Top 20 Golf Courses of Morocco 2016

Our first Top 10 chart for Morocco was published in 2010, then we doubled the number of courses featured in 2016. Those rankings have only been updated once since then in 2020 so it’s high time that situation was remedied, especially as we’ve made several trips to the country in the last few years and visited quite a few of the contenders. The 18-hole layout at Golf du Palais Royal d’Agadir became our national #1 ten years ago, following our participation in the pro-am for the Hassan II Golf Trophy in 2012, when the professional tournament was staged in Agadir. Since the event moved back to Rabat in 2016, the gates to the course have remained firmly shut – indeed, a tight security cordon around the palace keeps golfers well away, as we found out a few months ago after inadvertently taking a wrong turn on the way to another nearby golf facility. With that in mind, we’ve decided to pay more attention to the other chart candidates, allowing the esteemed Robert Trent Jones Senior design in Agadir to fall naturally in the new rankings due to a lack of support from a local panel of industry experts who we’ve consulted. Essentially, they’ve told us you can’t vote for what you can’t gain access to! Has there been changes made to the layout in the last eight years? Does the course still enjoy the same high standard of maintenance? Questions like these remain unanswered so, for now, we’ll have to largely overlook the former Hassan II Golf Trophy venue and concentrate on the many other top-class courses in the Kingdom which are accessible to ordinary golfers. Royal Golf Dar Es Salam And so, the Red course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam (another RTJ design from the late 1960s) returns to the top spot in our Moroccan listings. It’s the premier 18-hole layout at a fabulous 45-hole complex outside Rabat and the layout has profited from a recent bunker renovation by architect James Duncan that really needs to be seen to be believed. Al Houara Crashing straight into our listings at #2 is the Hilton Tangier Al Houara Resort & Spa course which was officially opened late last year by Graham Marsh and Vijay Singh. Playing surfaces are carpeted throughout in paspalum grass, affording a very links-like playing experience close to the Atlantic coast, with extensive practice areas and a 9-hole floodlit short course complementing the main layout. Tazegzout The Vert and Rouge nines at Tazegzout Golf (up one place to #6) lie atop the escarpment overlooking Taghazout Bay, half an hour’s drive north of Agadir, and they’ve now been joined by an entertaining 9-hole short course (the Bleu) on the lower level, close to the beach. Designed by Kyle Phillips and unveiled ten years ago, the main course builds to an exciting climax over the last three holes. Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech The 18-hole layout at Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech edges one place up the new standings to #9. Opened for play ten years ago, it’s a Cabell Robinson production that underwent an extensive bunker renovation last year, involving the rebuilding of all the sand hazards, which resulted in some of the traps being reduced in size while others were totally filled in to improve the overall playability. Royal El Jadida Also moving up one spot in our new table to #10, the 18-hole layout at Royal El Jadida is (like Tazegzout) operated by Madaëf Golfs, the first golf network in Morocco with a total of nine courses in its portfolio. James Duncan has also been busy here of late, carrying out a large-scale upgrade which entailed the redesign of tee boxes, renovation of bunkers and relocation of several greens. Golf du Soleil The Championship course at the 36-hole Golf du Soleil complex is our biggest chart climber, rising three places to #13. Completely renovated in 2019 with a change of playing surfaces, reconstruction of greens, refurbishment of lakes and installation of a new irrigation system, the layout is complemented by the shorter Tikada course, making this place the ideal venue for a full day of golf in Agadir. Al Maaden Golf Resort Advancing two rungs on the ladder to #18, the course at the Al Maaden Golf Resort is possibly the most unique golfing layout you will ever play. Holes were laid out by Kyle Phillips around a geometrical “Moroccan water garden” from Spanish landscape designer Fernando Caruncho in the middle of the property – you’ll absolutely love it or hate it but you’ll never forget it! Akenza We understand the new 18-hole Akenza course (yet another design from Kyle Phillips) between Noria and PalmGolf Ourika in Marrakech, is due to open in September. That means we’ll definitely be back to the Red City this winter to check out the likelihood of this layout featuring in the next edition of our Moroccan listings. To view the entire detailed list of our latest Top 25 Golf Courses of Morocco click the link. View list here. If you have any comment to make on the above article then please use the “WRITE A RESPONSE” link at the bottom of this page. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses

Top 100 Golf Courses revises its North African rankings It’s been a while since we updated our rankings for Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia so we’re rectifying that situation now in this news release for North Africa. According to the R&A’s Golf Around the World 2019 report, there are a total of 111 courses located in these three countries but we think those figures (supplied by the US-based National Golf Foundation) are somewhat inflated for some reason and the true number in play is closer to 80. And as our charts for these three countries profile 40 of these courses we think we have around half the operating golf layouts covered in that part of the world. Over time, golfing opportunities for local players seem to be on the increase as national federations now run ambitious programs to encourage greater participation from young people and that can only be a good thing – it shouldn’t all be about relying on incoming golfers from Europe and beyond to sustain the sport. Egypt Looking at our new Egyptian listings, the top three positions remain as they were, which means the Greg Norman signature design at The Allegria retains its status as the No. 1 course in the country. Opened for business a decade ago as the centrepiece of a large residential development by leading real estate company SODIC, this course was Greg Norman’s first (and so far only) North African design. Managed by Troon Golf, this golf facility continues to set the standard for others to emulate. The Allegria The only new entry in our chart at No. 4 is the Thomson, Perrett and Lobb-designed course at NEWGIZA Golf Club, which debuted just last year. Located close to the Giza pyramid complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, this 18-hole layout is also part of a massive residential project on the outskirts of Cairo. Dramatic elevation changes, sandy waste areas and several water hazards all come into play on what was once an old quarry outside the capital. NEWGIZA Golf Club Pater Harradine has told us about a new course he’s designed which is now ready to open, initially with nine holes, in the new Uptown Cairo development between the capital and New Cairo City. Thirteen holes have actually been grassed but completion of the other five holes is temporarily delayed due to the current coronavirus predicament. We’ve also heard from John Sandford who informs us about a new 18-hole layout he’s currently working on that’s due to open in 2021 at Hacienda Bay, near El Alamein on the Mediterranean coast. Like the Uptown Cairo course, we’ll be keeping a close eye on this layout after it’s fully unveiled. Rank/ To view the complete detailed list of the Top 10 Golf Courses of Egypt click the link. Morocco Golf development has slowed down considerably in Morocco in the last couple of years and that isn’t much of a surprise as, truth be told, there were probably too many golf facilities trying to entice not enough golfers, particularly around Casablanca and Marrakech. That’s not to say things have dried up completely, but the fewer number of courses that appear now are of a generally higher quality than many of the residential-based tracks of late. There’s no change at the top of our Moroccan standings, where the course at Golf du Palais Royal d’Agadir remains at No.1. Interestingly, although design credit for this remarkable layout is given to Robert Trent Jones, author James R. Hansen in his book A Difficult Par revealed it was RTJ’s associate Cabell Robinson who actually did the work. Or so we were told… until email correspondence in January with French-based architect Jeremy Pern revealed his involvement in the project: “Cabell called me at the end of June 1985 asking me if I could go to Morocco next week to build the course in Agadir. I found myself on site 10 days later, with plans that had been roughed out a few years earlier. Since then the sea had reclaimed a significant and important hunk of the site so we had to start afresh. Cabell dropped in a few times during the construction and so we more or less built it as we went along.” Golf du Palais Royal d’Agadir The first of two new entries comes into the chart at No. 3 and it’s the Jack Nicklaus Signature course at Michlifen Golf & Country Club in Ifrane, with the fairways set out at an altitude of five and a half thousand feet above sea level in the magnificent Middle Atlas Mountain region. Such is the kinder climate at this elevation, cool-season grasses were chosen for the layout, with creeping bentgrass used for tees and greens and Kentucky bluegrass for the sand-capped fairways and rough. Recent reviewer comments include: “it’s easy to see from the non-maintained areas next to the fairways that this wasn’t an easy site to build a golf course on as there are a large clusters of small rocks everywhere… you’ll be hard pressed to find a more memorable set of closing holes anywhere… I found the experience at Michlifen simply great, in all respects.” Michlifen Golf & Country Club The other newcomer makes an entrance at No. 6 and it’s the newly refurbished Blue course at Royal Dar Es Salam Golf Club in Rabat, host venue for the Lalla Meryem Cup on the Ladies European Tour since the tournament returned here in 2016. Following the success of the recent renovation of the Red course, a similar upgrade was carried out on the Blue course, with Cabell Robinson overseeing the work, together with ex-European Tour player Michel Besanceney, one of the club’s senior advisors. Michel told us: “Tees and greens were totally re-shaped, along with some fairway and bunker reshaping and large-scale tree clearing to widen the angles and perspectives. The shaping work was carried out by Dean Bedwell and the whole project has been under the close supervision of HRH Prince Moulay Rachid. We’re quite proud that this Sleeping Beauty doesn't pale against the Red Monster across the road.” Royal Dar Es Salam Blue course In other Moroccan golf news, we hear that the Palmerie Rotana Resort in Marrakech (formerly a 27-hole facility) has reduced the number of holes in play to eighteen, using the original nines that were laid out by Robert Trent Jones in the early 1990s. In the same city, renovation work is almost finished at Royal Marrakech, where Stuart Hallett and Jonathan Davison are overseeing a 2-year redesign of all the bunkers and the installation of a new irrigation system. Work began late last year on yet another course renovation, this time at the Pullman El Jadida Royal Golf and SPA near the coastal city of El Jadida, with James Duncan, the long-time Coore & Crenshaw associate, leading the efforts to trim back trees and upgrade all the greens, tees and bunkers. We’re still eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Al Houra course onto the Moroccan golfing stage. This 18-hole layout, fashioned by Graham Marsh Golf Design in collaboration with Vijay Singh, is situated within a 635-acre property on the Atlantic coast between Tangier and Asilah. The adjacent Hilton hotel opened last year during phase 1 of a Qatari-funded development that includes more hotels, residential villas, health club, shops and various other facilities. Hopefully, the golf course (which was built a couple of years ago) will be next to emerge. To view the complete detailed list of the Top 20 Golf Courses of Morocco click the link. Tunisia There’s not really much to report on the Tunisian golf front, where things have remained rather stagnant as the consequence of a couple of terrible terrorist attacks on foreign visitors which took place in 2015. Visitor numbers had picked up again and flights from the UK had just resumed when the latest coronavirus crisis put everything on hold once again. It can only be hoped that tourism will make some sort of miraculous recovery in the months ahead, as visitors desperate for some sunshine golf perhaps extend the holiday season into the late autumn this year. Make no mistake, Tunisia will be ready and waiting, with golf courses of a surprisingly high quality and green fees that are reasonably priced, providing an attractive, affordable golf product. Yasmin Valley holds sway at the top of our Tunisian table and it’s held the No.1 position since we first started ranking this country in 2009. Located a mere 15-minute drive inland from the Hammamet Medina, it’s a Ron Fream design from the late 1980s that’s routed across an undulating landscape of pine and olive groves. Next door lies two well-regarded 18-hole courses at Golf Citrus, making this a great 3-course destination for discerning players. Yasmine Valley The desert course at Oasis Tozeur, on the north edge of the Sahara desert, has now closed so it drops out of our chart, replaced by the course at Djerba Golf Club, which is a fine 27-hole facility on the small island of Djerba in the Gulf of Gabes, close to the border with Libya. Martin Hawtree laid out three nines here in the mid-1990s and the 18-hole layout of first choice comprises the loops of Les Palmiers (par is set at 37 with four par fives) and La Mer (par is 36 with three seaside holes). It was announced a while back that the Tunis Sports City project in the Lac de Tunis district of the capital would finally go ahead, after the project had languished for many years on the planning board. A Peter Harradine-designed 9-hole golf course is one of the prime sporting components of this development and we await its completion with great interest. Michel Gayon is also involved in designing an 18-hole layout at Tunis Bay Golf in Raoued, a new residential development located on the west side of the Sebkha Ariana salt flats, opposite the RTJII course at The Residence Tunis in Gammarth. The course is not due to complete until 2022/23. To view the complete detailed list of the Top 10 Golf Courses of Tunisiaclick the link. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses

Top 100 Golf Courses revisits Morocco to appraise more Top 20 chart contenders We strive to keep on top of golfing developments in the Western Kingdom Six months ago, our Morocco Top 20 review concluded with an indication that we’d like to take a closer look this year at courses outwith the Marrakech area. Well, we’ve done just that, visiting Agadir on the Atlantic coast in January then returning last month to have a look at more than a dozen courses in Casablanca, Fes, Tangier and Rabat. It now means we’ve played or visited 32 of the 36 golf facilities currently in operation around the Western Kingdom so we think we’re now uniquely qualified to report on the very best that Morocco has to offer the visiting golfer from abroad. We’ve not yet seen the 9-hole courses at Royal Golf Anfa, Settat University or Bousnika Bay. Neither have we visited the 18-hole layout at Palmeral Golf Saïdia, close to the Algerian border in the northeast. Apart from those four, we’ve been to all the others. Our short visit to Agadir in January began with a look at Tazegzout, the new Kyle Phillips course located a short twenty minute drive north of the busy coastal holiday resort. The sporting centrepiece of an enormous residential project that’s still under construction, the course quietly builds to a crescendo on the back nine, concluding with three holes laid out along the edge of the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. We also had a look around the charming 9-holer at Royal Agadir, where the course and the clubhouse seem happily lodged in a 1950s time warp, around the time the club was first established. It’s a lovely little golfing oasis which very few tourists venture to see, which is a real pity as there’s lots of good golf to be played here amongst really passionate local golfers at this old club. The 27-hole layout at Golf les Dunes is a modern Cabell Robinson design of some distinction, with the tree-lined Oued nine by far the best of its three 9-hole circuits. Next door, Golf du Soleil offers two fine 18-hole layouts, though the Championship course is definitely the one to play for those who only have time for one round. Four months later, and we were back in May to have a look around facilities in the north of the country, starting in Bouskoura, just outside Casablanca, where three new courses are situated in close proximity to each other. The first of these, Casa Green, is a Jeremy Pern layout that’s set in a surprisingly undulating landscape, featuring paspalum greens and an enormous, crescent-shaped practice putting green in front of the clubhouse. The Tony Jacklin Casablanca course is a Blake Stirling and Marco Martin design, with a signature par three hole playing to an island green at the 6th hole, and it’s laid out within a rather strange U-shaped property, with the opening and closing holes on the front nine set next to a forest. The PalmGolf Casablanca course is an expansive Stéphane Talbot design – complete with a scaled down version of the Oakmont pew bunkers on the 17th hole – where generously wide fairways are grassed with paspalum and the greens with penncross bentgrass. PalmGolf is the pick of these three facilities, on a par with its well-regarded stablemate PalmGolf Ourika, near Marrakech. Half an hour’s drive northwest, the old Royal Mohammedia course on the coast is another throwback in time, where it feels like nothing much has changed around the clubhouse in a very long time. Nobody’s exactly sure when the club was formed or who the original course architect was but that only seems to add to the mystique of a magical old place to play golf. The new course at Oed Fes Golf is a Jonathan Gaunt design that lies on a fairly flat property close to the city centre. Water comes into play at several holes, most notably at the right doglegged 8th and left doglegged 17th, and the Director of Golf, Alijandro Avila, is doing a fabulous hands-on job fine tuning the original design, paying particular attention to extending a number of greens. South of the city, Royal Fes started out as a 9-hole course in 1994 then Cabell Robinson returned a decade later to add another nine. Such is the skill with which the new holes were constructed, it’s impossible to tell which holes belong to the original layout and which were added to a course that displays maturity way beyond its years. The course at Royal Golf Meknes lies within the walls of the royal palace, in the heart of the city. It’s not generally open to the public but – after some negotiation with the three lines of security outside – we managed to arrange a quick look around the deserted 9-hole course, where the fairways are laid out around the palace gardens. The dead flat holes are not much to shout about in terms of their architecture, but their small raised greens with large protecting bunkers are absolutely exquisite and they alone were worth the effort to gain admission to the palace grounds. Further north, the course at Royal Country Club de Tangier is the oldest in Morocco, with the club celebrating its centenary in 2014. It’s not known who originally laid out the fairways, though Gustave Golias, an assistant to Arnaud Massy at La Boulie in Paris, is said to have had a hand in early design work. Frustratingly, as at Royal Mohammedia, nobody at the club was able to shine a light on the provenance of what is a wonderful old course which is sadly in much need of a maintenance budget. Our tour ended with a visit to Royal Dar Es Salam, outside Rabat, where the Red and Blue courses were hosting simultaneous European Tour and LPGA events. There’s not many clubs capable of holding two tournaments of that magnitude at the same time but it really does help to have the resources of the state at your disposal when organizing such competitions! No expense is spared when hosting the Trophée Hassan II and Lala Merryem Cup competitions as the government and the royal family use them as a means of promoting Morocco to the rest of the world. At the moment, there are a handful of golf projects currently under development in the country. We visited the newly completed Jacklin course in Marrakech last December (it’s due to open in October) and we received an escorted tour around the new Al Houara project when we were in Tangier, but that’s still a work in progress. A second Gary Player course at Mogador is well under way (13 holes are already constructed), work has recently started on what’s supposed to be a fabulous new Jack Nicklaus mountain course at Ifrane, and the first nine of Robin Hiseman’s new design at Plage des nations, north of Rabat, is currently growing in. As you can see, there’s little let up in Morocco’s national golf development program so expect to read more first-hand reports from the northwest of Africa in the months ahead as these and other exciting golf projects come to fruition. Expect also to see several newcomers when the next Moroccan Top 20 is re-ranked. And don’t be surprised if one of the Fes courses and (at least) one of the new Bouskoura layouts make an appearance. Remember where you read it first… Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses