7 Nights, 2 Rounds
Just a short drive from Antalya's vibrant city centre, National Golf Club is carved into Belek's pine and eucalyptus groves, with the Mediterranean never far away. This is one of the area's most established championship tests and it still feels a cut above plenty of the newer resort layouts.
Tree-lined fairways, well-placed bunkers and water that comes into play on key shots mean this is a course for golfers who like to think. Nearly every hole asks you to shape a shot, and the best angle into the green is often the difference between a birdie chance and a scramble.
The greens are large, true and properly contoured, with pin positions that reward a smart tee shot. Find the right side of the fairway and you'll be firing at flags. Miss it and you'll be working around overhanging trees, sand and the occasional nervy carry.
If you're travelling with a group, your partner or going solo, National delivers a proper round in a cracking setting, backed up by the warmth and hospitality Turkey's Mediterranean coast is known for.
Good fit if: you want a strategic Belek round where placement matters more than blasting driver all day.
Best suited to: mid to low handicappers, confident ball-strikers and anyone who fancies ticking off Belek's most established championship layout.
7 Nights, 2 Rounds
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Such is the quality of David Feherty's design, National (6,907 yards) is still regarded as the best course in Belek by many, and has a maturity that belies its youth. Spectacular holes are carved in to the groves of pine and eucalyptus, and there are treacherous water hazards throughout.
National has more of a members club accent than many of the resort courses, and as such is extremely popular. The most established course in Belek, National should be a certainty for a challenging and rewarding round during your next golfing holiday on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
We caught up with Ladies European Tour player Sophie Walker who finished 6th in the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open in 2014 to talk us through her tips for playing the National Golf Club
"The National is a breathtaking golf course and one of my favourites on tour. It is a very tricky golf course but the variety of tees on offer mean it can be enjoyed by professional and club golfers alike.
My favourite hole on the front 9 is the par 5 4th. It is a short par 5 which values a straight drive in order to go for the green in two. However the whole left side of the hole is protected by a water hazard meaning any stray drive or second shot will be punished. It is very much a birdie or bogie hole for the Ladies on tour.
The best hole on the course for me is the 18th; it says everything there is to say about The National course. The tee shot needs to be precise in order to avoid the fairway bunker and water on the left. The approach shot is very picturesque with the clubhouse at the back of the green.
My tips for playing The National are not to always use a driver off the tee, as accuracy is more important that length. Always take more break than you think on the greens. Try a kebab at the half way house and have a photo taken on the 2nd tee and on the patio with the 18th hole in the background.
It really is a stunning golf course to look at, so enjoy the surroundings and the scores will come."
| Par | 73 |
|---|---|
| Designed by | David Feherty, David Jones |
| Opened for play | 1994 |
| Black | 6,558 metres | SSS 75.9 |
|---|---|---|
| White | 6,086 metres | SSS 72.8 |
| Yellow | 5,611 metres | SSS 70.7 |
| Red | 5,120 metres | SSS 73.3 |
Steven
✓2 Sep 2019
National Golf Club is one of my favourites in the Belek region, but I felt let down by the poor value for money given the hot season and ongoing maintenance work on the course, which was pretty intrusive. It was also the first time I had played the course from the Black tees, and it soon became clear that some of the trees that frame the shots from the back tees are becoming overgrown and are overly intrusive (in one case almost totally blocking out a direct shot to the par three fifth hole, forcing an unreasonable amount of shot shaping with an already long iron. There was also a long par 4 on the back nine which required a very low flight on a driver due to overhanging branches). The pines in the fairway are a feature that need to be negotiated, and there is a lot of shot shaping required, which is fun (and difficult), but also leaves you wondering whether the course designer really intended the fairway obstacles to grow to their current size. At the end of the day I concluded that although I consider myself a reasonably long driver of the ball (>270 yds), I had probably bitten off more than I could chew and I will revert to the white tees next time I play, which from memory are considerably more playable. The greens had recently been hollow-tined and were very slow and a bit uneven. All around the course there was maintenance work around the paths which was very unsightly, although didn't really impact play very much. Fairways were in decent condition given the time of year, although some of the areas around the greens were a bit bare. Bunkers were in excellent condition. There was extensive (and noisy) building work going on around the clubhouse which spoiled the atmosphere on the terrace. Pace of play was good, with the course being almost empty and the few groups that were out letting me through immediately. My main gripe was the pricing, with the round costing €90 with a further €35 for a cart, making the cost almost double the Sultan/Pacha, and only marginally less than it cost for a walk-in green fee during high season in early April, when I think I payed €95. Add to that some pretty extortionate pricing on the bar menu, and the experience cost me over €150, while the condition of the course and clubhouse was poor due to maintenance work, and due to lack of attention to how the course plays from the black tees. I was disappointed, and will not be back during summer months, although I would keep it on my list for during the season.
