I have lost count of how many times I have played Cullinan Links. I have walked it in the cool of a floodlit evening, in the teeth of a sea breeze, and once alongside the course director himself, Şehmuş Işık — a former Turkish national-team player who fusses over his practice greens the way a chef guards a knife. So when I tell you this is one of the courses to build a Belek golf holiday around, it is not from a brochure. It is from the tee box.

If you are planning a golf trip to Türkiye, Cullinan Links Golf Club is a name you need to know — not just the course, but the whole resort that has grown around it. Two championship layouts, two of Belek's best five-star hotels and a clubhouse that runs on full all-inclusive, all on a single site by the sea. Here is the full story: the history, the holes, the packages, and the honest pros and cons.

For tour operators, golf travel agencies and group organisers, Cullinan is especially useful because the golf, hotel, clubhouse, buggies and transfers can all be built into one clean stay-and-play programme — exactly the kind of Belek golf package we put together day in, day out.

From Tat Beach to Cullinan Links: the short history

The story begins in 2015, when Titanic Hotels — part of the Aygün Group, which today runs more than a dozen hotels — bought the old Tat Beach Golf Club. It was their first foray into golf, and they moved quickly. Tat Beach became Titanic Golf Club; the clubhouse was renovated, the landscaping reworked, and the course tied into aggressive packages alongside Titanic Deluxe Golf Belek. Within a few seasons it had become one of the best-selling golf clubs in the region.

Then, in June 2022, the picture changed again. Titanic opened a brand-new luxury hotel right beside the course — Cullinan Belek — and rebranded the golf one final time as Cullinan Links Golf Belek. If your only memory is of the old Tat Beach, set it aside. What stands there now is, frankly, unrecognisable.

What changed in 2022

A great deal. The course grew from 27 holes to a full 36 — two complete eighteen-hole layouts, named Olympos and Aspendos. The clubhouse was rebuilt from the ground up; to my eye it is now one of the finest in Belek. And the floodlights arrived: first across the back nine of Aspendos, then — by late 2025 — extended across all eighteen holes of Aspendos, so night golf is a proper, planned-around option rather than a novelty.

The clubhouse: genuinely all-inclusive

This is the part most golfers do not believe at first. The clubhouse runs on a full all-inclusive basis when you play through the resort's golf packages. You do not trek back to your hotel for lunch; you do not swipe a card. You turn up, you eat, you drink, you go again.

The menu surprised me on day one — this is not the usual tired sandwich counter. There are fresh salads, a proper breakfast spread, toasties and pasta, an Austrian-style chicken schnitzel, and a sirloin steak the locals call the lokum cut that is genuinely excellent. Save room for the house-made tiramisu. Food runs all day, so whether you want it before the round, between the nines or after the eighteenth, it is there.

Practice area and academy

The double-deck driving range is excellent — tidy, well-kept and professionally run — and the pitching and chipping areas are immaculate. That is no accident: Şehmuş is a perfectionist about practice surfaces, and he was the one who pushed hardest for the expansion to 36 holes. There is also a separate golf academy on site, run independently of the hotels, which is useful if you would like a few lessons before the holiday properly gets going.

Olympos and Aspendos: two very different tests

You really are getting two distinct golf courses here, not one course played twice. Olympos is the longer, more muscular layout with the bigger sea views; Aspendos is shorter but sneakier, and the one I score better on — and prefer.

Signature holes worth knowing

The standout is Olympos's 4th. It used to play as a par 4 until a new tee box — built out over the river that runs past Titanic Deluxe — stretched it to a par 5. The fairway is narrow, the river hugs the left, and the 5th fairway waits to the right, separated by a fenced, shrub-lined footpath. Miss in the wrong place and a bogey starts to look generous.

The hotel: Cullinan Belek

What turns a fine golf course into a genuine resort is the hotel that opened beside it in 2022. Named after the largest rough diamond ever found, Cullinan Belek occupies one of Belek's longest stretches of coastline — framed by the river on one side, the Taurus Mountains behind, and an 800-metre ribbon of private white-sand beach, complete with its own pier, in front. Crucially for a golfer, it is a short, level walk from the first tee.

The scale is considerable: around 600 rooms, many of them with sea views. They run from comfortable 29-square-metre rooms with golf or sea views up to spacious family rooms with separate living areas, swim-up rooms with direct access to a shared pool, and villas with their own private pool. The finish is contemporary and the detail generous throughout — robes, slippers, beach bags, and a minibar that is both fully stocked and fully inclusive, restocked daily. Every guest is even added to a WhatsApp group with a personal assistant on hand around the clock.

Dining and the ultra all-inclusive concept

Cullinan works in Türkiye's "ultra all-inclusive" tradition, and does it properly. More than a dozen restaurants and a long list of bars are spread across the resort — the Mare main buffet, a 24-hour à la carte, Italian and Turkish poolside spots, a fish restaurant on the beach and a dedicated children's buffet among them. Meals, snacks and a wide range of international drinks are included through the day and night, with only a handful of speciality venues carrying a small surcharge.

Pools, aquapark and the beach

There are thirteen pools to choose from — indoor and outdoor, several heated for the cooler months, beachfront, swim-up and the private villa pools — alongside a full aquapark of slides for both children and the more adventurous adults. When you would rather swap chlorine for salt, the private beach and pier are a few steps away.

Spa, wellness and families

The C'ESPACE Spa is a serious affair: an 8,000-square-metre wellness complex with a Turkish hammam, saunas, an indoor-outdoor pool and a long treatment menu (spa treatments are typically charged separately). Families are well looked after too, with the Tini Kids Club catering for everyone from newborns to teenagers, plus children's pools, a playground and supervised childcare — which lets the golfer in the party head to the first tee with a clear conscience.

Two hotels, one tee sheet

Cullinan Belek does not stand alone. The resort's golf packages run jointly with its neighbour, the long-established Titanic Deluxe Golf Belek — also five-star, also a short walk from the first tee. Guests at either hotel share the same two courses, the same all-inclusive clubhouse and the same buggies, all folded into a single booking.

For a visiting golfer that means no logistics to think about; for an agent putting a group together, it means one contract, one transfer and one point of contact for the whole party — players and non-golfing partners alike.

Packages: what's actually included

The resort sells joint stay-and-play packages with both hotels, typically from seven nights and one round up to seven nights and four rounds. What you get is genuinely all-in:

The honest cons

I won't pretend it is flawless. The clubhouse can get busy — the view is stunning, and so is the queue at peak times. It is not a place for slow play either: the tee sheet can feel extremely busy at peak times, so pace matters. It also sits at the premium end of the Belek market; you are paying for the setup, the two hotels and the all-inclusive clubhouse, and while you get what you pay for, it is not the cheapest week in town. Finally, book well ahead — last-minute tee times here in peak season are close to impossible.

The neighbourhood: Belek's other great courses

Belek is the golf capital of Türkiye for good reason, and Cullinan sits in excellent company. Within a short transfer you can pair it with a round at almost any of the region's marquee names — ideal for a multi-course week:

So, should you book it?

Frequently asked