In Turkey, golf is concentrated above all at Belek, east of Antalya: the courses are laid out in a forest of pines and eucalyptus between the Mediterranean beaches and the Taurus Mountains. The large resorts there are built right beside the fairways; Carya, Montgomerie Maxx Royal, the National and Nick Faldo's 27 holes at Cornelia are a few minutes from one another. On the Aegean coast, Bodrum has a single 18-hole course, the Regnum, set in an olive grove in the interior of the peninsula, and Istanbul lends itself to a round between two days in the city, at Kemer or Silivri.
At Belek, spring, from March to May, and autumn, in October and November, are the best seasons; winter, mild but wetter, remains playable, and the very hot summer is for early starts. Bodrum follows the same calendar, while Istanbul is best from April to June and in September and October. We arrange tailor-made trips there: reserved tee times, private transfers from Antalya, Bodrum or Istanbul, carefully chosen hotels and tables where you can taste each region's cooking.
Belek, on the Mediterranean coast east of Antalya, has the highest concentration of great courses in Turkey: Carya, the Montgomerie Maxx Royal, the National and Nick Faldo's 27 holes at Cornelia are all a few minutes from one another. Golfers come for pinewood and sandbelt golf, resorts set right beside the fairways and the proximity of Aspendos and Antalya. The best periods are spring and autumn.
Bodrum, on Turkey's Aegean coast, offers a single great course: the Regnum Golf & Country Club, an eighteen-hole layout by Tim Lobb opened in 2018 in an olive grove in the peninsula's interior, about twenty-five minutes from town. Golfers come less to play course after course than to pair a few rounds with the sea, the grand hotels of the coast and two Michelin-starred restaurants. The best months are March to May, October and November.
Istanbul is not a destination for intensive golf: only two eighteen-hole courses serve the city, Kemer Golf & Country Club, in the Belgrad Forest, 40 to 50 minutes from the centre outside rush hour, and Tony Jacklin's course at Silivri, formerly Klassis, about 1 hour 20 minutes away. Golfers come to slip two or three rounds into a stay devoted to the city, between bazaars, the Bosphorus and its tables, from Mikla's starred rooftop to the meze of Tarabya. The best periods are April to June and September to October.
