To many of my peers, Turkey is often the butt end of a joke thanks in part to it being a popular destination for Brits searching for discount cosmetic surgery. However, when I told them I wasn’t heading to Turkey for a new head of hair or teeth, they were somewhat surprised to hear of the wealth of quality golf courses located on the country’s southern Mediterranean coast.
You wouldn’t blame them either. Turkey isn’t particularly famed for its golf, with the whole country only having 20 golf courses to its name – stunningly sparse for a nation of nearly 85 million people. Over half of Turkey’s 20 courses are located in and around the purpose built Belek region, which has embraced its tag as the home of golf in Turkey with the likes of Colin Montgomerie and Sir Nick Faldo designing some of the courses in the area.
All 11 of Belek’s golf courses are attached to one of the many luxury hotels that dot the coastline and I had the pleasure of playing both courses at the brilliant Antalya Golf Club and staying at the Kempinski Dome which it is attached to.
Sultans of Swing
The Sultan course at Antalya golf club
(Image credit: Solos)
The main course at Antalya Golf Club, The Sultan, hosted Justin Rose’s 2012 victory at the Turkish Airlines World Final in 2012 and was my first slice of Turkish golf for the week. An immaculately maintained facility, the clear cuts from fairway to semi rough to rough was a welcome sight as I escaped the mud and rain of my home course – contouring, carpet-like green complexes took some getting used to when the flat stick came out.
On the particular day I was playing, the wind was gusting upwards of 40mph, making what was already a tough test of golf that bit harder. Six of the first nine holes featured some kind of water hazard, while the second par-5 played directly into a howling gale, where I successfully hit driver, 3-wood, hybrid, wedge onto the green, and then duly three putted. Measuring 6477 meters, the course requires strong play off the tee and an equally strong long iron game to make the most of the layout – but plenty of teeing options mean you can adjust the difficulty to your liking.
The middle of back nine briefly takes you away from the water and 12 and 13 in particular present two beautifully tree lined holes, with 12 claiming to be the toughest par-4 in the country. The 16th hole, my favourite, gives golfers the tantalising ability to either access the green in two, or face finding one of two…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golf Monthly…