Morocco has a long golfing history, driven by the royal family: Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, commissioned by King Hassan II and designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., hosted the Trophée Hassan II from its first edition in 1971. Around Marrakech, four courses play beneath Atlas peaks that are often snow-capped in winter, from Royal Golf Marrakech, opened in 1927, to Assoufid, Amelkis and the Royal Palm. On the Atlantic, Agadir plays between cliffs and eucalyptus, Essaouira and El Jadida, home to Gary Player's Mazagan links, among the dunes, while Royal Golf de Fès and the courses of Casablanca round out a country where the medina is never far from the first tee.
The season runs from October to May in Marrakech and Agadir, with mild, sunny winter days; in Fez, Rabat, Casablanca, El Jadida and Essaouira, spring and autumn are the most pleasant, with cooler air and sea breezes on the coast. Summer is very hot inland, so that is the time for the coast and early tee times. We put together tailor-made trips there, with reserved tee times, private transfers, riads or palace hotels, and tables chosen for the evening.
Agadir, on the Atlantic coast of southern Morocco, brings together four golf complexes a quarter of an hour from the centre: Tazegzout, a Kyle Phillips layout on the cliffs of Taghazout Bay, and three neighbouring complexes in the Ben Sergao forest, Les Dunes, Golf du Soleil and Golf de l'Océan. Golfers come to play in short sleeves while Europe is cold, from October to May, between the beach and the first foothills of the Atlas.
Casablanca offers three courses no more than forty minutes from the centre: Casa Green Golf Club, an 18-hole Jeremy Pern design opened in 2013 on the edge of the Bouskoura forest, the nine-hole Royal Golf d'Anfa right in the city, and the 18 holes of Mohammedia, founded in 1925 beside the ocean. Golfers come for a short break combining golf, Art Deco architecture and Moroccan cooking, ideally in spring and autumn.
El Jadida, on the Atlantic coast an hour from Casablanca airport, brings together two 18-hole courses five kilometres apart: Mazagan Golf Club, a links designed by Gary Player among the dunes, and the Royal Golf El Jadida, Cabell B. Robinson's layout in a eucalyptus forest. Golfers come for seaside golf and the old Portuguese city of Mazagan, ideally in spring and autumn.
Essaouira, an 18th-century fortified port on Morocco's Atlantic coast, has a single golf venue: Golf de Mogador, a few minutes south of town, whose 18-hole, par-72 North course was designed by Gary Player and opened in 2009. Golfers come for windswept golf between dunes and ocean, paired with a UNESCO-listed medina, ideally in spring and autumn; the other courses are two and a half hours' drive away, towards Marrakech or Agadir.
Fez has two 18-hole courses on its doorstep: the Royal Golf de Fès, laid out by Cabell B. Robinson in an olive grove half an hour from the medina, and Oued Fès Golf, designed by Jonathan Gaunt along the river that gives the city its name. About an hour's drive away, Jack Nicklaus's Michlifen Golf & Country Club in Ifrane completes the trip. The best golf is from March to May and in October and November, between days in a medina that has been a World Heritage Site since 1981.
Around Marrakech, four courses are enough for a trip: the Royal Golf Marrakech, opened in 1927; Assoufid, Niall Cameron's desert layout; and the 27 holes of Amelkis and the Royal Palm, both designed by Cabell B. Robinson, each less than half an hour from the medina. Golfers come to play beneath the snow-capped peaks of the High Atlas and dine in the old city afterwards, from October to May, when the days stay mild.
Rabat, Morocco's capital on the Atlantic coast, has one of Africa's great golf complexes: Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, 45 holes designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Cabell Robinson in a cork oak forest, a quarter of an hour from the centre. Its Red Course hosts the Trophée Hassan II, and Bahia Golf Beach, by the ocean at Bouznika, completes the trip. The best golf is in spring and autumn.
