The construction of a new golf course near the Turkish capital Ankara is set to get underway this spring.

The plans for the course at the proposed Regnum Ankara Golf Estate have been drawn up by architect Tim Lobb, and will be the first full-sized course in the Ankara area. The course will be located about 30 minutes drive to the south-west of Ankara city.

“The site covers 200 hectares of lovely rolling terrain,” Lobb told GCA. “There are some strong valleys which we will incorporate into the routing. With a view of Ankara in the distance and surrounded by mountain ranges, the area is certainly breathtaking.”

The course is Lobb’s fourth design in Turkey, and his third with developer Fikret Ozturk. Lobb is the architect behind the courses at Country Life Golf Club in Bodrum, which is currently under construction, the Carya course in Belek – now a regular host of the European Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open – and the Pasha Course at Antalya Golf Club in Antalya.

“As this will be the first 18 hole golf course in the Turkish capital, we are really concentrating on making it player friendly with wider landing zones and interesting green complexes,” Lobb said. “We will be planting with cool season grasses, which is a nice change from the warm season courses done previously in Turkey on the coast.”

Regnum Ankara will be a members course, with some residential developments close by.

“The development will be aimed at first time buyers, and the 200 hectare site is being masterplanned with Adam Crozier of Hatch,” Lobb said. “It’s wonderful to be doing another project with Fikret and his team – they are great people to work with.” 

Developer Fikret Ozturk added: “Building the first golf course in a particular area is a challenge, and so I’m happy that we have assembled a really strong team for this project. We have come to know and trust Tim over several years with two excellent projects, and the rest of our team, including Naki Evandir of contractor Golf Tek, is just as experienced.”