Golf in Turkey: The best of Belek

The Cornelia Golf Resort in Belek.

When we talk golf in Turkey, we really mean Belek. Nestling on the Mediterranean in what is colloquially known as the Turkish Riviera, Belek is primarily a seaside resort that discovered golf and is now almost certainly the fastest-growing European golf destination.

It’s all thanks to a sizeable strip of real estate just inland from the beach, which is simply perfect for golf. Pine trees have been planted in the sandy soil to create what is now ideal golfing terrain.

It also has the considerable benefit of a water table a little more than a deep divot below the surface, so attractive water features are sprinkled liberally about. It all creates a landscape that is now home to some of the very best golf resorts in Europe.

What land has not already been converted to golf is quite probably scheduled for golf. Although, frankly, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of room left for any more bunkers in Belek and so developers are searching slightly further along the coast.

The most famous, big-name architects have created outstanding courses. None is disappointing and more than a few are quite exceptional.  Nothing further removed from the no-frills ‘holiday’ courses you might expect to find could be imagined.

Just as impressive as the courses are the attached clubhouses, which are huge, glass-plated, marble-floored, no-expense-spared mini palaces. But even they are eclipsed on the ‘Posh and Becks Scale of Sumptuousness’ by the spectacular, way-over-the-top, five-star, leviathan hotels, of which there are no fewer than 49 in Belek.

So dense is the concentration of resorts, developers must surely be struggling to find a plot big enough to squeeze in number 50.

Probably the most golden of golden rules when staying in a classy hotel is that, no matter how hungry or, more likely, thirsty you are, never open the door of the mini-bar. Inside are all sorts of tempting goodies that are almost impossible to resist, especially after a gruelling round of golf under a searing sun. But a beer on your balcony and what appear to be a few harmless Pringles could cost roughly the equivalent of a new driver.

But this rule will have to be amended now that I’ve stayed at the fabulous Gloria Serenity Like nearly every other hotel in town, it offers an ‘all-inclusive’ option, which means everything, even the mini-bar, if not exactly ‘free’, is included in the price of the room.

So, standing over a three-foot putt to win the match you can concentrate on the line confident in the knowledge there will be no nasty surprises when the time comes to check out.

Staying at the most glorious of the three Gloria hotels, it seemed only right and proper to begin swinging in my own backyard. Like several of the resort hotels here, Gloria has a pair of attached, 18-hole courses. They should have learnt the same lesson as St Andrews and realised that naming anything ‘new’ is fraught.

Though much newer than the New Course (1895) in the Auld Grey Toon, nevertheless the title ‘New’ will inevitably become progressively more inappropriate as the years roll by. And supposing Gloria builds a third course, will they call it the ‘Even Newer’ or ‘Newest’? Well, they already have and unsurprisingly didn’t choose either as the latest nine-hole challenge has been baptised ‘Verde’.

Laid out by Frenchman Michel Gayon and opened in 2005, the parkland-style New course at Gloria is both visually attractive and challenging to play. It’s not overly long (6,300 metres from the back tees), but its varied, undulating, tree-lined terrain is further shaped by four large lakes and 67 bunkers.

Curiously, it has five par fives and five par threes, which is somewhat unusual but rather appealing for those weary of the modern habit of creating a seemingly endless succession of overly-long par fours.

The short holes are all spectacular, especially the third where the green is protected by an ornate rockery and the 17th, which is surrounded by water and echoes its ‘numbersake’ at Sawgrass. There’s no serious rough to needlessly slow play and spoil the experience.

Another Gayon design, the Old offers no gentle introduction as the first two holes are among the toughest before it begins weaving through a forest and every fairway is flanked with pine trees. Seven extensive lakes add considerably to both the problems and visual appeal. The only mild criticism could perhaps be levelled at the somewhat routine par three 18th, which is a rather anti-climactic finishing hole.

Stepping off the final green, I was approached by a middle-aged man who, rather embarrassingly, pointed to my grubby shoes and indicated where the left one was coming apart at the seams.

“Me fix, I’m a shoe doctor,” he declared. So, for €10 my shoes were repaired, polished and ready by the time I had finished my pint. I later discovered that quite a few courses retain the services of a shoe doctor and so be prepared.

The classy Nick Faldo design at Cornelia Golf Club opened in November 2006 and consists of three nine-hole loops, charmingly named Tiberius, Sempronia and Galus. The three nines couple to create three different 18-hole combinations equally charmingly named Prince, Queen and King.

Incidentally, the holes are also individually named. Built on either side of a spine of sand dunes, all three nines thread their way between umbrella pines and the several doglegs are not unexpected on a Faldo design where strategic acumen rather than brute force is the principal requirement.

Factor in elevated tees, tight tee-shots, not too many bunkers, numerous beautiful but treacherous lakes, lovely glimpses of the Taurus mountains, proper par-fives and it’s easy to understand quite why this Woburnesque-styled challenge is so highly rated.

Though quite hard to imagine, it is conceivable that some might grow weary of threading their tee-shot between the seemingly ubiquitous pine trees that are such a feature of the courses around Belek. If so, there are two notable exceptions.

The older of these is Lykia Links. It is half-an-hour’s drive from Belek and billed as the eastern Mediterranean’s only links course. It looks remarkably authentic with perfectly shaped ‘dunes’, adjacent waves lapping the shore and railway sleepers in the bunkers. It isn’t, of course, a genuine links but this Perry Dye designed course is undoutedly a masterpiece.

Closer to downtown Belek but still a modest distance away from the other courses is Cullilnan Links. It’s yet another impressive resort with yet another gargantuan hotel. You might hear it referred to as Titanic, which is what it used to be called before new owners arrived.

Among the things they did was expand the number of holes from 27 to 36. Consequently, both courses are rather short with nearly all the par fours comfortably reachable in two even for modest hitters. This is both rather refreshing as well as somewhat flattering. The overall feel is one of openness and the bright white sand in the bunkers, the lush green of the fairways and sparkling blue of the Mediterranean combine to create a quite dazzling vista.

The two courses occupy a very attractive strip of land sandwiched between a river and the deep blue sea. There are some trees but progressively fewer the closer you get to the beach. With a toy train trundling around the perimeter, boats chugging up and down the river and bathers sunning themselves on the beach, it’s unmistakably vocational with a heavy emphasis on enjoyment.

When to go

Though you can genuinely golf all the year round in Belek, it can get very hot in July and August and rainfall peaks from November to February. If you can manage it, probably the best time to go is in the spring or autumn.  But it’s very hard to book a tee time in March and April and beware of overseeding, which is a danger around mid-September and a few courses close while it is being undertaken.

Other tips

Most hotels offer all-inclusive packages, which cover food, drink and pretty well everything else. These are popular because they limit the extras. Some of the beach-front hotels are much more popular with families than they are with golfers. If you want to avoid the associated noise and activities, you should opt for a dedicated golf hotel attached to a course.

Getting there

Most of the major airlines fly to Antalya including easyJet, British Airways, Wizz and Turkish Airways but Jet2 is the most popular carrier with direct flights from most UK airports. The flight takes about four-and-a-half hours and the cheapest are from October to February while the most expensive are from June to August.

Fly with Jet2.com

Leading leisure airline Jet2.com offers friendly low fares, great flight times, and a generous 22kg baggage allowance to Antalya from London Stansted Airport. Flights start from £95 one way including taxes. All prices and availability correct at the time of issue. For more information, please visit www.jet2.com or call 0800 408 5599

Jet2holidays deal: Stay at the five-star Gloria Serenity Resort for seven nights all-inclusive, departing from London Stansted on October 9. Price: £2,049 per person based on two adults sharing, includes a 22kg baggage allowance and return transfers (all prices and availability correct at the time of issue). To book your trip, or to find out further information, please visit www.jet2holidays.com, or freephone 0800 408 5594.

BECOME A TODAY’S GOLFER MEMBER: Unlimited access to premium content and exclusive rewards!