Winter, spring, summer and autumn – whatever time of year, one of the joys of playing golf in Morocco is that you can enjoy its fairways without the crowds.
Boasting more than 300 sunny days a year and the closest guaranteed winter sun destination to Europe, at less than three hours away by air from most capital cities, it offers golfing visitors the chance to tee off in balmy temperatures and under vivid blue skies when their home courses are under snow or being buffeted by winter gales.
Morocco is a true four-season golf destination. Cooling winds blowing off the Atlantic and Mediterranean make for enjoyable, year-round weather for golf in coastal golfing resorts such as Agadir, Essaouira or El Jadida, while in inland destinations Marrakech, Fez and Meknes, you can comfortably play golf from early autumn until late spring and golf is even possible in summer. Choose the right time to go and you can be teeing off not only in balmy conditions but also on courses with few other golfers and at tee times of your choosing.
Marrakech makes a very enticing base for a winter golf holiday. Morocco’s prime golf hub with more than a dozen courses close to the city centre and others due to open soon, its fairways are always far less crowded than those of other winter sun destinations. It can be even more alluring at other times of the year.
While October to April is when most European golfers pack their clubs and head to Marrakech for a golf break, it is not all high season then. There are some periods, known as the shoulder season, when the courses are much quieter. At certain times, and particularly in summer, golfers may well have the course to themselves.
Morocco’s value is another attraction for golfers, green fees typically ranging between around 50 and 75 euros. Outside of peak months, some courses offer green fees almost 50% less than peak rates with wide-open tee times available. Playing later in the day when most golfers have finished their rounds can also bring green fees down, even during the main golfing season.
It’s worth checking when golf clubs are less busy. The peak months for Noria Golf Club, in Marrakech, are October, November, February and March, with December, January and April classed as the shoulder season. Play after 1pm and the green fees drop significantly. The biggest bargains are in the low season, from May to September, when golf tour operators are able to offer clients green fees at nearly half the peak rate.
At Assoufid Golf Club, also in Marrakech, the quietest time on the course is in the afternoons of shoulder season months December, January, May, June and September, when temperatures average a pleasant 20-25C but can reach 30-35C on some days, as well as in the low season – July and August – when temperatures are typically around 30C, with lows of 20C in the early morning and highs that can reach 38C.
The city’s longest-established club, Royal Golf Marrakech, is unique in that its fairways are lined by 15,000 mature trees – allowing golfers shade from the sun. Its high season runs from October to the end of May and most golfers play the course between 7am and 11am or from 5pm until dusk. June to September is the club’s low season; fewer golfers play then but those who do can enjoy rounds for about 60% of the standard green fee. The club also has a newer nine-hole course that is floodlit so that golfers can play at night, although it is generally reserved for corporate events then.
Agadir’s average daily high temperature changes little throughout the year, ranging from 20C in January to 26C in July and August. The golf season runs from November until April at the latest. By May the fairways of its four courses are virtually empty, as they are in early autumn, yet the destination enjoys superb weather then and hotels are not crowded in what are the destination’s shoulder periods.
Summer is when most holidaymakers flock to Agadir, to soak up the sun on its wide beaches and enjoy the pleasantly-cooling sea breezes. For golfers heading to Agadir in the summer, courses are often devoid of other players. Long-stay winter visitors and ex-pat residents from Northern Europe make up the bulk of club members and regular players on Agadir’s fairways as few Moroccans play golf, and by late spring most have returned home or have stopped playing.
Atlantic breezes mean golf can be played year-round in Essaouira. Its climate is similar to that of San Francisco, with an average temperature change of just 4C between summer (22C) and winter (18C).
Peak season for the resort’s Gary Player-designed Golf de Mogador course is from mid-February until the end of March and from the beginning of October to the end of November. Green fees stay the same all year, but the course is quietest from the end of January until mid-February, during June and September and in early December.
During the summer months, most golfers typically play only nine holes at Golf de Mogador and they generally use a buggy, while during the rest of the year they usually play 18 holes and walk, with a caddy. The weather is also often windy during summer months, making that part of the Morocco coast one of the most popular surfing and kitesurfing areas in Europe. Some visitors combine playing golf and surfing or kitesurfing during their holiday, meaning the fairways are even less busy for dedicated golfers.
Located in El Jadida, close to Morocco’s main airport hub ofCasablanca, Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort lies in a green, temperate coastal belt. The climate is very similar to that of Essaouira, with mild winters and summers that are not too hot.
Golfers visit to stay at its on-site resort hotel and play on its signature Gary Player course all year. However, the peak times for golf – March-April and October-November, when the weather in Europecan be unreliable – often coincide with the quietest periods for the hotel so golfers canenjoy great deals,such as unlimited golf or all-inclusive packages including accommodation if they book via golf tour operators. The resort also limits the number of members of its golf club, to ensure there is a lot of tee time availability for hotel guests.
With year-round golf, great value and uncrowded fairways, what’s not to love about golf in Morocco?