TURKEY'S GOLF POTENTIAL IS

INCREDIBLE, SAYS EX-PAT TONY
The Gloria Classic, an official PGA European Seniors Tour event will attract the best of the seniors to Belek, Antalya in Turkey next month.
The Gloria Golf Resort will welcome one of the most important rounds of the PGA European Seniors Tour in Belek, after a long six-year break, with the Gloria Classic on May 11-13.
The 2007 Gloria Classic will be played over three rounds (54 holes) on the spectacular New Course at Gloria Golf Resort and is one of the most popular legs of the 2007 European Seniors Tour Schedule, with a total prize of 325,000 euro with 48,750 euro for the winner.
It will be a tough challenge for the win as there are 72 players from 22 countries. Potential contenders for the Gloria Classic are Ryder Cup players Sam Torrance, Eamonn Darcy and Jose Rivero, plus Carl Mason, winner of 14 titles on the European Seniors Tour, and Tony Johnstone, who most memorably won the 1992 PGA Championship on the European Tour.
Tommy Horton, a winner in Turkey on two previous occasions, is the expected favorite as he is still the all-time leading money winner on the European Seniors Tour with approximately 1.5 million euro in winnings. Australian Noel Ratcliff, the winner at Gloria in 2001, will also try hard to keep a hold on his title.
Constantino Rocca, who had his 50th birthday on the Dec. 4, 2006, which qualifies him to compete on the European Seniors Tour, will make his debut on the Seniors Tour in the Gloria Classic. He is one of a very small group of people who can claim to have beaten the great Tiger Woods. He beat when they met in the Ryder cup at Valderama in 1997; he beat him soundly by 4&2 to help Europe defeat the USA.

TOP-CLASS FIELD
"These are the best possible players coming to the tournament," Tony Martin, the English-born consultant professional to the Gloria Golf Resort, told the Turkish Daily News on Saturday, adding that playing and winning at the Gloria Classic is prestigious and desirable as well.
"This is a big representation for them; top European players will compete for one of the biggest prizes in the European Seniors Tour."
As resident of Turkey for more than 20 years now, Tony Martin is probably the first person to bear witness the changes in golfing in the country.
"I would not use the word 'change' as there was almost nothing about golfing here 20 years ago," says Martin. "Golf courses opened and it can be said that golfing in Turkey was virtually born during that period."

TURKEY POTENTIAL INCREDIBLE
However, Tony Martin believes that the progress has been more than satisfactory and is even more optimistic about the future, saying "The potential is incredible in Turkey. There are five golf courses under construction in the same area [which is Belek, Antalya]. That will make a total of 13. There are not that many golf courses in Europe in such a small area.
Last played in 2001, the Gloria Classic got a great reaction, unfortunately not in Turkey, but worldwide. The event was televised all over the Europe and reached millions of spectators. With the new Gloria golf course (6,823yd, par-72), designed by Frenchman Michel Gayon and shaped by four large lakes, the Gloria Classic is back and is bigger than ever. Also, to be preceded by two professional-amateur tournaments on May 9-10, the Gloria Classic will present almost a full week of action for the golf fans.