Much has been written about Belek’s golf courses, and there is much more to say. Turkey's golf mecca has grown up and more golf courses are included in future plans.

The first steps at the airport in Antalya give the impression of a palace, which would prove to be the case throughout at both hotels and in the club house during my stay in Belek.

During the 40-minute car trip from Antalya to Belek some of the contrasts between the old and the modern Turkey are exposed. In the middle of all this, sand is spread out between garbage, tin cans and dumped construction waste. Once we’ve passed Belek, the contrasts became even more marked.

We have chosen to stay at the newly built Ela Resort. The hotel wants to offer golfers an alternative to more established luxury hotels in Belek. At Ela Resort there is a large spa, eight restaurants, several bars and an all-inclusive hotel that provides access to all quality drinks - not only the local brands.
When it comes to golf, I have chosen to play the last three additions in Belek, the Montgomerie Course (Papillon), Carya Golf  and Lykia Golf Links. Then I also plan to play a fourth course, namely Nicholas "Nick" Alexander Faldo’s” Cornelia”.

The Carya Golf Club is fifteen hundred metres from the hotel. It should be said now that the club houses in Turkey are of really high class, and as I mentioned previously, it feels a bit like visiting a palace.

The Carya is overall a moderately difficult course with narrow fairways. The inspiration comes from Britain and courses such as the Oakmont. Heather grows around the course and there are certain similarities with the British moor courses. But the course also has dazzling white bunkers that you obviously want to end up in just to feel the soft sand…Belek's oldest golf course is called the National and opened as late as 1994. Gloria may be regarded as the most famous course in the area, closely followed by Antalya Golf Club with its two courses, the Sultan and the Pasha.

One of the newer golf courses is the Cornelia Golf Club, better known as the Nick Faldo Championship Course, as Faldo himself has designed the course. Cornelia opened in November 2006 and is a challenging course that suits most. There are three nine-hole courses to choose from and they all have their own personalities. Charming holes with great variety from the tee makes the game really fun.

In the afternoon we travel by local bus services to the million resident city of Antalya, one of Turkey's largest cities, to walk, haggle and make real bargains in one of the city's markets. Here you can make good purchases on textiles and leather. In Antalya there is also a nice port and an old inner city district called Kaleici, dating from 130 BC, which is well worth a visit.

The next morning we wake to a clear blue sky, a buffet breakfast and a round of golf at Lykia Links Golf Club. Lykia as the name suggests is located right on the sea. The 27 holes spread out before the Mediterranean Sea takes over. When you see the course from a distance, it’s almost as if the golf clubs ump out of the bag, the view is fantastic and you could just as easily have been on a course in Scotland.

The last course I play is The Montgomerie Course at Papillon Golf Club - a golf project, which bought the rights to Colin Montgomerie's name and a course which Colin also designed himself.

CARYA GOLF CLUB
Number of holes: 18, par 72
Character: Park/forest course of British type with varying golf holes.
Course designer: Peter Thomson
Carya Golf Club  
 


CORNELIA GOLF CLUB
Number of holes: 54, par 72
Character: Forest Court surrounded by pine trees. A golf course in good condition with many exciting holes. It consists of three nine-hole courses, so you can decide yourself which 18-hole round you want for the day.
Course designer: Nick Faldo
Cornelia Golf Club



LYKIA LINKS ANTALYA 
Number of holes: 18, par 72
Character: Link course (!) of really good quality. An outdoor experience to both see and play.
Course designer: Perry Dye
Lykia Links Antalya

Montgomerie
PAPILLON GOLF CLUB
Number of holes: 27. A championship course, par 72, and a shorter nine-hole course.
Character: Park course. Beautiful course with slightly wider fairways than the other courses in Belek, but still with great variation from hole to hole.
Course designer: Colin Montgomerie
Papillion Golf Club

Mikael Larsson
Web Editor: Emma Lindén