On the last day of term, when everyone was getting ready to leave Bede’s for their Christmas holidays, six pupils and two members of staff flew off to Antalya, Turkey, to play golf on some of the most fantastic Golf Courses imaginable.
The flights, the hotel, the transport all went according to plan, the weather was fantastic, the food at the hotel and the facilities were amazing, and the golf courses and practice facilities that we played were excellent.
The week started off with a round at the Sueno Pines Golf Club which is actually part of the hotel that we stayed in, also called the Sueno.
All of the courses featured lots of water, lots of trees, and fantastic bunkers and greens. Some of the views across the fairways and hotels were amazing.
Many of the tee shots required a good carry to get across water, and the Sueno Pines had a few holes where you had to be accurate and long, requiring at a 200 yard carry onto a narrow strip of fairway, before having to carry a lot more water to get to the green
The boys were split into 2 teams; Team Cyclone, and Team Venom, in a matchplay Ryder Cup style competition.
Cyclone comprised of Mr Betts, Monty, Alfie and captain, Jake
Venom comprised of Mr Manos, Oscar, Sebi and captain, Mack.
There were also individual competitions each day for scratch and stableford, as well as shot of the day!
On Day 1, Oscar won the Stableford with what sounds like a low score, but this was a tough course in a tough breeze, 25 points. And Mack took the Scratch score, only 1 point behind Oscar, but giving him 6 shots.
Alfie managed to win a prize for an approach into a par 3, he shot the best scratch score on the 3’s scoring only +2, which was pretty good going.
On Day 2, we played the Sueno Dunes course, which is known for its very rolling links style fairways. No flat lies, lots of water, lots of bunkers, tight fairways and a stiff breeze. A fantastic course.
Mack had another good round and shot 28 points, while Jake pinched the scratch and shot the best score on the threes at +2, Monty shot the best on the 5’s - level!
At this stage Venom are now 1 point ahead!
On Day 3, we played the Cornelia Faldo, which has 27 holes, we played the Queens (9 holes) and the Regents (9 holes), and again, a beautiful course with lots of trees, lots of water, a breeze and again, lots of sun. The practice facilities and driving range were unbelievable. You could spend all day there.
Oscar shot 34 points, the best of the week, Sebi hit a fantastic majestic approach shot over water to a green 190 yards away, he didn’t sink the put, but won a prize!
At the end of day 3, Venom won the team comp by 2 points
Then in the evening there came a handicap committee meeting, to give everyone a chance of competing on day 4, playing the Sueno Pines for a second time.
Another sunny, warm day with a gentle breeze, and again lots of trees, lots of bunkers and lots of water.
The players were now split into a premiership and championship based on their individual stablefords over the first three days.
The first match out was Jake v Mack v Oscar. And Oscar won by a couple of points. Winning a sleeve of balls of Taylormade Tp5’s
The second match was Alfie v Sebi v Monty, and the Championship was taken by Alfie, who played very consistent golf over the whole week, taking the prize which was a sleeve of Callaway Supersoft.
Mr Betts and Mr Manos would like to praise the boys for their behaviour and attitude, both on the course and in the hotel. And we are planning a similar trip for the first week of January 2027. Further details to be provided, please contact chris.betts@bedes.org if you are interested.
