Royal Golf Dar Es Salam Blue

The verdict

Royal Golf Dar Es Salam is one of the landmark golf projects of the second half of the twentieth century. King Hassan II, a keen golfer, commissioned the American master Robert Trent Jones Sr to build a course worthy of the kingdom, and Jones laid out his holes through a 440 hectare cork oak forest a quarter of an hour from the centre of Rabat. The complex opened in 1971 and grew into 45 holes, with the Red Course becoming famous as the home of the Hassan II Trophy, one of the most prestigious invitational events in golf.

The Blue Course is the Red's gentler companion, and for many visitors it is the more enjoyable round. It plays to a full par 72 of about 6,467 metres through the same magnificent forest, but with a touch less length and menace than its celebrated neighbour, so the trees, the calm and the birdsong come to the fore rather than the fight. It is a course to savour, a Trent Jones design in a setting unlike anywhere else in the golfing world, and the ideal second round on a trip built around the Red.

The holes worth the trip

The defining feature of every round at Dar Es Salam is the cork oak forest. Robert Trent Jones routed the Blue Course down avenues of tall, mature trees, so the holes feel private and enclosed, each fairway a corridor of green with the canopy overhead and the soft forest floor beneath. The trees are the hazard and the beauty at once, demanding a degree of accuracy off the tee while wrapping the whole course in a stillness that the busier resort layouts of North Africa cannot match.

Without the brute length of the Red, the Blue puts the interest into shaping the ball and finding the right side of the fairway to open up the green. The greens are classic Trent Jones, generally large and receptive but defended by his trademark bunkering, so the player who controls distance and trajectory is rewarded. There is water in play on several holes to add a flash of nerve, but the Blue never overwhelms, and a mid handicapper can have a thoroughly enjoyable round here.

What stays with you is the atmosphere. To play golf among storks and cork oaks, on a course built for a king by the most prolific architect of his era, is a genuinely different experience, and the Blue Course delivers it in a more relaxed, more playable form than the famous Red. For a travelling golfer it is the heart of any trip to the Moroccan capital.

Where to stay nearby

Rabat offers everything from grand five star hotels to characterful riads in the old medina, all within a short drive of the course, and the capital's relaxed pace, ocean front and UNESCO listed historic centre make it a rewarding base beyond the golf. The coastal road also puts the beaches and the bustle of Casablanca within easy reach.

For a fuller trip, Royal Golf Dar Es Salam anchors the golf around Rabat and Casablanca, and pairs well with the resort courses of Marrakech a few hours south for a varied Moroccan week that combines forest, coast and the red city's desert light.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Rabat.