The first full-length golf course in Bodrum, a resort area along the Aegean Sea in Turkey, opened this summer.
The Regnum Golf and Country Club Bodrum, was designed by Tim Lobb. The par 71 course measures 6,016 meters from the back and 4,770 meters from the front of its four sets of tees. It occupies a former olive grove, and the olive oil from the property is marketed as a house product.
“The property is rather hilly, and also, at 1,450 acres, rather spread out, with lots of long views of forests, valleys and hills,” Lobb said. “Because of the rocky conditions, we did a bare minimum of drawing in advance, and worked the design out in the field in close partnership with [the builders] Naki and Cengizhan. It was really the first time I have ever worked that way.”
This is the second collaboration between developer Fikret Ozturk (who also owns the nine hole Bodrum Golf and Tennis Club, the only other operational golf facility in the area) and golf course architect Tim Lobb. The pairing’s first project, the Carya club in Belek is widely regarded as Turkey’s best course. It is the fourth course built for Lobb by contractors Naki Evandr and Cengizhan Bӧlükbaşi of GolfTek. Up to 275 villas will eventually be built on the property.
“Bodrum is a wonderful destination, with hills and mountains as well as the sea and the beaches, but the degree of development in recent years means that it can be a little frantic,” Fikret Ozturk said, “Our goal for this estate is to give a feel for what the peninsula used to be like — calm, quiet and deeply natural. As such, it was important that we built a golf course that sits lightly on its environment, and I am pleased that Tim and the construction team have done such a great job.”