PRESS RELEASE: The Festival of Golf returns to the Gold Coast! Sanctuary Cove, March 2026: a reimagined celebration of golf, lifestyle and community

MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 26, 2025

The Festival of Golf returns to the Gold Coast!
Sanctuary Cove, March 2026: a reimagined celebration of golf, lifestyle and community

The 2026 Gold Coast Festival of Golf returns to the world-renowned Sanctuary Cove, Queensland from 19-22 March 2026, with The Palms Golf Course at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club set to host the world-class Australian WPGA Championship.

The Festival of Golf will transform Sanctuary Cove into a celebration of golf and golfing lifestyle, where everyone is welcome. Set against the backdrop of the world-renowned Gold Coast, it’s the perfect destination for memory-making and sporting milestone moments: where champions rise, communities unite, and golf finds its future.

The Festival of Golf also incorporates a golf exhibition – a one-stop curated expo that brings together leading golf and lifestyle brands, retailers, and operators all showcasing the very best in golf and innovation. If you’re levelling up your golf game, this exhibition offers unbeatable deals on golf gear, equipment and travel, plus golf simulators and interactive golf challenges.

For foodie lovers, the Festival of Golf will serve up mouth-watering culinary creations, craft brews, and boutique wines to thousands of eager festival-goers.

The Australian WPGA Championship will take place throughout the week: a world-class tournament where the best women golfers on the planet compete for the Karrie Webb Cup, and $600k in prize money.

The 2026 Championship marks the first occasion that the event will be played as a standalone tournament, with the 2025 event unfortunately cancelled due to Cyclone Alfred; the 2026 Festival of Golf also promises a high-energy, feel-good, inclusive celebration, where golf meets food, fun, fashion, and community spirit.

The Festival of Golf is the event happening around it, and will be something entirely fresh and new: a festival of fun, discovery and connection, a place to eat, drink, watch, play, learn, shop, and come away feeling part of something.

The prestige of the WPGA and the inclusive Festival elements will ensure that whether you’re a die-hard golf fan, a curious local, a first-time golfer, or all round sports lover – there’s something for everyone.

Opportunities to exhibit and showcase your brand’s products to a captive audience of passionate golf fans are still available. It’s an unmissable opportunity to put your brand in the spotlight and connect with a passionate crowd of golf lovers and lifestyle enthusiasts!

Festival of Golf will be delivered by Mulpha Events, and the WPGA Championship will be delivered by WPGA Tour of Australasia, with support from Experience Gold Coast, Tourism & Events Queensland, and Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club, all of whom share their enthusiasm for this event.

More info, see link below.

The very best part of the Festival of Golf is that it’s FREE to attend! What an offering – it’s packed with entertainment, and open to everyone.

Event Basics:
Dates
19-22 March, 2026

Venue
Sanctuary Cove, Gold Coast

Times
6.00am – 6.00pm on Thursday & Friday
6.30am – 4.00pm on Saturday, play finished by 4.00pm on Sunday

Website

Social Handles
Facebook: @goldcoastfestivalofgolf
Instagram: @goldcoastfestivalofgolf
Hashtags:
#FestivalOfGolf #WPGA2026 #GolfReimagined #SanctuaryCove #GoldCoastEvents

Media Assets:
Link to authorised images for media use HERE: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rBjmYUJO41fVxqxxvwjwVZfzDKHmKzC8

Ticket Pricing
Championship Lounge hospitality – $250 – buy tickets HERE: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=WPGAGC26&v=SNC&p=EBRQ2026683CL
Festival of Golf – free to attend – sign up to be notified for registration details HERE: https://share.hsforms.com/1DQMAHTL1Qpu0w4PxKYnt3gc3gvh
Festival events – some public-entry events inside the Festival require a paid ticket – sign up to the Festival of Golf mailing list to be notified when tickets go on sale HERE: https://share.hsforms.com/1DQMAHTL1Qpu0w4PxKYnt3gc3gvh

Media Contact
Josie Gagliano
[email protected]
0411 234 022

GOLFING STATS

A whopping 17.6 million people around the world are fans of women’s golf. Nine million Australians have an interest in golf, with 4.5 million active fans regularly engaging with the sport, by watching, reading about, or playing golf.

Furthermore, 70% of people globally now watch women’s sport; golf has enjoyed a 25% year on year increase in female participation. There has been a 13% year on year increase in the junior program MyGolf. And women’s golf is the number two most participated sport in Australia, with the current trajectory signifying that it will soon officially be number one.

Plus, 5.8 million Australians are interested in picking up the game in some format.

On a global scale, golf fans include a 57% male and 43% female audience, with 1 in 5 Australians being active golf fans.

Meanwhile, 32% of Aussie golf fans have an average income greater than $150k, with 29% aged between 18 and 34 years old.

*Sources: Golf Australia National Representation Study 2023; Golf Australia State of the Game 2023/24 Research; and UN Women, Sports Pro, GWI, Women’s Sport Trust, The R&A, Sponsor United, NGF.

ABOUT MULPHA EVENTS

With a focus on engagement and quality, Mulpha Events has a reputation for producing and delivering some of Australia’s most loved events. From two of Australia’s largest boating showcases – the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show and the Sydney International Boat Show – to the Gold Coast Festival of Golf, Australian Adventure Expo, food and wine festivals, live music festivals, outdoor, lifestyle exhibitions, product launches and corporate conferences, the Mulpha Events team provides experience and creativity in bringing to life the commercial and strategic event objectives of the events it owns and manages. mulphaevents.com.au

Mulpha Events is part of the Mulpha Group (‘Mulpha’) which offers over 30 years of investment experience in Australia. The Group has an extensive portfolio of real estate, property development, hospitality, retirement, private equity and debt assets, and invests in some of the fastest growing and most vibrant economies in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and the UK. In Australia, Mulpha’s investment portfolio includes Sanctuary Cove, Norwest Business and Residential Park in Sydney; flagship InterContinental Hotels in Sydney, Sanctuary Cove and Hayman Island; Swing City, and Bimbadgen, The Lane Retreat & Emma’s Cottage in the Hunter Valley. mulpha.com.au