Glorious Golfing At Gloria Golf Club - One Of Belek's Best

Turkey, or Turkiye as it's now known, is blessed with some sumptious golf these days, especially in Belek where quality golf courses and majestic sprawling hotels and resorts are littered along the stunning coastline.

And one of the biggest and the best is Gloria Golf Club, with two 18-hole courses - the Old and the New - along with a nine-holer called the Verde meaning there's something for everyone.

We were lucky enough to get to play both the Old Course and New Course and while both are tree-lined, both have plenty of water and both have some pure greens there are subtle differences that means they offer different tests of your game.

Our visit coincided with the Race to Belek tournament Grand Final being held at Gloria Golf Resort - one of these amateur tournaments that I'm surprised more people don't try their luck in as eight finalists, and a guest, were flown out to Belek on an all-expenses-paid golfing trip in the lap of luxury.

And we all know the old thing better than holiday golf in the sun is free holiday golf in the sun.

Flights & five-star accommodation in Belek

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I must admit I'd not heard of Corendon Airlines before travelling from Manchester to Antalya, but the Turkish kebab served on board was right up there with the best of them in terms of airplane food - and washing it down with an Efes did just the job on the long journey.

Turkish golf holiday specialists the Kaden Group organised the event and had pulled out all the stops with staying at the huge Gloria Golf Resort - one of three hotels as part of the group.

If you've ever been to this stretch of Belek you'll know there's some massive hotels along the coast, and Gloria Golf Resort is one of the biggest. It's simply huge and really does have everything, from swimming pools to water slides, tennis courts and kids club.

The hotels in this area also stretch across a river and onto the beach with a beach bar on a pier providing a brilliant spot for a post-round drink. And being all inclusive it's fill your boots time.

It's a long way to Turkiye from the UK and if travelling with family and children it's important to have other things for those non-golfers to do while you hit the links. This place has it all.

All inclusive golf gets the thumbs up

Speaking of all inclusive, your stay at Gloria Golf Resort will include some green fees down at the golf club, which is on the other end of a shuttle bus ride, and the cherry on top here is that clubhouse food and drink is also all inclusive.

So even as a non-guest at the hotel, you could rock up and pay around €150 and get not only 18 holes of stunning golf but also all you can eat and drink in what's a stunning clubhouse setting - especially the large outdoor terrace area.

The all inclusive concept is a great idea, and can be especially handy if you play the New Course as you walk past the clubhouse between the ninth and 10th holes so can use it for a prolonged pit stop if you wish.

Spain and Portugal still lead the way in terms of golfing holidays, but Turkiye has more of a year-round climate and with the standard now of resorts and golf courses it's coming up on the rails.

Old & New Course review

And so to the golf - where there's no excuses for playing badly given the swanky double decker driving range - which includes the first and only TrackMan Range system in Europe. That's another claim to fame for Turkey's largest golf course.

There's also a Phil Kenyon putting studio with all kinds of technology in there to help conquer the greens, which is a nice touch, and one thing that was pleasing to see on our visit was the amount of families and kids out enjoying the golf course.

Both the Old and New Courses were designed by renowned French golf architect Michel Gayon - both are heavily tree lined making accuracy off the tee essential and both are framed magnificently by the Taurus Mountains in the background.

Opened in 2005, the New Course is slightly more open off the tee, with the first probably the tightest drive you'll face! Luckily I managed to find a fairway here after a quick lesson with the pro and despite a 20-strong group of Germans watching.

There's a good variety of holes, some short par-4s and a couple of tight doglegs and par-3s hitting over water. Nine and 18 are great holes to finish your front and back nine with a big lake in between them as you head back to the clubhouse.

The 18th had just a hint of the last at TPC Sawgrass about it in terms of the water lurking down the left, trees on the right and a well-placed tee box at a funny angle meaning you have to bite off a chunk of the water. It didn't end well...

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We were lucky enough to play the Old Course first thing in the morning which was stunning, but tough, as you kick-off with a par-5 with an approach needed over water, followed by a par-3 again hitting over the drink.

Fairways are noticably tighter, and since it was opened in 1997 it's more mature meaning the large trees have more of an overhang to narrow things up even more.

The routing is more enjoyable on the Old Course, where there are only six lakes to the New Course's seven, but they're heavily involved - the par-3 seventh is a stunner with the tee box out in the lake making it all carry.

The 14th is a long old par-3 across the same lake while the 15th and 16th offer up awkward tee shots, the 17th is a brute of a par-5 and you get a downhill par-3 finish.

An even better finish awaits at the all inclusive clubhouse bar though, as Turkiye really delivered a golfing trip to rival any of its European competitors.

The Details

Old Course: Par 72, 6,529m

New Course: Par 72, 6,523m

Where we stayed: Gloria Golf Resort

Flying with: Corendon Airlines

Turkiye Golf Trips: Kaden Group