As September ends, we leave behind a fairly busy golf schedule. Players have played a lot of golf, thanks to tournaments sponsored by many global brands. League games organized by the federation saw young golf enthusiasts working up a sweat on the field while tournaments organized by clubs had leading managers from the Turkish and foreign business world trying to hit a hole-in-one.
Having said that, the Turkish golf season is not over. Golf can be played all year round in this country, as a gift of the geographical conditions. For that, one simply needs to take a one or two hour plane journey at most.
Last week in Antalya, the MVK International Turkey Amateur Open Championship was organized by the Turkish Golf Federation for the 16th time this year. To serve the memory of one of main contributors to golf in the country, the organization bears the name of late businessman Mustafa V. Koç, who made significant contributions to the development of golf in Turkey. This year, 89 golfers from 18 countries took part in the championship. Mateusz Gradecki from Poland ranked first at the tournament in the Gloria New Course, while Leon Açıkalın and Taner Yamaç ranked the best Turkish golfers with T11. Gülten Gül Gözüyanık from Turkey ranked third in the category of women, in which Sofia Morozova from Russia came in first.Although it may not be the most common sport in the world, golf is the type of sport that appeals to people from all walks of life. İlhan Mansız, the famous footballer whose career ended a while ago due to a niggling injury, seems to have cultivated quite a relish for golf as well. He says even though his familiarity with golf is quite new, having dabbled in various types of sports for a while, golf grew on him very much and he is not consider quitting it anytime soon. He was one of the contestants at the MVK International Turkey Amateur Open Championship. Despite not being among the best performers at the contest, he is taking firm steps forward in golf. When asked why he chose golf compared to specializing in other kinds of sports, he said he chose golf because it is the kind of sport he can do for the rest of his life.
One of the final series of the European Tour, the Turkish Airlines Open, which has been sponsored by Turkish Airlines (THY) for the past five years, will take place at the Regnum Carya Golf and Spa Resort from Nov. 2 to Nov. 5 this year. The names of star players participating in the tournament are beginning to emerge, and the confirmed contestants of this year's tournament are Justin Rose, who won the gold medal last year in Rio, Henrik Stenson, the winner of the silver medal and Matt Kuchar, winner of the bronze medal. We will see these three stars at the tournament in Antalya in the Rolex Series.