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IF you're on holiday with youngsters who demand a beach then Agadir is the place for you. It's a resort city with many de luxe hotels, teeming night life and facilities for all the family.
The city is home to three clubs, two new and one long established. Of the former, one is the Royal Links, the king's private course, another other is Golf du Soleil and the third, the oldest, is The Dunes, managed by Club Med.
The latter two are neighbours and similar in appearance and configuration. Both have 27 holes with wide fairways, large greens, lots of water and flowering shrubbery and a choice of tees offering various options.
Golf du Soleil, particularly, was in tip top condition when I saw it soon after its opening in 1999. The clubhouse is luxurious.
There are moved afoot that could see the Royal course, arguably Morocco's finest, open to the public and in a major campaign to attract more golfing tourists a new resort with at least two courses is under construction close to the city.
An appealing aspect of Agadir is the summer climate, which is appreciably cooler than the other cities and so is ideal for a family holiday combined with golf.
Because of sea breezes, from May to September the temperature seldom rises above 85F (about 23C). Youngsters love it and, a bonus, there are direct flights from the UK.
Or if you're seeking a holiday away from city life I know just the place. About an hour south of Casablanca, Royal El Jadida is another resort that has every sporting facility, with beaches. There's a four star hotel of 115 rooms, suites and apartments in a low profile circle around a swimming pool complex.
The centre piece is another Cabell Robinson course, a stunner that's one of the finest in Africa. Heavily wooded, but not claustrophobic, it has a hint of links over the closing holes. This one will raise your neck hair and the condition is matchless.
A first class clubhouse offers lunches to linger over and there are good practice facilities. Go there once and you'll return. A bonus for students: French is a widely spoken language, in addition to English and Moroccan.
Casablanca is a romanticised city but it has very little to commend it, other than a couple of de luxe hotels and the Hassan II Mosque, one of the wonders of the world.
Don't be tempted to drive: that is only for the nerveless seeking the ultimate challenge. If you fly into Casablanca, and you must if you wish to reach El Jadida, circumnavigate the city via the ring road and join the motorway to the south.
Or you could head north to Rabat, a most elegant conurbation, where lies the Dar Es-Salam Golf Club, otherwise known as Royal Rabat, the capital of the game in Morocco.
It has three courses, a nine holer, the par-72 Blue Course of 6,800 yards, and the famed Red Course, 7,300 yards from the back to par-73 and the occasional venue for the Moroccan Open.
Formerly a forest of cork trees, the latter is tighter than violin strings. From even the forward tees you'll wonder how on earth Howard Clark shot a record 66 in winning the 1987 Moroccan Open with an aggregate of 284. That's eight under par on a course which has five par-5s.
A feature hole is the 9th, a par-3 of 189 yards over water to an island green. Much copied since, it's said to be Trent Jones' first such design for which he became famous.
Rabat is 50 miles or so north of Casablanca airport and en route you'll see signs enticing you to Mohammedia. You should investigate.
The nation's third oldest course, Mohammedia is of indeterminate pedigree but undoubted quality with many familiar design touches. It's on wooded duneland, a links with fairways winding between stands of trees bending under the Atlantic breeze whipping in from the beach a few yards away.
A private club but one that is accessible to the public by arrangement, the Mohammedia course appears to have been there forever, a mark of sound design, and not a hole will disappoint. Several are outstanding and the setting and presentation are first class. A welcoming clubhouse completes an appealing image of Moroccan golf at its best.
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