Golf course architects in Morocco: who designed which course
- 09 October 2026
Robert Trent Jones laid out the 45 holes of Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat; Cabell B. Robinson, described by one of his clubs as a disciple of Trent Jones, is the most prolific on our list, with seven courses from Agadir to Cabo Negro; and Kyle Phillips, of Kingsbarns fame, signed Al Maaden, Tazegzout and Akenza. Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tony Jacklin and Colin Montgomerie complete the list.
Who designed which course: the full table
Designers are as credited by the club, its operator or the Royal Moroccan Golf Federation (FRMG). Opening years are given only where a club, operator or recognised course reference publishes them; where sources disagree, we leave the year out.
| Architect | Course | Area | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gustave Golias and Arnaud Massy | Royal Golf Marrakech, Old Course | Marrakech | 1927 |
| Sprecher and Watine | Royal Golf Marrakech, New Course (9 holes) | Marrakech | 2008 |
| Cotton and Pennink (modifications), Peter Harradine (renovation 2001) | Royal Country Club de Tanger | Tangier | Founded 1914 |
| Robert Trent Jones | Royal Golf Dar Es Salam (45 holes) | Rabat | 1971 |
| Robert Trent Jones Sr. | Golf Club Rotana, 18 holes | Marrakech | 1992 |
| Cabell B. Robinson | Golf des Dunes (27 holes) | Agadir | 1991 |
| Cabell B. Robinson; renovated by James H. Duncan | Royal Golf El Jadida | El Jadida | 1993 |
| Cabell B. Robinson | Amelkis (27 holes) | Marrakech | 1995 |
| Cabell B. Robinson | Fairmont Royal Palm | Marrakech | 2013 |
| Cabell B. Robinson | Royal Golf de Fès | Fez | – |
| Cabell B. Robinson | Bahia Golf Beach | Bouznika | – |
| Hawtree & Sons and Cabell B. Robinson | Royal Golf de Cabo Negro | Near Tetouan | – |
| Kyle Phillips | Al Maaden | Marrakech | Early 2010 |
| Kyle Phillips | Tazegzout (27 holes) | Taghazout Bay | 2014 |
| Kyle Phillips | Golf Akenza | Marrakech | 2025 |
| Jack Nicklaus (Signature course) | Michlifen Golf & Country Club | Ifrane | Late summer 2018 |
| Nicklaus Design | Samanah Golf Club | Marrakech | – |
| Gary Player | Mazagan | El Jadida | 2009 |
| Gary Player | Mogador, North and South courses | Essaouira | North 2009 |
| Tony Jacklin | The Tony Jacklin Casablanca | Bouskoura | – |
| Tony Jacklin (operator) / Stirling and Martin (FRMG) | The Tony Jacklin Marrakech (27 holes) | Marrakech | 2016 |
| Colin Montgomerie and European Golf Design | The Montgomerie Marrakech | Marrakech | – |
| Graham Marsh and Vijay Singh | Al Houara Golf Club | Near Tangier | June 2021 |
| Niall Cameron | Assoufid Golf Club | Marrakech | October 2014 |
| Belt Collins | Golf de l’Océan (27 holes) | Agadir | 2010 |
| Fernando Mueller and Gérard Courbin | Golf du Soleil (36 holes) | Agadir | 1999 |
| Jeremy Pern | Casa Green Golf Club | Casablanca | 2013 |
| Neil Haworth and Stéphane Talbot | Palm Golf Ourika | Marrakech | Late summer 2015 |
| Steve Forrest | Noria Golf Club | Marrakech | – |
Other courses on our site with a credited designer: PalmGolf Bouskoura (Nelson & Haworth and Talbot Golf Design), Le Golf des Lacs at Saïdia (Francisco Ségales), Teelal Saidia (Nicolas Joakimides), Marchica Golf Academy at Nador (Ron Garl), Golf de Bouznika Bay (Robert von Hagge) and Atlas Golf in Marrakech (Alain Prat).
Robert Trent Jones and Cabell B. Robinson
The Royal Golf Dar Es Salam is the landmark. The club dates it to 1971, when King Hassan II gave the capital a complex dedicated to golf, and the FRMG credits the design to Robert Trent Jones. It has three courses: the Red (18 holes, par 73, 6,702 m), the Blue (18 holes, par 72, 6,205 m) and the Green (9 holes, par 32). The Red’s 9th is the hole people remember: a par 3 to a green in the middle of a lake, played entirely over water. Trent Jones Sr. also built the original 18 holes at what is now Golf Club Rotana in the Marrakech palm grove, in 1992.
Cabell B. Robinson has the longest Moroccan list. Golf des Dunes in Agadir, which presents him as a disciple of Robert Trent Jones, opened in 1991 with three par-36 nines; Royal Golf El Jadida followed in 1993 and was later renovated by James H. Duncan; Amelkis Golf Club opened in 1995 with seven lakes and red-earth bunkers. He also signed the Royal Golf de Fès, Bahia Golf Beach, the Fairmont Royal Palm (2013) and, according to the FRMG, the Royal Golf de Cabo Negro with Hawtree & Sons.
Kyle Phillips: from Kingsbarns to Marrakech
Kyle Phillips set up his own firm in California in 1997 and is best known in Britain for Kingsbarns, the links near St Andrews that opened in 2000. On his firm’s site he calls Al Maaden Golf his first course design project in Morocco: it opened at the beginning of 2010, at the foot of the Atlas, 6,569 m (7,184 yards) on 72 hectares, with twelve monumental sculptures placed mainly on and around the course. Tazegzout followed in 2014 at Taghazout Bay, its 18 holes laid out among argan trees with holes on cliffs 80 metres above the Atlantic, plus a short nine. His third Moroccan course, Golf Akenza on the southern edge of Marrakech, opened in 2025 at 7,150 yards, par 72.
Want to play Morocco’s signature courses in one trip? We build the trip to measure: courses, tee times, accommodation and transfers.
Champions turned designers
Jack Nicklaus: Michlifen and Samanah
The Michlifen Golf & Country Club at Ifrane, 1,650 m up among cedar forests in the Middle Atlas, is presented by the club as the first Jack Nicklaus Signature course in North Africa. In Marrakech, Samanah Golf Club is a Nicklaus Design course; in 2020 it became the first course in Africa to host a PGA Tour Champions event, with a field that included Bernhard Langer and Sandy Lyle.
Gary Player: Mazagan and Mogador
Mazagan Golf, just north of El Jadida, is a Gary Player design that the FRMG calls the longest course in North Africa; it measured almost 7,500 yards when it opened in 2009. Player also designed the two courses at Mogador in Essaouira, whose North course opened to the public the same year.
Tony Jacklin: Casablanca and Marrakech
Tony Jacklin won The Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1969, the first British winner for 18 years, and the FRMG notes that he led the European and British Ryder Cup teams. The Tony Jacklin at Bouskoura, near Casablanca, is credited to him: 18 holes, par 72, with ten artificial lakes along the Bouskoura forest. In Marrakech, The Tony Jacklin Marrakech (2016) is credited to Jacklin by its operator but to the firm Stirling and Martin by the FRMG.
Colin Montgomerie: The Montgomerie Marrakech
The eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner designed The Montgomerie Marrakech with European Golf Design: 18 holes, par 71, 6,230 m, 81 bunkers, about 10 minutes (5 km) from Jemaa el-Fna.
The historic layouts: Marrakech 1927, Tangier 1914
Royal Golf Marrakech is the one British golfers should know about. Its Old Course was designed by Gustave Golias and Arnaud Massy and opened in 1927; Massy was the first overseas winner of The Open, at Hoylake in 1907. A 9-hole New Course by the Sprecher and Watine team was added in 2008. Further north, the Royal Country Club de Tanger, founded in 1914, describes itself as the oldest course in Morocco; it was modified by the British architects Cotton and Pennink and renovated in 2001 by Peter Harradine.
What it costs to play a signature course
Public 18-hole green fees from each club’s or operator’s site, checked on 9 October 2026, in dirhams as published.
| Course | Architect | 18 holes | Period shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Maaden | Kyle Phillips | 1,350 MAD | High season, 5 Sept 2026 to 30 June 2027 (840 MAD from 1 July 2027) |
| Royal Golf Marrakech | Golias and Massy | 1,200 MAD | None; forecaddie compulsory, 200 to 300 MAD |
| Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, Red | Robert Trent Jones | 1,200 MAD | Club’s 2025 rates, still online |
| Samanah | Nicklaus Design | 1,100 MAD | Public rate, varies with the season |
| Amelkis | Cabell B. Robinson | 950 MAD | None |
| Golf de l’Océan | Belt Collins | 850 MAD | 1 Oct 2026 to 30 Apr 2027 |
| Mogador | Gary Player | 750 MAD | None |
| Royal Golf de Cabo Negro | Hawtree & Sons and Robinson | 750 MAD | None |
| The Montgomerie Marrakech | Colin Montgomerie | 700 MAD | Visitor rate, no year |
| Royal Country Club de Tanger | Cotton and Pennink, Harradine | 650 MAD | None |
| The Tony Jacklin Marrakech | See table above | 600 MAD | Visitor rate, no year |
| The Tony Jacklin Casablanca | Tony Jacklin | 420 MAD weekdays, 600 MAD weekends | Visitor rate, no year |
The Fairmont Royal Palm, a Robinson course, had not published its 2026-27 rates on 9 October 2026; its 2025-26 high-season rate for non-residents was 1,250 to 1,400 MAD depending on the tee time. Tazegzout’s operator publishes no visitor rate. Marrakech has the densest cluster of these names: Phillips, Nicklaus Design, Robinson, Montgomerie and Golias and Massy within a short drive of each other, which is why our golf holidays in Marrakech start there.
Choose your architects, we handle the rest. We build the trip to measure: courses, tee times, accommodation and transfers.
Frequently asked questions
Which golf course architect has designed the most courses in Morocco?
Among the courses we cover, it is Cabell B. Robinson, with seven credited courses: Golf des Dunes, Royal Golf El Jadida, Amelkis, the Fairmont Royal Palm, Royal Golf de Fès, Bahia Golf Beach and, with Hawtree and Sons, the Royal Golf de Cabo Negro.
Did Jack Nicklaus design a course in Morocco?
Yes. The Michlifen Golf and Country Club at Ifrane is presented by the club as the first Jack Nicklaus Signature course in North Africa, and Samanah Golf Club in Marrakech is a Nicklaus Design course.
Which Kyle Phillips courses can I play in Morocco?
Three: Al Maaden in Marrakech, opened at the beginning of 2010, Tazegzout at Taghazout Bay near Agadir (2014) and Golf Akenza in Marrakech (2025). Al Maaden publishes 1,350 MAD for 18 holes in the 2026-27 high season; Tazegzout’s operator publishes no visitor rate.
What is the oldest golf course in Morocco?
The Royal Country Club de Tanger, founded in 1914, describes itself as the oldest in Morocco. Royal Golf Marrakech, opened in 1927 and co-designed by the 1907 Open champion Arnaud Massy, calls itself the second oldest in the kingdom.
Is there a Tony Jacklin course in Morocco?
Two carry his name. The Tony Jacklin at Bouskoura, near Casablanca, is credited to him; The Tony Jacklin Marrakech is credited to him by its operator and to Stirling and Martin by the Royal Moroccan Golf Federation. Visitor green fees start at 420 MAD for 18 holes on weekdays in Casablanca.
Plan your golf trip in Morocco
Courses, dates, number of players: tell us what you have in mind and we come back with a proposal. We answer in English.
- Quick reply by email or WhatsApp
- Free quote, no obligation, no online payment
- We reply in English or French