Today is a travel day, heading North to Tangier about 3 hours away, but first a little farewell breakfast with Mike and Andrea. Our van is on time, and driver Tarik seems like a good guy……highway all the way, and with our destination being about 25km short of the city, no traffic slowdowns at all. Our target is Al Houara Resort, Spa, and Golf Club. First impressions driving in are that this place is pretty huge, the golf course looks good, and yep, we are right on the beach. No kidding this is quite large, and only 3 storeys so it covers a lot of ground, but a huge pool complex, padel courts, a fine spa, two restaurants,etc., etc.. We get settled in and it’s not long before the goats are off for an exploratory…….nice beach, surf school, ATV’s. We are on course tomorrow morning for our first round of the trip…….can’t wait.
Breakfast is buffet style and it is huge…….this is full Moroccan on steroids. Golf carts are available at the front door and the course is just a few minutes down the road. Driving in you can’t help but notice a huge complex that is really just a shell of what it was maybe planned to be…….looks like another hotel but was probably going to be clubhouse/residences/etc.. The actual clubhouse is non-existent. Check in desk, a few shirts hanging on the wall, a rack of golf balls and that is it. Off the back there are two very nice hitting salons that open onto a huge driving range. I swear there is not a divot mark to be found anywhere. Jutta asks “Is this real grass”…….she is serious, because it is so perfect it looks fake.
There is nobody else here…….just Mohammed the check in guy, another guy, don’t know his name because all he does is grunt, and a few guys working on the chipping ground. Quick warmup and we head out…….we are first off for the day, and there is nobody behind us for about an hour. A quick look at the scorecard and I decide to play white tees, one box in front of the tips 6,316, so I figure I can do that…….it took me a few holes to realize that it was meters, not yards…….will adjust tomorrow but today will be a long one at 6,900yards. The course is in absolutely beautiful condition……I mean not a mark anywhere…..tee boxes were perfect, fairways like carpet, and the greens were just perfect. This is a Vijay Singh design!……didn’t know he did that, but it is a well thought out resort style course. Wide bermuda grass fairways with mowed down rough alongside, and very few hazards other than the half million bunkers and waste areas…….I mean you would have to be Tim Fittler to loose a ball around here. It was really fun to play and I look forward to the next few days. Again, the pictures don’t do it justice, but it is a good one.
Leave a Reply