Belek is a golfer's dream, but there's also stunning scenery, fascinating archaeology and great food, as GEOFF MARSH discovers

AS WE drove east of the town of Belek on Turkey's Mediterranean coast my wife Sarah and I encountered what looked like a Hollywood film set. Rows of identical colonialstyle clapboard houses with manicured gardens stretched as far as the eye could see.

Most of the homes on the ironically named Happyland development are empty because of the economic downturn. This means the holiday deals are plentiful and, if you go all-inclusive and slightly out of season, there are real bargains to be had.

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There are also plenty of family-friendly hotel complexes and some of the lushest golf courses you'll ever see. One local taxi driver let out a huge belly laugh when I asked him if many people came for the golf.

He chortled: "Why else would people come here?"

True, the coastal scenery is more beautiful to the west, near Kalkan and Kas but the Belek region has much to offer.

We were staying at the huge Letoonia Golf Resort which strangely, although boasting some 500 rooms, four restaurants, three swimming pools and a private sandy beach, doesn't have a golf course, only a driving range.

Instead it's a hub for visitors to sample the courses nearby.

What a choice there is too.

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There are only 15 golf courses in Turkey and 12 are in the Belek area including my first stop, Carya Golf Club, a 10-minute drive away.

Inspired by the famous English courses of Wentworth and Sunningdale, Carya is just a year old but feels more mature with its bountiful heather plants and pine trees.

I left Sarah to relax back in the Letoonia Kutlu Spa with its Turkish bath, sauna and steam room while I found myself playing in a four-ball with three middle-aged Germans; Marcus, Brigitte and Anne.

Having explained to them that I was useless, rusty and at best played off an 18 handicap, I immediately struck a beautiful straight drive down the 345-yard first, pitched on to the green from 100 yards and sunk a birdie.

That, sadly, was as good as it got. The 7,100-yard par 72 course proved to be immensely difficult and by the time I reached the sixth to discover "Long", the longest hole in Turkey, which is 574 yards off the championship tee, I was seeing rather more of the pine trees than I would have liked.

The wonderful but unplayable 13th, aptly nicknamed "the Coffin", is only a par three but probably the toughest hole I have ever played. A club length too short and you're in the steep bunker or the dense purple heather just short of the green. Too long and you're in the trees again.

Brigitte, who was grumpy at the best of times, spliced two tee shots straight into the bunker, threw her club into her cart, lit a cigarette and stormed off declaring that the game was "stupid".

That night Sarah and I tucked into a delicious hot meze with flat bread in the à la carte Turkish restaurant before watching the dancers at the outdoor amphitheatre.

We opted out of the disco and returned to our brightly decorated room with its traditional carved wooden ceiling and wonderful views across the landscaped gardens.

The following day I was up early to play Turkey's most famous course, the National, on the other side of town.

Opened in 1994, the David Feherty-designed championship course was the country's first and is still its finest.

Carved through a dense forest of eucalyptus and pine trees it's rich with the one hazard lacking at Carya, water.

Trouble abounds, nowhere more than on the 326-yard par-four 18th, where reaching the green in two means taking on the beautiful but treacherous lake winding its way up to the colonial-style clubhouse.

After a well-deserved beer at the 19th hole I decided enough was enough and rejoined my golf widow to explore the delights of the Belek region.

Wonderful sights include the ancient city of Side, one-time home to Antony and Cleopatra, where modern development hasn't yet overwhelmed the grand historical buildings and imposing monuments.

Having visited Side before, we chose to spend a day exploring the old quarter of Turkey's fastest-growing city, Antalya. We wandered around a labyrinth of steep cobbled streets, packed with haggling market traders, which runs down to a beautiful ancient harbour.

There are some excellent seafood restaurants and countless linen shops with pretty courtyard gardens hiding in between, including the fascinating local arts society Ansad which sells silver jewellery. The city's archaeological museum, which is a tram or dolmus (local bus) ride from the old quarter, takes half a day to explore but also comes highly recommended.

On our final day we headed east, on a one-hour drive past modern hotels, huge mosques and along twisting, dusty mountain sides to the Manavgat waterfalls and ruins of Seleucia.

We could easily have filled a week exploring the plethora of sites along this stretch of coast but surely the point of any holiday is to do as much or as little as you like.

Also, going all-inclusive meant we could relax by the pool, play numerous activities from tennis to beach volleyball and, if I had the energy, sample the best golf courses in the Eastern Mediterranean.

I just had to make sure I stayed out of the pine trees.

THE KNOWLEDGE:
Thomson (0871 231 4691/www.thomson.co.uk) offers seven nights at Letoonia Golf Resort (www.letooniaresorts.com) from £1,294pp (two sharing), full board.

Turkish Culture and Tourism Office: 0207 839 7778/www.gototurkey.co.uk