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THE old fortune teller in Djemaa el Fna, the teeming market square of Marrakesh, was only partially correct in his predictions but that was understandable: he'd never heard of the Royal & Ancient game.
"You'll have much good fortune and see many wonderful sights," he said, stroking his beard as we discussed our visit to his fascinating country. "But beware of strangers bearing long sticks who will demand money."
In fact the going rate for caddies in Morocco is 80 dirhams, about £5. Throw in the obligatory tip and at 100 dirhams it is one fifth of the average green fee (500 dirhams, or about £30 if it's not included in your package).
Considering the quality of the courses here the costs of playing golf fall into the bargain basement category. Like everything else in Morocco, the value is remarkable and without compromise in the quality that first-time visitors find astonishing.
See the Amelkis course in Marrakesh, the regal El Jadida course south of Casablanca or the new Golf du Soleil at Agadir and you'll see what I mean. And they are but three of the jewels in this golf-crazy kingdom. Morocco now has 28 courses, most of them of recent origin. They're first class in design and condition, convenient for agreeable accommodation and with every facility.
The hotels range from sound to de luxe to superior, the cuisine is eclectic and appetising, the service good if a touch relaxed, and the natives friendly.
Moreover, Morocco is a safe place to visit. The locals not only reject the anti-western philosophy that has permeated some parts of the Muslim world, they are furious at those whose actions have jeopardised tourism, their major industry and a source of some 600,000 vital jobs. They couldn't be more welcoming.
In golfing holiday terms the major attractions are the cities of Agadir, Rabat, Marrakesh and Casablanca, each of which has at least two courses plus a host of apres golf attractions unique to the land where the desert meets the sea an hour's flight from Gibraltar.
What's more, with the exception of Casablanca it is possible to eschew renting a car, a costly extra here. The airport and golf courses are close enough to most hotels, which operate shuttle coaches, or to use taxis, which are inexpensive..
The ochre-walled city of Marrakesh, known as the Cradle of Civilisation and the only one of the four not on the coast, is as old as time, an amalgam of ancient and modern where the taxis are Mercedes but where camels and donkeys can stop the traffic, creating a daily exercise in organised chaos.
The city has one of Morocco's oldest golf clubs, and also one of its newest.
The Marrakesh Royal Golf Club was built in the 1920s by the Pasha, the local governor. It's agentle, picturesque course with stately palms and flowering shrubbery hemming wide fairways dotted with old-fashioned bunkers.
Recently up-graded, its condition is pristine, the fairways flat, the greens true and receptive. It's a course that pilfers length but even for those playing badly it's a delight.
A touch further away, only three miles from the centre of Marrakesh, is the de luxe Le Palmeraie Golf Palace, a 200 acre hotel-resort with a course designed by Robert Trent Jones Senior. Set in a valley, it has thousands of ancient palm trees and seven man-made lakes, all over-looked by the splendid hotel with every convenience.
Then there's Amelkis. Many have it that the venue for the 2000 Moroccan Open is the finest course in the land and one of the most visually appealing.
It was designed by Cabell Robinson, the American whose name is now synonymous with Moroccan golf, and he created it from nothing, a flat wasteland bereft even of weeds. It cost $5.5 million, including the finest irrigation system in Africa.
It's a big course with everything in scale. Seductively mounded, with huge greens, expansively undulating fairways and a series of fountained lakes, it has acres of waste bunkers, created from crushed rock, in the place of rough.
Stand on any of the multiple tees and you'll be in no doubt about what's required. There it is; uncork your best and go for it. It's breathtaking and addictive. The clubhouse, a crenulated replica of a Foreign Legion desert fortress, isn't too shabby, either...
Marrakesh is also the home of La Mamounia, one of the world's great hotels, a favourite of film stars and of Winston Churchill, who painted in its beautiful gardens. (If you're lucky you could stay in Churchill's suite, unchanged since he last saw it.)
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