Kingdom of Golf - Morocco A five-day Moroccan golf journey

As the orange sun travelled across the sky and the minarets and palms gradually fell into silhouettes, chefs began to cart in the makings of some hundred-food stalls and before long the aroma of barbecued meats, kebabs, meatballs and harira (a thick soup of meats, garbanzos, tomatoes and lentils) filled the air. When the sun finally set, all the music in the medina ceased for one of the most evocative of travel sounds, the muezzin’s call to prayer. Soon, another muezzin in another mosque started up, then another and another until the entire city was filled with these evocative and fervent sounds. 

In addition to street eats, Marrakech offers some wonderful fine-dining opportunities at palace restaurants most of which are converted riads (a traditional house or palace with an interior garden). Part of the charm of these places is that they are difficult to locate, and the Narwama restaurant is no exception hidden away down a narrow alleyway covered in Berber rugs, a short stroll from the medina. Situated in a glorious 19th century riad with 21st century Zen décor, the Narwama offers an award-winning combination of Moroccan and Thai cuisine and the best Moroccan mint mojito in town. After your meal relax in the rustic bar that has hookah pipes at each table. 

“The food we serve is Fez cuisine, the finest in Morocco and one of our house specialties is lamb tajine with pears,” said the owner Ali Bousfiha. “The tajine is one of Morocco’s most famous dishes and the name refers to the conical-lidded pot in which it is prepared, as well as the intricately spiced stew of meat and vegetables, sometimes with dried fruits and nuts, cooked very slowly over a charcoal fire.”

The Amelkis’ next-door neighbour is the Marrakech Royal Golf Club created in 1923 by the Pacha of Marrakech and the second oldest course in Morocco. Throughout the club’s history distinguished players such as Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, Ike Eisenhower and his late Majesty King Hassan ll have trodden its fairways and greens. 

This is a course that suit all levels of ability and the main attraction here is the lush setting with fairways lined with standing cypress, eucalyptus, olive, orange, apricot and palm trees. A new addition of nine holes in 2008 called the Menara now complements the original two nines (the Koutoubia and Agdal). 

On the Menara nine look out for the 481-metre par-5 4th. It plays over a pool of water, that’s an exact replica of the Menara of Marrakech, bordered by hundreds of olive trees and ending with a superbly defended dogleg. When we stood on the tee of this unique hole, we were in two minds whether to pull out the driver or change into our swimming trunks. Other memorable holes include the par-4 4th (Agdal) with the snowy Atlas summits in the background and the 173 metre par-39th (Koutoubia) that’s got more curves than Scarlett Johansson. The green is hidden behind two grassy mounds separated by a bunker plus an additional hazard of two high palm trees blocking the angle of the tee shot. 

This trio of established layouts has been joined by two new exciting 18-hole developments that will make Marrakech the Moroccan city offering the most for visiting golfers. Firstly there’s the Samanah Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus design and Al Maaden, a high-end developer of golf resorts, who commissioned Kyle Phillips, arguably one of the hottest designer of the modern era to take on the task of making their course a Moroccan star. 

Said Phillips: “The golf course has been designed in grand rolling terrain, placed at the foot hills of the nearby Atlas Mountains. Strategically placed bunkers give players multiple lines of play from the tee and tightly cut spill off areas around the greens gather errant shots, providing a variety of exciting recovery opportunities. Keeping with the traditions of golf, Al Maaden is designed as a walker friendly course, with a surrounding designed landscape and geometric water features that give a feeling of playing through a Moroccan garden.”