Montgomerie Maxx Royal - Turkey

From the moment you pull up at the entrance of the opulent clubhouse, you are treated to the highest level of customer service. Sitting on the terrace pre round overlooking the magnificent 18th closing hole, whilst having breakfast, with the morning sun just rising, is one of good feel moments I have only experienced at a few courses, and set the ambience for what was a good golfing experience.

Host to the Turkish Open a couple of times, the course can be played at championship length at over 7000 yards, but there are 5 sets of tees to choose from so you can enjoy the course in line with your ability and the level of challenge you want. I opted for the tees next to the tips so a good test of golf, particularly when you realise the course plays all carry, with no run out on any shots.

The course is a very pretty looking course, tree lined with very few holes visible apart from the one you are playing, strategically placed well groomed trees in the middle of the fairways, make some tee shots intimidating, but I found their bark far worse than their bite.

The course has a blend of lovely par 3 holes that are framed postcard perfectly, some risk reward par 4s, shots over water, and a few "wow" moments at the landscape ahead.

The 18th is a very strong hole and an ideal way to finish the round, after a long straight drive the player still has the decision to lay up or go for a green heavily guarded and fraught with danger, played out in front of an intimidating audience sat on high watching your every move.

The Montgomerie Max is similar to Carya in that it was built originally to host pro tournaments, both the course and infrastructure are top quality giving a first class all round experience.

However removing the course from that is it quality layout, yes although behind Carya, it doesn’t have as many good holes and variety, too often the challenge is water based which makes the course a little one dimensional at times. That said the sandy waste areas on a couple of holes stands out as a great feature, very easy to find one very difficult to escape with any degree of control. The tough par 5 11th is great example which uses them well. The 18th is cracking finishing hole where you can be a hero or fool in front of players enjoying their refreshments on terrace over looking thee green.

Conditioning and greens were fantastic, turf conditions were carpet like and greens were agreeably firm, didn’t roll as well as they looked but given some the severe slopes that wasn’t an issue.

As with many courses in Belek, the club house and practice facilities at the Montgomeri Maxx Royal are top notch! The service is also great. I had the pleasure of playing the course during the Turkish Airlines Open Pro-Am so I must say that the conditionning was great! The greens roled pure and fast, and the fairways were quite firm and fast, a nice surprise!

The layout is classic target golf. The course will not blow you away, but it is a fair test and makes for a very nice day of golf! Seeing the pros negociate the course was all the more interesting.

If you are planning a trip to Belek, this is a good golf course to look up.

Was lucky enough to play in the Turkish Airlines ProAm here, so was expecting to see the course in absolutely perfect condition. Sadly that wasn't the case, after heavy rain the week before, the greens started chewing up and the fairways were very scabby (resulting in preferred lies) during tournament play. Away from the condition of the course, the actually layout and whole facility is absolutely fantastic. Clubhouse and practice facilities world class, and a magnificent golf course weaving through tall pines, a number of huge water hazards, wasteland and on sight villas. It really is a fantastic place to play. The course gets off to a gentle start with a pretty straight forward par 5. When you get to the 4th that's when the challenge begins to start, a cracking par 5 over water followed by another brilliant par 3 over a huge lake. The stretch of holes 4-9 are very strong, and a challenge where your round can go either very bad or very good if your not careful. Par 3 8th is a very good hole until you get onto the green, where there is a huge mound in the middle of the green that can throw the ball off in every direction. The greens are extremely undulating but they've gone too far with this green. On the back 9 there's a lot less water but a lot more strategically placed bunkers/ and trees. The trees in the middle of the fairway on 13 are a bit silly on what is apart from that a very good par 5. The same can be said for the driveable par 4 15th. A huge oak tees surround by bushes guards the front of the greens so if your tee shot isn't placed correctly, you can have no shot from 50 yards off the greens. Plenty of balls have for stuck up that tree over the years. My favourite hole on the back 9 was the 18th. A spectacular par 5 finishing hole, where you alot your tee shots through a narrow shoot in the pines leaving a 2nd shot to a raised green over a giant bunker with water lurking down the left and the magnificent clubhouse providing a memorable backdrop. All in all it was a sensational day on a fantastic golf course. The only shame been the condition being a little iffy, but the greens were the most undulating I've ever putt on and run very fast.

I must say a little underwhelmed by the Monty. Don't get me wrong it was a nice track but i get the impression the European Tour Pro's will rip it apart later this year. Not excessively long and with open fairways this is a scoring course. I expected the greens to be it only defense but they were very slow. Some great strategy holes (par 4's) and the par 5's were easily reachable in 3. Great clubhouse and well looked after, only 20E for a buggy and 1E for a strokesaver.

Have spent some good time in Belek Turkey and moved to play various courses. Our favorite is Sultan - one of the first courses in Belek and has kept its standard and quality for a long time. Always reliable. (Pasha too). However Monti has had a great turn around, and the course is excellent - greens and fairways are healthy and well kept. The course is variable - water hazards, plenty of bunkers, slopes, etc. It will keep you occupied. Definetely go and play a round. March 12

Played the course twice in february 2012. Great golfcourse design and great conditions. Very good fairways and fast greens, enjoyed it

The Montgomerie course has been built on similar land to that of the Cornelia Faldo course close by - my opinion though is this is slightly behind in the rankings. There is no doubt that golfers will enjoy the course as it (dare I say it), is a little easier. The pick of the holes for me are the short par-4 3rd where a tee shot of around 220 yards will leave an uphill approach of about 100 yards; The 5th hole can look like some holes on other courses of the region as it is a par-3 over water, I like this one especially as the best way in is with a fade, which should take out the two bunkers left of the green. After playing the par-3 8th, there is a fairly unique walk through the villas of the resort and then the Maxx Royal hotel appears on your left (best hotel in Belek) just before the 9th tee. The 9th is my favourite hole on the outward nine…. a par-4 with water on the right of the fairway and short of the green – it is the bunker placed behind the green that makes this hole special; the water says ‘don’t be short’ and the bunker says ‘I’m here’ if you are long – really good design. I think that the back nine is not as good as the front but this too has a strong finishing hole .. a par-5 where every shot must be exact as a sloping fairway and plenty of wasteland and bunkers down the left are a real threat. Post round drinks on the clubhouse decking looking back down the 18th hole are a must – I will play here again but a few other Belek courses get the nod over the Montgomerie for me.

I've already played 10 courses in Belek, Turkey and this one is the best course (I would say, slightly better than Carya and PGA Sultan, which are also among favorites)! I played at the end of October, it’s beautiful, good design, very good quality (both - fairways and especially greens). To play this course is a must!

I played three rounds at the Montgomerie course in april this year and it was truley magnificent! The layout is thought through, a risk and reward style course and very tough, especially for high handicaps, since some of the holes require a little bit of carry, over water hazards and waste areas. I played from the black tees all three rounds. The greens where probably the best ones I´ve ever played and the over all shape of the course was great. I also played one round at Cornelia, but I liked the Montgomerie course the greens at cornelia could not beat the ones at montgomerie.