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Turkish Delight

by Jeff Wallach

Home to The Montgomerie at Papillon Golf Club, Belek, Turkey, is fast becoming an ‘it’ destination among golfers in the know.

The moment your backswing is interrupted by the tinny, electrically amplified song of the Muslim call to prayer, you know you’re not golfing at Pinehurst any more. Although it doesn’t register yet as a golf destination for most Americans, Turkey — particularly the town of Belek on the Mediterranean Coast — has become the new “it” place for Northern Europeans looking for a combination of 5-star hotels and great golf variety at reasonable prices.

Visitors also enjoy nearby ancient sites — such as the walled harbor city of Antalya and the Roman amphitheater at Aspendos — as well as the mélange of cultures and the famed Turkish hospitality. Turkey is a place where East and West meet in everything from architecture to culture to cuisine. My stay at the Gloria Serenity Resort made a perfect base of operations to visit nine of Belek’s 15 golf courses, take a few cultural tours and return to the peaceful elegance of a world-class hostelry each night.

Possibly the best golf course around Belek is the 7,135-yard Montgomerie, associated with an upscale Papillon Hotel. Opened in 2008, the course winds through mature pine forests and sculpted dunes close enough to the Mediterranean to taste salt on the breeze. European tour player — and 2010 Ryder Cup European Team captain — Colin Montgomerie created a course where nearly every hole is not only different but also surprising in some way; often a pine tree or two has been left within the playing field, forcing a decision or demanding a particularly shaped shot. While a few of the trees definitely bear removing (unfortunately I didn’t have a chain saw in my bag), they generally create interest on this meticulously maintained and always intriguing layout. Follow your round with a grilled kebab and an Efes pilsner on the deck of the sprawling clubhouse to enjoy even further Turkish delights.

Hole 1 (522 yards, par 5)

The course opens by demanding a first tee shot hit underneath tall pines along the right side but which doesn’t curve into a flotilla of waste bunkers lurking along the left. A mound field grows between the bunkers and the fairway, which is flat — if you can find it. The second landing area capers narrowly between bunkers and trees; the bunkers run all the way to the green and eventually dart across the fairway, requiring a high, soft, air-mailed approach.

Hole 4 (527 yards, par 5)

This scythe of a hole curving left around a large lake features an aqueduct left of the tee and water left of an elegant stand of pines, with the fairway tapering off left toward the hazard. Engineer your second shot just short of wetlands. The hole will play easier if you’re between the sentry trees and the water to the left, but you’ll still face a 200-yard poke over water to a green that’s moderately welcoming — unless you hit the edges, which may deflect your ball to a watery fate.

Hole 5 (205 yards, par 3)

This long short-hole plays over a reed-lined, bulk-headed pond with a humped pot bunker protecting the bailout area to the left. Look for the Scottish castle of a clubhouse through the trees to the right.

 

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