Golf In Morocco: Royal Golf Dar Essalam

Golf In Morocco …

Recently, I had the amazing opportunity to visit Morocco as the guest of the Moroccan National Tourist Office. The journey led from Casablanca to Rabat, El Jadida and Marrakech. I stayed in fine hotels, ate amazing food, saw wondrous sights, learned about the people, culture and government, and shopped in the souks. And of course, there also was absolutely amazing golf.

The first golf stop was at Royal Golf Dar Essalam in Rabat. The course was built in 1971 by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. at the behest of King Hassan II.

Dar Essalam means “haven of peace.” It is an appropriate name for this quietly beautiful course, with its cork-tree lined fairways, pools of water, and flowering shrubs. But though the setting is peaceful, the course is Robert Trent Jones Sr. tough. There are the classic fairway bunkers, and treacherous green complexes with no chance for a bump-and-run guy like me to pitch a ball to the green. Fly it in or die.

This classic parklands course should feel both familiar and exotic to American golfers. While the architectural style of Dar Essalam is like every other RTJ course I’ve played, the cork, palm, cypress and other trees that line the fairways give it an appealingly different look.

I’ll have a detailed review soon.