Turkey has featured on the The Greencard Tour for several years. The area has changed significantly since our first visit when the main courses were the Gloria and Nobilis. There is now a wonderful selection of championship courses in and around Belek many with accompanying hotels.
Regnum Carya Golf Resort: Spectacular New Belek Venue
After several visits to the Gloria Golf Resort, we moved our base to the Cornelia Diamond. The hotel is much larger than the Gloria and our clients thoroughly enjoyed the all-inclusive basis on offer. The main issue was that the course associated with the hotel, the Faldo designed Cornelia proved not to be too popular with our groups. It was during our second trip to the Cornelia last year that I had an opportunity to visit the brand new Regnum Hotel. Within minutes I knew that this resort had to feature on the 2015 schedule.
Twelve months on and I was excited to see the reaction of the Greencard clients as they arrived at the hotel. The first thing that strikes you is the attention to detail. From the glass of champagne offered to you on arrival, and indeed every time you enter the hotel, to the fabulous, friendly staff to the quality of the food and drink in all the outlets. The surrounding gardens, pools, private beach and pier are just stunning.
The rooms are equal to any hotel we have visited around the globe. All rooms have a balcony offering views of either the golf course or the swimming pool and sea beyond. There is a walk in wardrobe and impressive en-suite bathroom.
The golf programme for the week included rounds on the Carya, National and Montgomerie courses. It promised to be a wonderful week and indeed this proved to be the case.
The Regnum hotel is located on the Carya golf course and it was an easy 10 minute walk or quick buggy transfer to the clubhouse. This was the venue for our opening round, the team AM AM. It was a closely fought affair with Chris Hegarty, Val Smith, Neil Gillam and Janet James claiming victory by a single point from Simon Draper, Pam Tattersall, Sara Meehan and John Ward.
Alan Baxter Opens with an Excellent 37 points
The following day we moved to the National, this is much tighter course layout than the Carya and as such offered different challenges. It was in excellent condition and the greens were running extremely well. It is a while since the course has featured on the Greencard Tour and it was a pleasure to play.
During the round I thought that any score over 30 would be enough to secure a place at the top end of the leaderboard. Eleven players managed to hit that mark and above, with Alan Baxter at the top on the tree with a magnificent 37 points. Jim Barton carded a 33 with Val Smith, Anthony Trafford, Marian Raybone and Phil Crossland all finishing the day on 32.
Meagher & Haynes Tie Round 2.
We returned to the Carya for the second round. This beautiful heathland course is more forgiving from the tee but there are many water hazards waiting for stray approach shots and the greens are difficult to navigate.
John Meagher and Brian Haynes enjoyed the course finishing with the days’ best score on 35 points. Tony Wells came in one back on 34, followed by Maggie Lowe, Caryn James Bailey and Sara Meehan, all on 33 points.
At the half way stage Alan’s 31 in the second round, giving him a total of 68 was enough to maintain his position at the top of the leaderboard. However, the gap had narrowed to just 2 points with John Meagher hot on his heels on 66. Jim Barton was in third on 65 with Tony Wells and Val Smith both on 64.
The free day gave us the opportunity to utilise the wonderful facilities at the hotel. Many chilled out on the beach or beside one of the many swimming pools enjoying the glorious sunshine and blue sky. Others made use of the excellent spa or chose to play another round of golf. The resort really caters for all.
Janet James Makes Big Move at National
The following day it was back to business with our third round on the National. It is only a five minute transfer from the hotel and is the perfect partner to the Carya.
Once again Alan played extremely well. His tremendous score of 38 gave him a six shot lead heading into the last round. Meanwhile an unstoppable Janet James finished the day with 39 points and rocketed into second position overall. Sara Meehan and Val Smith both scored 34, which moved Val into third place. Tony Wells’s 32 was enough to claim the last place in the final days’ fourball.
Monty Gives Alan the Wobbles! But Holds on for Great Win
The final round was played on the Montgomerie course, home to one of the European Tour’s final events in the Race to Dubai. The course layout is fair but if you are out of position going for the flag can prove to be costly. Despite a six shot lead Alan knew that he would have to play well to hold off the chasing pack. The final hole is a fantastic par 5 finishing in front of the magnificent clubhouse. The scores amongst the earlier finishers were not too high, with the exception of Pam Tattersall who had a superb score of 38 and confirmed a top 25 finish.
As the group watched the final fourballs from their perfect vantage point it seemed unlikely that anybody in the chasing pack would produce a high enough score to challenge Alan’s quest for victory. It was not until the final group had left the green that news filtered through that Alan had had a nightmare on the course and it was unclear who had claimed the title. Janet had also struggled a little after the previous days’ heroics but had played well enough to secure fifth position overall.
Val finished the day with 27 to claim fourth spot. Meanwhile John Meagher’s 31 in the final round moved him into third position. It was therefore down to just two players. Tony Wells had played extremely well and was on a roll until he failed to score on the par 3, 16th hole. It was a mistake that would inevitably end his brave challenge to take the victory from Alan.Mr Baxter had endured a tough day on the course, finishing with just 23 points but it had been enough to take the title by a single point.
Congratulations to Alan on his victory and a large thank you to all of you who travelled to Turkey and made the week such a success. We are already booked to return to this wonderful venue in May 2016. We expect places to sell quickly on this one, so please let us know if you would like to reserve your place. Full details will be available very shortly.
