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| Enjoy night golf under the floodlights at Carya. The 4th hole. |
How many golf courses are there in Turkey?
Go on, have a guess. The population is 74 million and it's 784,000 square kilometres - that's almost ten times the size of Ireland (84,000 square kilometres).
I'll give you a hint... if you said 20 courses, you'd be close enough.
Fifteen of these are outside Antalya, in an area known as the 'Turkish Riviera', squeezed up against the Mediterranean with the Taurus Mountains as the backdrop. This is as modern as a golf destination can get. The 'oldest' course in the region was opened in 1995, while the youngest opened in 2008. Perhaps, in that full-circle kind of way, it is only fitting that the oldest course (National Golf Club) is now building a new nine (opening September 2015).
Sadly... considering how exceptional these courses are... Turkey went cold turkey a few years back and there are no more courses being built. Consider then that the government's plan was to build 2,000 of them.
Here are 33 photographs of the courses I visited a couple of weeks back. Decide for yourself how good they look.
Antalya Golf Club (Pasha Course)
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| The par three 5th at Antalya Pasha course. |
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| The double green for the 13th and 15th at Antalya Pasha. |
Antalya Golf Club (Sultan Course)
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| The opening hole of the Antalya Sultan course. |
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| The par four 10th hole of the Antalya Sultan course. |
Carya Golf Club (18 holes)
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| The par four opening hole at Carya. |
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| The approach to the 3rd hole at Carya, moon above. |
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| The rather incredible 125 metre long practice green at Carya |
Cornelia Golf Club (27 holes)
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| The 570 metre par five 11th |
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| Views to the Taurus Mountains over the 19th hole |
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| Hole 22, a nerve-wracking drive |
Gloria Golf Club 'New' Course
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| Views over the New course's 9th and 18th greens from the clubhouse |
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| Gloria New's par three 3rd |
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| The par five 4th at Gloria New |
Gloria Golf Club 'Old' Course
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| The tight treelines of the Old course's 12th hole |
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The excellent par five 17th on Gloria's Old course - straight at the
Taurus Mountains |
Gloria Golf Club 'Verde' Course (9 hole)
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| The 4th hole on the 9-hole Verde course - a dogleg right |
Kaya Eagles Golf Club (18 holes)
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| The par three 6th at Kaya Eagles |
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| The par four 7th at Kaya Eagles |
Lykia Links (18 holes)
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| Views over the 10th green, to the Mediterranean, at Lykia Links |
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| Tee shot on the tricky par three 15th at Lykia Links |
Montgomerie Maxx Golf Club (18 holes)
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| The par three 16th at Montgomerie Maxx, and one of the big waste bunkers |
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| Approach to the 18th and the clubhouse beyond |
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View from the four-storey clubhouse tower, over the Montgomerie
Maxx par five 18th hole |
National Golf Club (18 holes)
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| Views back down the 9th at National |
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| Approach to National's par four 18th, clubhouse beyond |
Sueno Golf Club 'Dunes' Course
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| Views from the clubhouse over Sueno Dunes 18th green |
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| The opening tee shot at Sueno Dunes |
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| The par four 6th at Sueno Dunes |
Sueno Golf Club 'Pines' Course
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| A gentle opening par five on Sueno Pines |
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| The well bunkered par three 13th on Sueno Pines |
TAT Golf Club (27 holes)
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| The impressive par three 4th at TAT |
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| Views back down the par five 10th at TAT |
Turkey is a seriously good golfing destination and the courses (IMO) are every bit as good as you find in Portugal... maybe better.
http://www.kusadasiinternationalgolf.com/L/EN/mid/321/g/1/Overview.htm
ReplyDeletePlayed here 3 times last summer , good fun
Needed my fix ! € 45 per round
You have to use buggy because of the heat ,
Very friendly staff ! Pro met us on the 9th with more bottles of water ...badly needed
looking forward to playing again this summer