Turkey's Belek region is on the rise driven by golf's big name designers.

The scenario is not an unfamiliar one: stunning natural location with perfect climate and established tourist market looks to golf as a way of increasing year-round visitor numbers. Thirty years ago it was the Algarve and the Costa del Sol that were taking the first tentative steps in the burgeoning golf market. Southern Turkey, having learned from the European neighbours it hopes to eventually rival, is now following the format that has worked so successfully. And judging by how far it has already come in the 13 years since the first course was laid out, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the world finds out about it.

Obviously the numbers are nowhere near – although there will be 11 courses ready for play by the end of the year – but that is another area where Turkey’s Belek region scores heavily. Part of the disillusionment with southern Europe is the proliferation of golf-by-numbers layouts that have sprung up all over the place. Not to mention the over-priced and over-crowded reality of a golfing break.




But with designers like Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Perry Dye, Martin Hawtree and Dave Thomas having worked in the Belek area, this pine-clad enclave overlooked by the Taurus Mountains is all about quality. That means manicured courses, a modern airport and dozens of established five-star hotels. It all adds up to a destination that golfers are now starting to appreciate. Admittedly, the hotel clientele is predominantly Russian – a nation with a greater antipathy to golf you couldn’t hope to find – and everything from the service to the food to the (virtually non-existent) nightlife is geared towards this lucrative demographic. But with the hotels and golf courses clubbing together to target tourists, attitudes are rapidly changing. Those willing to forego the Algarve will get a sense of what the Portuguese coast used to be like.

(For the complete article please refer to your July 07 issue of Golf Asia magazine)

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