El Jadida Royal Golf Club

Overview: El Jadida Royal Golf Club is an 18-hole coastal course south of Casablanca, where an inland eucalyptus setting gradually gives way to the Atlantic. Cabell B. Robinson’s original design uses the trees to frame the opening holes and create a sense of enclosure, then opens toward the shore late in the round. The course plays to par 72 and the directory lists 6,689 yards. Its character comes from the transition between forest and coast: the front nine can tempt aggressive lines through the trees, while the closing holes bring wind, open horizons and a more links-like feel into the strategy.

History: The course opened in 1993 as part of Morocco’s development of resort golf along the Atlantic. It was renovated in 2022 by James H. Duncan, who worked to preserve Robinson’s original layout while updating the playing surfaces and strengthening the relationship with the natural setting. The renovation kept El Jadida’s identity as a course of two contrasting halves: a wooded start and a more exposed finish beside the ocean.

Did You Know? Holes 16 through 18 run beside the Atlantic and give the closing stretch a links-like character that is not obvious from the wooded opening holes. The official course material specifically points to those final three holes as a place where coastal wind can change the difficulty of an otherwise familiar line.