NEW DESTINATIONS

Golf is the most global of games, and new places to play are emerging all the time – even within Europe, and on its doorstep. For instance, Marrakesh is arguably the new Turkey – great golf on courses created by some of the biggest names in the game and played with the sun guaranteed to be shining down on you year-round. More than anything, though, it offers amazing value for money – and the same applies to two of Europe’s other unheralded destinations, Bulgaria and Poland. The former’s Thracian Cliffs is one of Europe’s most spectacular layouts, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the courses around the historic Polish city Gdansk. Finally, sun-soaked southern Cyprus is a golfing paradise, with Nick Faldo’s eight-year-old Elea being just one of the rising stars…

MOROCCO

Golf in this mystical corner of North Africa is fit for royalty, which is just as well because it was Morocco’s visionary King Hassan II who laid the foundations for the country’s ever-blossoming golf industry by opening the Royal Dar Es Salam club in the capital, Rabat, in the 1970s.

It has snowballed ever since though Morocco’s oldest course is the historic Royal Golf Marrakesh, which was constructed on the orders of the Pacha of Marrakesh in 1933 and attracted the likes of Winston Churchill and Dwight D Eisenhower.

Golfers can now tee it up on around 40 courses throughout the country thanks to the combined handiwork of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Robert Trent Jones Snr, Colin Montgomerie, Kyle Phillips, Robert von Hagge and Cabell Robinson.

In fact, 18-times Major champion Nicklaus’s second Morocco course recently opened at Michlifen Resort & Golf and the Golden Bear is thrilled with the result, claiming. “The site in Ifrane is one of the most scenic, beautiful vistas you will find for a golf experience.”

Nicklaus’ other course, Samanah, is just outside the bustling Red City of Marrakesh, which remains the golfing epicentre with around 15 courses, including the superb Assoufid, and nearly all backdropped by the snow-capped peaks of the Atlas Mountains. Other highlights include Player pair Mazagan Beach and Mogador, near Essaouira, while Tazegzout is a thrilling rollercoaster of a layout in Agadir.

Besides glorious year-round weather, the other beauty about Morocco is that, on and off course, it offers unbeatable value-formoney, while the whole vibe of the place is very different to Europe.