Going for Golf

Cornelia

The splendid Nick Faldo design at Cornelia Golf Club, opened in November 2006 and bears all the hallmarks of class and attention to detail that characterised the six-time Major champion’s play when he was in his pomp. It consists of three nine-hole loops named, charmingly, Tiberius, Sempronia and Galus. The three nines in turn blend to create three different 18-hole combinations named, equally charmingly, Prince, Queen and King.

The holes are built on either side of a spine-like ridge of sand dunes and thread their way through a colony of umbrella pines. Typically for a Faldo design, among the challenges to be negotiated are several doglegs that place more emphasis on tactical acumen than brute force. Factor in elevated tees, tight driving holes, numerous beautiful but treacherous lakes, along with par-fives that are genuine ‘three-shotters’, and it’s obvious that patience as well as skill is required to construct a decent score here.

Visitors should be particularly wary of the second hole on Tiberius, a fantastic par-five that double-doglegs its way through a tight, pine-clad vista, and the fiendish eighth on Sempronia which presents a tee shot with water all the way down the left and only a small landing area on the right corner of the fairway.  The seventh and eighth on Tiberius are excellent short dogleg par-fours: the former offers a tantalising glimpse of the green for those who like to take risks with the driver while the latter presents the distinct threat of a watery grave down the left side.

The course and its David Leadbetter Golf Academy have been funded by a group which owns two of Belek’s more luxurious hotel resorts – the Cornelia DeLuxe and Diamond. The older, green-motif DeLuxe has 381 rooms, four restaurants, eight bars and five swimming pools, while the Diamond has 600 rooms, eight restaurants, 11 bars, an outdoor pool that meanders throughout its grounds and a massive spa that is claimed to be the biggest in Belek. Its unusual hexagonal shape has been constructed in a semi-circular design (like two letter Cs turned against each other), and as a result most of the rooms have an unfettered view of the sea.