses, including Cape Wickham and King Links.
“I see [it] as a real opportunity for growth on the island,” he said.
Tourism Tasmania chief executive Sarah Kingston Clark said the rebrand would give more visitors a reason to make the journey to the island.
