GOLF

GOLFING IN MOROCCO

In morocco, where nature presents such a majestic spectacle, golf has found its roots and its culture with more than 200 holes to delight the dedicated player.  At Marrakesh, the fairways are laid out on a plateau dominated by the eternal snows of the Atlas mountains, snake their way between the cypress and pine trees on the hills at Tangier, stand surrounded by a forest of century-old oaks at Rabat and by the joyful colours of the heather, tamarisk and gorse at Cabo Negro, follow the dunes at Agadir and even extend to the heart of the imperial city of Meknes where they form, part of the Royal Palace park. 

Fourteen golf courses in all, and fourteen masterpieces … which will number thirty by the year 2000, designed by such international masters as Robert Trent Jones, Jack Nicklaus and Cabell B. Robinson.  Golf was first introduced into Morocco at the beginning of the century even before football – and has since become a national passion. This craze for the game is also a reflection of royal favour, since golf, the king of sports, is the favourite sport of His Majesty King Hassan II, who has acquired international ranking by creating the competition for the elegant and much-prized Hassan II Trophy.  All the golf clubs described in this website are open to the public, even if access to them is sometimes limited to players possessing a handicap card. The green fee varies between 100 and 500 dirhams. Most courses offer club hiring facilities as well as caddies or electric carts. Some are closed one day a week.

 

Golf : Agadir | Casablanca |Benslimane | cabo negro | Rabat | El jadida | Fez | Marrakech | Meknes | Mohammedia | Ouarzazate | Tangier

 

 
 AGADIR

Golf du Soleil (27 holes)

”Soleil Golf” Course spreads over 85 hectares planted with tamarisk, mimosas, eucalyptus and palm trees. The greens are well guarded by bunkers, and 4 lakes bring water in play on 6 holes. Will suit all levels of play.           olf des Dunes (27 holes) The Wadi; the yellow course, needs much more skill.  Hole number three, par 5, inspires fear and respect. Its narrow green is guarded by a lake, an embankment, a bunker and a deep depression. Good luck!  For the Tamarisk, the red course, you will need all your clubs and all your best strokes. The ingredients; two lakes, fairways that appear reasonably calm and a moderately-sized eucalyptus wood. The last hole is imposing: a narrow par 5 that climbs uphill through the trees before gently sloping down to the green and the club house.  

MARRAKESH

Royal Golf Club (18 holes)

With good reason. How magical for a golfer to play on this par 72 course at the feet of the snow-covered Atlas Mountains! And what a delight to stride the length of its 6,200 meters where grow such a profusion of cypress, eucalyptus, palm, olive, orange and apricot trees!  But don’t let the extreme beauty of the course put you off your game. Be doubly vigilant at hole number 15. The green is hidden behind two grassy mounds Separated by a bunker. Plus an additional hazard: the angles are blocked by high palm trees.  Once the game is over, seasoned players often remember some of the eminent men who have played on this world-famous course; men like Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George and Ike Eisenhower…                                

Golf Palmeraie (18 holes)

When the international master Robert Trent Jones was presented with a perpetually limpid sky, the celebrated Palmeraie (Palm Grove) at Marrakech, the majestic Atlas Mountains and a horizon dotted with white medians, he created an 18 hole masterpiece: the Palmeraie Golf Club.

   

      Club Amelkis (18 holes)

Amelkis Golf Club – the most recent golf course in Marrakech – has a splendid kasbah style clubhouse with a terrace overlooking the course and the Atlas.

The course has integrated the “khettaras”, 11th century irrigation works built by Almoravids hydraulics experts. Its fairways are lined with luxurious villas, century old palm trees, groves of palms and giant papyrus reeds. Home to the 2000 Morocco Open       

   OUARZAZATE

Royal Golf Club (18 holes) 

Make a beautiful drive and watch your ball fly up towards the eternal snow!  The spectacular High Atlas can be seen from all points on the Royal Ouarzazate Golf Course.  Which is all the more remarkable when you consider that the course stands at the very gates of the desert, where the Kasbah Trail begins?Playing here is both incredibly captivating and complex.  The broken terrain of the fairways with their slopes and embankments wind their way between palm trees around an immense lake which also serves as a barrage on the challenging final hole.  In the Deep South, man’s determination and invention make everything grow.            

RABAT  Royal Golf Club Dar Es-Salam (45 holes)

Close to Rabat, the 45 holes at the Royal Dar Es-Salam Golf Club are the dream of golfers from all over the world.  The Royal Moroccan Golf Federation and the Hassan II Trophy which takes place there each year have made it a golf course with an international reputation

 CASABLANCA

Anfa Royal Golf (09 holes)

This extraordinary golf course is situated in the centre of a busy residential area yet it manages to be quiet. The clubhouse overlooks the course’s stunning gardens and the famous Hassan II Mosque.The shortness of the course is deceptive and to score well you need to avoid the flowerbeds and the trees lining the fairways which isn’t easy.    

     MOHAMMEDIA

Royal Golf Club (18 holes)

A colourful bed of flowers, an imposing wooden doorway set into a white wall crowned with tiles: Between two lines of pines and eucalyptus, the first fairway is a ceremonious procession into what looks like Scotland, a restless sea, white dunes, pink laurel bushes, gorse and acacias, all lashed by the wind…a wind you have to deal with throughout the whole course.         

FES

Royal Golf Club (09 holes)

Countryside olive grove setting with mountain views. Undulating fairways and sloping greens. Large lake in play on three holes. Greens well guarded by many bunkers including one of 1200 square metres. Caddies are mandatory.        

EL JADIDA

Royal Golf Club (18 holes)


The invigorating fragrance of pine and eucalyptus carried on the sea air… A falcon flying over the bunker on hole number 8 to slip away into the blue of the sky… At the 12th, the still waters of a lake mirror the clouds…

On the 14th, magnificent araucarias, standing like rows of strange vegetable sculptures along the fairway… On the 17th, you can contemplate the shimmering white town of El Jadida… On number 18, the unspoiled beaches and dunes flowering with tamarisk and mimosa… Wherever the golfer may be on the Royal El Jadida course, Cabell B. Robinson has ensured that he will be surrounded by stunning natural beauty.