This is our second visit to the all inclusive Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort and once again this wonderful venue continued to impress. 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, 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.
Regnum Carya Continues to Impress
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 one round on each of the Sultan, Pasha and National. In addition we played two rounds on the adjacent Carya course, which hosted the Ladies European Tour event in 2015, and will now hold a men’s European Tour event in November 2017.
The weather was set fair for the week with sunshine, perfect temperatures and blue skies. The opening round was the usual AM AM, played on the Carya course. The format was two scores to count on each par 4 and par 5 and three to count on the par 3s.
The team captained by Jez Morgan and including Anthony Trafford, Tony Wells and Irene Munday claimed a narrow one point win with a total of 93 from Maggie Lowe, Stuart Munday, Neil Marr and Karl Dixon.
Round 1: Jez Morgan Takes an Early Lead
The following day we travelled the short distance to the nearby Antalya Golf Club, which is home to both the Sultan and Pasha courses. Both tracks were in near perfect condition and were a pleasure to play. The first round of the individual tournament was played on the Pasha, which although shorter than the Sultan, is a real test of golf with some beautiful holes, particularly on the back nine.
Jez Morgan, playing off a handicap of 4, continued his form from the team game and shot a tremendous 40 points. The nearest challenge came from Neil Gillam who finished with 36, Marian Raybone ended her the day one further back on 35. Colin Baker and Gavin Wilding completed their rounds with 34 points.
Round 2: Jim Barton’s Wandering Trolley Trouble
The second round was held on the longer and some would say more difficult Sultan. Gavin Wilding and Colin Baker, carried on from the previous day, scoring 35 and 34 points respectively. However, arguably the most dramatic moment of the day was witnessed on the 9th hole.
Whilst not the longest hole on the course, the approach shot requires accuracy as there is a large lake directly in front of the green. Jim Barton had played his ball onto the putting surface and subsequently left his trolley next to the green.
After putting out, he thought that his playing partners had moved the aforementioned trolley. Unfortunately, no one had touched it and it soon became apparent that it had rolled off the grass verge and dropped about six feet into the lake!
See the Runaway Cart Saga Unfold! Any picture caption suggestions welcome!
Assistance was called with a member of the golf team having to climb down a ladder into the water to rescue the clubs. Needless to say the next few holes were tricky for Jim to grip his irons!
There’s a Point in it at Halfway
At the half way stage in the event, Gavin held a slender one point lead over Colin. Gary Corbett’s second round total of 35 ensured that he was still very much in the mix, lying two shots off the lead on 66. Pauline Crosthwaite, after two solid rounds, was the highest placed lady on 64 points.
The free day gave everyone the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful facilities at the hotel. Many chilled out on the beach or beside one of the many swimming pools enjoying the glorious sunshine. Others made use of the excellent spa or chose to play another round of golf. This resort really caters for all.
Round 3: National Takes its Toll
The following day it was back to business with the third round of the event being held on the National. This course certainly tests your golfing ability with tight tree-lined fairways and undulating greens. The scoring certainly reflected this with only a seven players reaching 30 points and above.
The leading score of 37 came from Maggie Lowe. It was an excellent round of golf and playing from a handicap of 3, there was not too much room for error. Meanwhile, Gavin continued his run of form and came in with 34 points.
Stella Goldstein, Jeanette Freeman, Jenny Poole, Anthony Trafford and Tony Wells also managed to pass the 30 point mark and made their way up the leaderboard.
With one round to go Gavin on 103, had increased his lead at the top to four points from Maggie Lowe. Tony Wells and Pauline Crosthwaite were in third and fourth position on 91 points. It would require a tremendous round from a player outside the top two to take the victory, but we have seen it before and as we know from our golf tournament in Thailand earlier this year, until the round is completed, anything is possible.
Round 4: Gavin Holds On To Claim His First Greencard Victory
The final round was played on the Carya. The highest score of the day came from Ian James Bailey, his 40 points included 22 on the front nine. It was a wonderful round of golf that would see him move into third position overall. Tony Negal also enjoyed his best round of the week with 38 points. Mel Barton and Irene Munday both shot 37.
Congratulations must go to both Neil Marr and Colin Baker who had excellent final rounds finishing in overall fourth and fifth place respectively. As a result, they gained sufficient Tour Points to qualify for the finals week at the end of October at the Intercontinental Mar Menor.
Gavin Wilding’s winning putt
Meanwhile, back with the leaders and Maggie had made a flying start, she was under par after the first seven holes and putting pressure on Gavin. He responded wonderfully and finished the front nine with an impressive 22 points. After not scoring on the both the 8th and 9th holes, Maggie then had an uphill struggle to catch the leader.
Despite a scrappy back nine of just 11 points, Gavin had a large enough lead to hold off the challenge of the chasing pack and a
Winners Group from Turkey 2016 – from left: Ian James Bailey, Gavin Wilding (winner), Maggie Lowe and Neil Marr.
par on the final hole gave him an overall total of 136 and his first Greencard Tour victory. Maggie finished the day with 31 and claimed second place, an eventual 6 points behind Gavin. Pauline and Tony completed their final rounds with 30 and 29 finishing in overall 11th and 12th respectively.
Congratulations to Gavin 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 2017. We have improved morning tee times for 2017 and expect places to sell quickly on this one, so please let us know if you would like to reserve your place. Full details for our 2017 event in Turkey, including new tee times are available here.