Morocco is not only a great place to play golf, it's also the perfect destination to brush up on your golfing skills. Many of the country's golf courses have academies and resident teaching pros, so holidaymakers can use a golf break in the sun – golf hotspots such as Agadir and Marrakech enjoy well over 300 sunny days a year – to improve various aspects of their game.
Single lessons or courses from one day to several days are offered both for individuals and groups, covering all abilities. For non-golfers, a number of clubs offer free taster sessions. One example is at Golf des Dunes in Agadir, which is owned by Club Med. Guests staying at its Agadir resort enjoy a free golf lesson at the course every day during their stay.
Taking a winter sun golf break with tuition from your club pro is also becoming increasingly popular, particularly for golfers in countries where courses are often closed by snow or rain in winter. Groups taking their home club's pro come from Scandinavia and European countries including Germany, France, Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and the UK.
Such holidays represent great value for the participating golfers and the opportunity to get away for some sun and relaxation with fellow club members, as well as allowing those who regularly have tuition from their own pros to maintain continuity.
An added bonus at Royal Golf Marrakech is that while the pro has free and unlimited access to all practice facilities, students get a discount on the green fee – 580 dirhams instead of the standard 650 dirhams. This October will see the opening of a completely overhauled short game and practice ground. The revamped facility will feature chipping and putting greens and a double-end driving range, partly covered at one end, with contoured target greens at various distances, most of them featuring bunkers in front to mimic real playing conditions. The practice areas already feature football stadium-style floodlights, allowing them to stay open late into the night.
Noria Golf Club in Marrakech includes one bucket of practice balls with every green fee. It has now introduced a new full-day option giving golfers complete access to practice facilities with unlimited balls and unlimited course access. It is proving very popular with German tour operators, with pros liking the worry-free unlimited practice balls and their teaching groups able to go back and play nine holes in the afternoon even if they have already had a workshop and full 18 holes.
Noria's academy offers two-day and five-day tuition packages with two hours of lessons each day in addition to private lessons and a nine-hole, on-course playing lesson with the pro. The club also holds a ladies' workshop for an hour every Thursday afternoon with an option to combine lunch or tea, while youngsters are catered for with a 90-minute golf academy session for under-16s every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon except in summer.
Morocco's golf courses are happy to welcome golf pros with students and will generally offer the pro a free green fee with a certain number of students. Palm Golf Ourika, in Marrakech, provides one free green fee with golf buggy and practice balls for pros accompanying four students. The course has seen many such groups, mostly from France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Norway.
Golf de Mogador, in Essaouira, has six PGA pros at its academy and offers tailored packages for individuals and groups of all levels as well as the opportunity to play the course with the pro. Pro group packages are available in partnership with the adjacent Sofitel Essaouira Mogador Golf & Spa hotel. The packages have been most popular with German and Scandinavian groups, while the first group of UK golfers travelling with their club pro will be welcomed this coming winter.
