Travel: Golfing in Turkey

TWENTY years ago, Belek was an inconsequential stretch of scrub and dunes on uncharted Anatolian coast. Nowadays it is a full-blown holiday paradise, its boulevards enhanced by fake classical ruins, its 17km seafront lined with huge hotels.

It exists because Turkey discovered golf tourism and all-inclusive lodging. The golf concept – 17 courses in a small catchment area, and rising fast – is American. Think Florida or Hilton Head. All-inclusive is more Caribbean. In Belek terms, that means you pay upfront in Malmo or Maidenhead or Minsk to eat and drink as much as you like and work it off in a range of activities for under £500 a week, flights included.

We arrived at the Hotel Letoonia, 40 minutes from Antalya airport, as the main buffet was about to close. This meant we had a rare window to admire the vastness of the spread with no interference from fellow guests. Meat, fish, smoked salmon, pasta, potatoes, vegetables, rice, salads, pickles, fruit and cheese occupy rings of laden counters in the centre of a dozen linked rooms and terraces. Where are we? Turkey could be 1,000 miles away, were it not for the infinite variety of super-sweet puddings. Turks do love their sugar rush.

For the past decade, the country has been knocking on the EU door with increasing urgency, but given its own prosperity and the contagious debt crisis, it has a case for back-pedalling fast. Certainly, paying hard-won cash to rescue Greece, its traditional enemy, would have no part on any agenda.

The Letoonia, a 449-room leviathan that sleeps 1,300, is a natural progression in the history of a merchant family that’s been on top of its game for a couple of centuries. The Gazels started importing and exporting carpets circa 1800. Their descendents diversified into marble quarrying, textiles, construction and the cash cow in these parts, a couple of hotels offering five stars at bargain rates.

Clearly these are not the kind of stars recognised by Gleneagles or Turnberry, let alone Michelin, but the Letoonia and the 40 or so neighbours that stand shoulder to shoulder on the deep blue Aegean sea play a key role in the grand northern European search for the sun. A guest list from Britain, Scandinavia, Germany and Russia says it all.

My room was spacious, comfortable and overlooking the swimming pool, a bonus as I could access free wifi if I sat by the open window. Morning revealed the main buffet set up for breakfast – or maybe a rugby scrum. Budget Russians have no respect for personal space – and they certainly don’t queue. My respect went to the staff, who were helpful and cheerful even in stressful situations.

Their role included giving free tuition in sports and activities ranging from archery to yoga. A morning stroll revealed instructors trying to instil the basics on tennis and basketball courts and a small golf driving range. Down by the water, families struggled with windsurfers, canoes, dinghies and sea bikes, while the extensive pool areas were given over to water slides, polo and aerobics. My thanks to Kamal, my archery teacher. He was extremely patient. He needed to be.

Many visitors sit tight throughout the week, grazing inclusive poolside snacks, ice-cream and afternoon tea. In the evening, there are three à la carte restaurants – Turkish, Asian and fish – in addition to the main buffet. Then again, Turkey claims more ancient Greek ruins than Greece and substantial Roman ones as well, creating a legacy it would be sad to miss.

Side, half an hour to the east of Belek, is the perfect spot for lunch tourism. Like many Mediterranean sites, it’s a classical hybrid, founded by Greeks in the seventh century BC, occupied by Alexander the Great on his way to Persia in 333BC and taken over by the Romans in 78BC. These civilisations developed the sheltered port and built freely on the promontory beside it. Things they couldn’t do without: an amphitheatre, a market square with ceremonial arches and marble columns, an extensive bath complex, a Roman temple, a Byzantine basilica and underground storage for grain and wine. All these can be seen, though not necessarily identified, on a 1km walk among tangled ruins by a busy motorway, an unusual mingling of ancient and modern.

Restoration is a work in very early progress but viewing old stones piled layer upon layer surrounded by sparkling seas makes a fine prelude to the Liman restaurant. By comparison with Letoonia’s all-things-to-all-men approach, this is niche and now, with deep sofas as well as tables and chairs set out on an intimate terrace with harbour views.

No sooner were we seated than the host approached bearing posh fish – sea bass, bream and snapper with gleaming scales and gaping mouths. Who could resist them, no matter what the cost? A feast of meze – little dishes of calamari, anchovies and veggie delicacies – may have taken the edge off our appetites, but we still got well stuck in. The fish came grilled and boned, accompanied by crisp salads, olives and gozieme, traditional flatbread baked on site in industrial quantities. And lashings of very cold Turkish sauvignon blanc, which sailed through the snob test in these relaxing circumstances.

And so to golf, the honeypot for many British and German tourists. As with Disneyland, the grand Belek plan is to cover all bases. Highly paid architects from Europe and America compete to make golfers feel there’s another ‘must play’ around the corner. And, with the building programme accelerating, there often is. On the three courses I took on, the greenkeeping was immaculate. Likewise the clubhouses, grandiose concepts with dark, clubby interiors and expansive terraces ringed with colonnades and arches to shade diners from the fierce sun.

Given that Belek started out as virgin coast, it is noticeably links-starved, presumably because the beachfront plots were bought up by hoteliers. Finding a course with views of the sea means driving for 20 minutes to Lykia Links. Designer Perry Dye, son of the celebrated Pete, has done a great job, landscaping the dunes, leaving long hairy rough and installing pot bunkers stabilised with wooden planks. The views of the 3km pristine beach are to die for, both on the course and from the seductive 19th hole.

• Seven nights’ full board costs from £1,050 for two adults sharing in July/August, or from £630 in April/May/June or September/October. Children under two go free. Golfers booking directly with Letoonia can quote the promotional code 5EFBNS175 for a 15 per cent discount on all tee time reservations made through the hotel. Contact Letoonia Resort (00 90 242 444 0280, www.letooniaresorts.com).

From April, EasyJet (0904 256 1123, www.easyjet.com) flies daily from London Gatwick to Antalya from £120 return.

Thomas Cook (www.flythomascook.com) flies from Glasgow to Antalya from £103 return from March. Letoonia Golf Resort is a 40-minute drive from Antalya airport.