It appears extra now than ever, there comes a time when each man or lady accepts defeat and picks up a golf membership, usually on the urge of his pals. No matter stage of the sport you attain and everytime you begin, there’s nothing fairly like packing your luggage, heading for the solar and hacking a golf ball round with some beers in tow.
You have heard of {golfing} within the Algarve and even heading to the States, however Antalya, Turkey has rapidly turn into the right vacation spot in your {golfing} retreat and it is laborious to think about something surpassing the riches on provide at Cullinan Belek.
Boasting two programs on their grounds – the Olympos and the Aspendos – the lodge has loads of golf to discover along with a driving vary, chipping and placing greens on high of golf classes additionally out there – which I realized I rattling effectively want.
The rooms are proper by the motion, backing as much as their luscious greens on one facet and the seaside flanking one other. Picturesque is not fairly the phrase.
Sports activities Mail hopped on an EasyJet flight to Antalya in direction of the top of Could – which solely took three hours and 45 minutes – and braced ourselves to get accustomed to 36 gorgeous holes in 30 diploma warmth. Somebody has to do it, dammit.
To take a better take a look at Cullinan Belek and guide your subsequent golf journey, click on the hyperlink.
Get to Antalya, Turkey rapidly and comfortably with EasyJet
The breathtaking grounds of Cullinan Belek offers you the perfect of each worlds on a golf journey
The Cullinan Hyperlinks Golf Membership sits a brief stroll (or raise) from the principle lodge constructing
A couple of 30 minute drive from Antalya airport, you are greeted to Cullinan Belek by your private assistants for the vacation who give you champagne or no matter drinks and snacks float your boat. You’d suppose that is it, however we had been rapidly in a WhatsApp group with our two assistants – Ece and Ilorna – and realized any query you might have or something you want, you merely ask them.
The place do I rent my golf equipment? Can I guide golf classes? Can I get an early tee time? All issues they do for you whilst you soak within the solar and fill your self to the brim with their meals and drinks choices.
Home or imported beer? It would not matter, it is included. The minibar in your room? Not solely included, however restocked every single day. The Chocolate Home in the principle constructing? Included. Caprice Pattiserie? Included. Steak (immense high quality), Italian, Japanese, Turkish eating places and even the just about exhaustingly expansive buffet – all included.
Travelling
Taking off from London, EasyJet is the best choice by far when it comes to flights timings. Most different airways that take you to Antalya pressure you to lose most of your day, however a 07:40am departure noticed us arrive in Turkey with the day forward of us.
As a journalist who does extra lengthy haul flights out of Europe than in it, I did not have the fondest reminiscences of ‘price range airways’ because it had been, however I might now select to fly with EasyJet the place doable in Europe, definitely on this route.
The aircraft was clear and, importantly for my youngsters, the workers had been pleasant and useful. The costs for food and drinks had been laborious to swallow, however that is par for the course in case you’re within the sky or on a motorway – principally wherever you do not have a alternative!
EasyJet supplied a easy expertise with flight timings that gave us extra time in Antalya
Nonetheless, the expertise itself was as easy and handy as we may have hoped for. Every finish of the journey had nearly no wait time and we acquired to maximise our days due to the timings. It is good to really feel such as you’ve gotten your cash’s value.
Must you anticipate to be swept of your ft and really feel such as you’re flying in luxurious? No. Will you be completely happy in case you worth how straightforward the flight is? Sure, virtually surprisingly so.
Again to the lodge
A observe on the candy choices from the pattiserie and the aptly named Chocolate Home – they’ll have one thing you want. Their choices are so huge they will get you in the end! I used to be gutted the primary day when there was no brownies, however the subsequent day, together with a bunch of stuff I hadn’t seen the primary day, they’d them.
The chocolatier is a fast strategy to get stacks of chocolate treats on the go one flooring down
The Chocolaterie pattiserie has each sort of deal with you may consider and is a giant hit with the youngsters
Earlier than you stuff your golf bag to the brim with snickers and water, you must settle into your room. For us, we had been staying in a Lagoon Golf swim-up (as a result of, ya know… Golf!) that means we had two rooms in a single constructing with separate decking that led to shared private swimming pools overlooking the golf course. I discovered a golf ball by the facet of our pool, that is how shut you might be!
The room has a 70-inch TV, the aforementioned fridge, a spacious lavatory with a handheld bathe and rainfall, a sit down space and nearly the whole lot is managed by a touch-screen system.
Your air conditioning, your fan, your lights and even your electrical full-stop could be managed by this panel – you may even name for a golf cart to come back and decide you up and belief us, you’ll. Strolling the huge grounds in that warmth isn’t suggested.
The grounds had been stored in pristine situation and workers had been all the time available to assist
The rooms are spacious and outfitted with a contact display screen system that controls the whole lot
The swim-up pool is true n the doorstep, however there’s 13 indoor and out of doors swimming pools elsewhere
The Lagoon Golf Swim-up immediately seems to be out over the luscious greens of the golf course
Then it is on to the golf. A 7:45 tee time meant we may have breakfast within the 24-hour bistro (which may also ship 24-hour room service) earlier than strolling over to the Cullinan Hyperlinks Golf Membership. It is about €50 for a buggy and €40 to rent a set of golf equipment for the spherical if you have not introduced your individual, so it could possibly get costly quick in case you let it. Sorting this forward of time and being smarter than I’ll prevent this headache.
However the buggy did include an ice field full with bottle water and a jovial fellow zooms across the course providing you beers freed from cost as effectively, so hydration is not any fear. Each programs had water huts after the ninth gap, too.
Good job you should buy balls within the membership home, too, as a result of you may guess your backside greenback I misplaced lots with the water hazards across the holes. Nonetheless, small value to pay for the entertaining holes and wonderful views.
As soon as you’ve got completed your laborious day of graft (that is what my household had been instructed, anyway), the gorgeous clubhouse bar and restaurant that appears over Olympos’ 1st tee and 18th inexperienced is a sight for sore eyes.
The three levels of a par at Cullinan Belek! (Though I hit the water on two different makes an attempt)
A placing inexperienced that results in the primary tee of Aspendos, your first duel with the tough water!
It is a good environment too; we had been fortunate sufficient to have one in all our photographs flippantly applauded as we approached the top of our spherical as teams of golfers gazed over our efforts.
All the pieces is shut. Olympos is behind the clubhouse, Aspendos is about 500 yards to the correct and the driving vary and chipping greens are a merely stroll down the steps out the entrance.
The lodge overlooks all of this; you could be consuming a Guinness within the Irish bar surrounded by water inside minutes of ending golf.
We stayed with Cullinan for 5 days and my dad and I performed golf three of them. I additionally introduced my two daughters and accomplice with me and there was greater than sufficient to maintain them from nagging me about spending an excessive amount of time on the greens.
The Mrs loved a full physique therapeutic massage at C’espace Spa below the guise of me giving her some ‘me time’ (sure, I feel I am intelligent) and that was simply one in all seemingly 1,000,000 issues she may have had performed. The worth listing that comes with the spa could be a little daunting in locations, however as is the case with the remainder of the lodge, you definitely get what you pay for.
My accomplice, Sharna Elson, mentioned: ‘The masseuse was extremely skilled and consistently made certain I used to be snug. She was very attentive; I might definitely return for extra therapies.’
The therapies look expensive, however Sharna Elson insists you get what you pay for within the spa
You possibly can virtually really feel responsible for making use of a child’s membership if you’re on vacation, however Cullinan’s Upupa is a unique animal. I have been away to some all-inclusive resorts earlier than and seen my justifiable share of services, but when I needed to rave about one single factor relating to the precise lodge amid a bunch of choices, the child’s membership is on one other stage.
My youngsters had been asking to go every single day. The principle constructing has two flooring; the primary of which has a room for smaller, toddler youngsters, a comfortable play space, a sand pit to play and two arts and crafts rooms. A cafeteria with a chef on the prepared completes the ground the place youngsters are free to select up wholesome snacks and drinks at their leisure.
Upstairs is the place my eight-year-old may largely be discovered. There’s a gaming room full with X-Field and Ps consoles, gaming chairs, headsets – the lot. Well, they solely youngsters to play the consoles at designated instances and have folks watching over to verify nobody dominates one for too lengthy – this can be very effectively staffed.
A view from the indoor pool that leads on from the spa – it was too sizzling to be inside!
If it is a household sort of golf journey, there’s lots for them to do whilst you get the rounds in
To complete upstairs, there is a cinema room! I used to be panicking on the lookout for my youngster, turned out she was chilling watching Garfield.
There is a double lock system on two sliding doorways to verify no youngsters are going rogue and loads of workers round. Exterior, there’s a play space (stored cool by large gazebo like roofs) and three separate rooms for various sort of artwork: woodcraft, vogue and ceramic.
The children membership stayed alive at evening with reveals on their mini-theatre on the again, however there are extra grownup choices on the principle stage with a formidable array of acts to drink in whilst you actually drink in your free refreshments. To guard the youngsters within the constructing, there aren’t any novice photos of Upupa.
Lastly, this resort additionally sits proper on the seaside with direct entry to the Mediterranean sea. There was fairly probably nothing extra pleasurable than taking part in a wonderful spherical of golf (wonderful vibes greater than capability) after which retiring to a cabana on one of many two piers Cullinan boasts.
Hiring your individual cabana on the seaside is simply asking for a nap after a spherical of golf
The cabana comes full with a totally stocked fridge, however you may order what you need too
The highest of the seaside is sandy, however previous the cabanas it’s fairly full of stones – footwear excellent!
A view from the Italian restaurant on the primary flooring with a view of some swim-up flats
A nap-inducing mattress sits below a shaded decking space with a fridge filled with ice-cold drinks close by. Extra decking takes those that wish to battle the warmth out into the sunshine after which it’s only a brief stroll down onto the seaside.
It’s excellent sand round your cabana, however it get stony as you stroll down in direction of the ocean. The slightest of drawbacks.
I really like {golfing} holidays with the boys and Cullinan ticked all of the containers for entertaining, different programs, free-flowing beer, nice meals and loads of methods to calm down.
I hadn’t mixed that fairly egocentric pastime of mine with a household vacation earlier than, however this was the place to do it too. Basically, in case you love golf and desire a memorable getaway, you don’t have an excuse now to not attempt Antalya and Cullinan Belek.
To take a better take a look at Cullinan Belek and guide your subsequent golf journey, click on the hyperlink.
Get to Antalya, Turkey rapidly and comfortably with EasyJet
