Turkey

Superb value, wonderful weather and Top 100 courses… what’s not to like?

November 18, 1994 was a great day for golf; the game was born in Turkey. Starting with the opening of National Golf Club in Antalya, golf on the south coast of Turkey has snowballed into the biggest challenger to Iberia.

When you consider the wealth of options in Belek today, the fact that day was less than 18 years ago is staggering. There are now 17 courses on this golden strip of terrain and the proliferation of venues has been brilliant news for golfers.

Turkey has a couple of distinct advantages over its competitors: it’s not in the euro, so our pounds go further; and its southerly location gives it a couple of extra months of superb weather compared to countries further north in Europe. So not only is it cheaper to holiday there – and there are some amazing all-inclusive deals to be snapped up in five-star hotels – you can head there in November confident you will be greeted by sunshine.

The courses aren’t just fields with flags in them either. They are of a high enough quality for Belek to have been named Europe’s Golf Destination of the Year in 2008 in the prestigious IAGTO Awards. A mark of the progress of golf in Belek was demonstrated by the fact IAGTO held the International Golf Travel Market there last November.

Some seriously big names are also involved; Sir Nick Faldo designed the three loops of nine at the Cornelia De Luxe. No expense was spared here on and off the course at this typically tricky Faldo design which requires accuracy to stay out of the trees. The Prince combination was No.87 in Golf World’s European Top 100 last year. The man who succeeded Faldo as European captain, Colin Montgomerie, has also left his mark in Belek. The Montgomerie Maxx Royal, formerly known as Papillon, is routed through sandy seasideridges interspersed with pine and eucalyptus forest.

Montgomerie has a long-running successful relationship withEuropean Golf Design and together they create strategic courses with astute and penal bunkering. Another course to make it into Golf World’s Top 100 was Carya in the Kadriye Region, which is the work of Open legend Peter Thomson and his design consultants Ross Perrett and Tim Lobb The Australian believes Carya to be reminiscent of the heathland courses in Surrey, dominated as it is by pine and eucalyptus trees.

Antalya Golf Club boasts two courses, the PGA Sultan and the Pasha. The latter is a fine holiday course among mature woodland while the Sultan is a different scenario altogether; another EGD layout, this seriously tough, 7,083-yard course comprises lakes, pot bunkers and trees. Another European Top 100 course, it is carved through terrain which was once more swamp than golf course.

The top-rated course in Belek is a venue which offers something totally different; a genuine links. Lykia Links moved up 11 places to 52 in Golf World’s 2011 Top 100 and, along with the Sultan, is the real championship test in the area. Designed by Pete Dye’s son Perry, it is 6,924 yards and incorporates deep bunkers, protected by railway sleepers, and massive waste areas with slick greens. “For a course on the Mediterranean, Lykia Links is pretty hard to beat,” Dye told Golf Escapes. “American designers don’t get that much chance to work on genuine links – so I was pretty glad to be given that job!”

The support cast to these starstudded courses is excellent too. Gloria has a total of 45 holes at the foot of the Taurus Mountains, with the Old the stand-out venue. Kaya Eagles has been open for four years now and is a David Jones design amid a woodland of pine, eucalyptus and olive trees with eight lakes creating lots of water hazards. Senior Tour player Jones was also behind the inaugural Belek venue, The National, laying it out in conjunction with Ryder Cup player turned pundit David Feherty.

Dave Thomas is fairly prolific on the continent and his Belek work can be seen at Robinson (Nobilis), which is routed through a forest alongside the Acısu River with views of the Taurus Mountains. Sueno opened in late 2008 and has two courses – the Dunes resort course and the longer, narrower and much tougher Pines course. The two tracks feature a total of 20 lakes and 128 bunkers.

Finally, TAT International is better than its odd name suggests – as you’d expect from three loops of nine which were designed by the Hawtree firm between the Besgoz River and the Mediterranean.

	Kusadasi Golf in Turkey now doesn’t just mean Belek. There is also a stunning new resort overlooking the Aegean Sea to consider…
	Golf Escapes – Price Busters Golf Escapes are delighted to partner Sueno Golf Hotels Belek in offering some fabulous five-star golf packages this spring and summer….
	Lykia Links Enjoy a prestigious golf experience at Lykia Links, Antalya – a 603,000 sqm, 18-hole championship Golf Course