From enchanting culture to exquisite food, Morocco entices golfers with its off-course appeal

Offering three dozen golf courses around the country, Morocco has plenty to enthral visitors on a golfing break. But the country’s allure extends far beyond its verdant fairways and greens.
There’s a world of possibilities waiting for those who want more from their golf holiday – and you don’t even have to travel far to enjoy Morocco’s other delights. Whether you prefer to visit cultural sites and historic attractions, admire its Moorish architecture, go shopping in ancient souks or modern retail centres, enjoy mouth-watering cuisine, hit the beach or simply relax at your hotel, everything is close to the fairways, giving the chance to enjoy them at leisure after a round.
Even if you fancy going off exploring, the country’s system of fast, new toll expressways makes it easy to get around and take in other places in next to no time.
These are some of the options on offer:

History
Morocco’s fascinating past is everywhere. Its four imperial cities – Marrakech, Fez, Meknes and Rabat – are all historical capitals, Rabat being the present-day capital, and all have golf courses. Ancient medinas (centres) and kasbahs (forts) are iconic and popular attractions. Marrakech is called the Red City for the colour of its crenellated city walls; its ancient edifices include the ornate Bahia Palace, decorative city gates and preserved Jewish quarter. The medinas of Marrakech, Fez, Meknes, Tetouana and Essaouira all have UNESCO World Heritage Site status, as do El Jadida’s Portuguese Mazagan city fortifications. Also UNESCO-listed are the Volubilis Roman ruins, reachable from Rabat.
Where to play: Morocco’s largest golf complex, the 45-hole Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, hosts the prestigious Hassan II Trophy event again from May 5-8, having staged the annual tournament from its inception in 1971 until 2010, when it became part of the PGA European Tour calendar.

Culture
Nowhere else offers such an exotic cultural experience so close to Europe’s capitals as Morocco. In Marrakech, crowds gather every day in its colourful Jemaa El Fna square to watch snake charmers, acrobats, musicians and storytellers alongside street food stalls and merchants selling everything from Moorish-style lamps to human teeth. Wandering the labyrinth-like souks that wind through the heart of Marrakech and other cities including Essaouira, Rabat, Fez, Meknes, Tetouan and Tangier is a joy. They are not only places to buy goods; you can see craftsmen busy hammering metal, cutting cloth, stitching leather and suchlike to create their wares. In Berber villages, life continues as it has done for generations, and visitors are often welcomed to join locals for traditional sweet mint tea.
Where to play: Choose from two 18-hole hole layouts in Fez, Royal Golf Fez and Oued Fez Golf, or the nine-hole Meknes Royal Golf Club, set inside the grounds of a royal palace.
Gastronomy
The delicate flavours of Morocco’s cuisine are legendary. Its salads are like a meal in themselves. Moroccans love pastries, none more so than pastille – pigeon pie with almonds cooked in a delicate filo pastry case. But its tagines are the real stars, cooked slowly in earthenware pots with conical lids that trap the steam. Lamb, chicken and beef are traditional tagine dishes, although the brave can even try camel tagine in restaurants such as Le Mauresque in Agadir. There are restaurants for all budgets, in locations ranging from historic riads tucked down cobbled alleyways – among them Riad Kniza and Dar Moha in Marrakech, accompanied by traditional music, or Dinarjat in Rabat – to gourmet restaurants in luxury hotels, such as Fouquet’s in Marrakech hotel Naoura Barriere and in the cosy Wine Bar at Tangier’s historic El Minzah Hotel, where photographs of famous guests adorn walls. With its French heritage, Morocco has a lot of French cuisine. You can also find Thai, Japanese, Mexican, Italian and Indian restaurants, and Moroccan-Thai fusions in chic lounge restaurants.
Where to play: Golfers can savour tapas in Spanish restaurants in Tangier after playing Morocco’s oldest golf course, the Royal Country Club of Tangier, which celebrated its centenary in 2014.
Shopping
Morocco is shopping heaven. Shop till you drop in malls featuring designer-label boutiques and international-brand stores in cities, offering items such as jewellery, beauty products, leather goods, clothing and shoes at prices well below those back home. New centres include Casablanca’s Morocco Mall – the largest shopping centre in Africa and opened by pop superstar Jennifer Lopez in 2011 – and the Carre Eden and Menara malls in

Marrakech. If you like haggling for bargains, search out souks in the cities. Want to take back curly-toed slippers, a tassled fez hat, decorative plate, leather bag or shisha pipe as a memento of your visit? You can find them all in the maze of alleys in these fascinating markets. Agadir’s Souk El Had is reputedly the largest in Africa; here, you can be measured and have a jacket or suit hand-made for you in a day or two.
Where to play: Casa Green Golf Club.

Wellness
Hammams, or bathhouses, are an intrinsic part of Moroccan culture and life. You can find traditional ones throughout the country and they are an amazing experience. They are often found in hotel spas. Many hotels from large resorts to small boutique hotels such as riads offer spas, generally open for both guests and non-guests. Hotels by the coast may also have thalassotherapy centres, using sea water for their pools and treatments. One of the largest thalasso centres is at the Atlantic Palace Hotel in Agadir, which owns the nearby 27-hole Golf de l’Ocean complex. Spa treatments offered there include a Berber massage, with two therapists using wooden logs made from argan trees and locally-produced argan oil. An essential oil now widely used by cosmetic companies in beauty and healthcare products for its anti-ageing and health-giving properties, argan is made from the nuts of trees only endemic to the Agadir and Essaouira area. Co-operatives run by women from Berber villages in the region hand produce the oil from local trees, turning it into different products visitors can buy in on-site shops at a fraction of the price of those from major brands.
Where to play: The Royal Palm Marrakech, part of the luxury Beachcomber Hotels group, has a Cabell B Robinson golf course and a Spa by Clarins, where you can relax and unwind after golf.
Beaches
Morocco is blessed with wonderful beaches lapped by both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean – its Med coastline alone stretches 500km. Besides its traditional coastal resort destinations such as Agadir and Essaouira, new resort developments are springing up around the country’s coast, with golf as part of the mix. Hotels in Agadir are mostly all-inclusive, and some include green fees.
Where to play: The Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, which has the Gary Player-designed Mazagan Golf Club course alongside, is set on a 7km stretch of beach fronting the Atlantic at El Jadida.

Natural splendour
Much of Morocco’s Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines provide wonderful and dramatic scenery to visit, including sand dunes near Agadir, which you can ride across on camels. You can also take excursions into the Sahara Desert, visiting towns such as Ouarzazate and outposts beyond. Take four-wheel-drive tours into the High Atlas Mountains from Marrakech and Agadir, visiting remote Berber villages, verdant river valleys and dramatic canyons. From Fez and Meknes you can take tours into the Middle Atlas Mountains. Tours into the Rif Mountains go from Tangier and Tetouan.
Where to play: The venerable Royal Golf Marrakech course is lined by cypress, palm, eucalyptus, olive and fruit trees and is a haven for birds.

Music & festivals
Morocco’s evocative Gnawa music is known throughout the world and you can hear it everywhere in the country. Essaouira is regarded as the Gnawa capital and is where the Gnaoua World Music Festival takes place each May, celebrating the traditions of the sub-Saharan music genre as well as featuring jazz, pop, rock and other contemporary styles with free and paid-for concerts. The annual Marrakech International Film Festival in December attracts many of the world’s top movie stars.
Where to play: Golf de Mogador, in Essaouira, has an 18-hole Gary Player course with a second nearing completion.

Nightlife
If you want to keep the fun going off the course, there are enough lounges, nightclubs and casinos to rock the kasbah for 1001 nights. Clubs in some Moroccan cities, such as Agadir and Tangier, are renowned for staying open through the night – even up until 7.30am – for those with the stamina.
Where to play: Golfing night owls can hit the casino or nightclub at Agadir’s Atlantic Palace Hotel after playing its nearby 27-hole Golf de l’Ocean complex
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