Offering more than 35 golf courses spread across seaside locations as well as inland cities such as Marrakech, and a climate that offers year-round golf with more than 300 sunny days annually, Morocco satisfies all golfing family members – from mum and dad to teenagers and even budding Tiger cubs.
Family lessons, dedicated children’s golf academy courses and tuition, green fees half-price or cheaper –free when accompanying adults on some courses – plus junior rental clubs and junior tee positions in some instances, make golf in Morocco child’s play. There are even special plastic clubs for little ones just starting out with golf. And with accommodation options that include resort hotels complete with swimming pool complexes, kids clubs, games rooms, activities galore and crèches, younger visitors will find plenty to keep them occupied once they have had enough of golf.
So when the schools break for Easter, half term, summer or Christmas, the country makes a perfect holiday getaway for families who like to spend some together time both on and off the fairways.
The nine-hole Atlas Golf Marrakech course organises golf instruction for juniors during every school holiday in addition to holding a year-round academy catering for 35 resident children. Holiday-time lessons are offered for youngsters aged from seven to 17, while a “baby school” for four to seven-year-olds has just been started. Good junior players can have lessons that include instruction on the driving range in the morning, lunch and playing with the club’s pro in the afternoon. Rental golf sets are offered for all youngsters from four years old upwards and special green fees for children are less than half the adult price, at around 15 euros for nine holes and 30 euros for 18 holes. Youngsters play from the course’s red tees.
The Montgomerie Marrakech offers free golf for under-18s during school holidays if they play with their parents, and a 50% discount on green fees year-round. It also has a golf academy for children that operates all year and offers rental clubs for children.
Royal Golf Marrakech also offers golf free to children when playing with one or both parents and half-price green fees otherwise, has rental clubs for children and a golf academy with dedicated instruction for junior golfers. It has junior tee positions, too.
The Royal Palm Marrakech hotel, which has an on-site Cabell B Robinson golf course,offers guests a large kids club, free for children aged three to 12, that features the American SNAG (Starting New At Golf) system using plastic clubs with enlarged heads and a modified teaching method aimed at encouraging newcomers to golf.
Golfers staying at the Domaine des Remparts Hotel & Spa in Marrakech have a dozen courses in the city to choose from. The hotel offers a 50% discount on any golf package from three to seven nights for up to two children aged under 18. It also has its own golf academy offering tuition for children and rents golf clubs to children as well as adult golfing guests.
Still in Marrakech, Noria Golf Club runs a 90-minute school academy for young golfers each Wednesday and Saturday afternoon and also organises family group lessons with the club pro on demand. Under-18s enjoy golf green fees discounted by up to 50% between January and May, and half sets of Nike clubs can be rented for around 15 euros per day, compared with the adult rate of almost 35 euros. Assoufid Golf Club offers green fees almost half-price for junior golfers.
Offering four golf courses cooled by Atlantic breezes, seaside resort Agadir is one of Morocco’s holiday golf hotspots and a popular base for families. Some hotels are particularly well geared up to golfers with children who already play or want to learn. Among them, Robinson Club Agadir has a golf academy offering lessons for children as well as adults. It also has junior rental clubs and offers youngsters half-price green fees.
Tikida Golf Palace overlooks the two courses of Agadir’s Golf du Soleil, where academy classes for under-12s are discounted if taken for five days. Children taking lessons can use junior golf clubs. Junior golfers get 50% off green fees, but all residents at the hotel enjoy a free 18-hole daily golf pass from May 1 to September 30.
Half an hour from Agadir, the Hyatt Place Taghazout Bay, which opened recently alongside Tazegzout Golf Course, offers 50% discounts on children’s rooms.
The Kyle Phillips-designed Tazegzoutcourse has a Kids Academy for junior golfers aged from six to 12 years old, with group lessons every Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning in addition to private individual lessons and playing lessons for youngsters, using equipment appropriate for their age and the latest video and motion analysis technology. Junior instruction ranges from one-hour individual tuition to five days for individuals or groups, with “soft” and intensive options.Tazegzout also offers the SNAG teaching system.
Golf de Mogador, in coastal resort Essaouira, has a dedicated policy geared towards helping younger players. The Mogador Golf Academy runs training camps for junior players and is helping to develop local talent withits “Birdies of Mogador” club, which gives free lessons to Moroccan girls and boys aged from six to 14 years old. They receive between four hours and eight hours of tuition each week – and the programme has been so successful it has even produced the current Moroccan national junior champion and others who have taken part in the prestigious Hassan II Trophy, which is on the PGA European Tour calendar.
The academy offers junior group lessons for youngsters aged from seven to 16 every day during European school holidays in spring, summer, autumn and over Christmas, with packages ranging from one day to five days. In addition, day-long training courses for better juniors include two hours of technical instruction in the morning, followed by lunch in the clubhouse restaurant and coaching on the Gary Player-designed golf course in the afternoon. Private training courses for families are also offered throughout the year, running for two hours a day over three or five days, with children under 12 receiving a 25% discount. All junior tuition rates include rental of either a half set of Cleveland clubs or US Kids Golf clubs. The course also has pink-coloured forward tees for junior players.
Golf tour operators are also very keen to cater to younger golfers, as well, by creating unique programmes specifically for families, such as a villa-based package at the AlMaaden golf resort, which has an academy offering junior training sessions, or golf packages at the family-friendly Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort in El Jadida, less than 100km from Casablanca. The resort features a huge range of activities for children, among them racing around its “Ferrari Pit”, quad biking, a computer gaming room, horse riding and a private pool just for children, as well as a Baby Club for tots aged three months to four years old, a Kidz Club for youngsters aged four to 11 and the Club Rushteens club for 12 to 17-year-olds.Mazagan offers weekend golf tuition for junior golfers at its academy and also has the SNAG system for youngsters new to the sport. Golf club rental for young children is free.
Wherever you stay and play golf in Morocco, it’s a game the whole family can play.