Disappointment in Morocco

The writing was on the wall as soon as we landed in Morocco. Ironically, the airport was not able to change over our Australian currency. Shortly after that we realized that apparently no where in Morocco supports Australian dollars. Wasn't a great start to the journey but then as soon as we stepped out of the airport doors we saw two locals in a heavy brawl and our very own taxi driver felt obliged to participate in. My first event was an hour and a half up the coast towards Rabat in town called Mohammedia at Royal Golf Mohammedia Golf Club. I got off to a slow start to my first round having two early bogeys. Thankfully clawing back some birdies on 7 and 9 to get it back to even par at the turn. Continuing to ride the wave of birdies into the back nine birdieing 10,11,13 and 16. Unfortunately most of these holes were backed up with bogeys. It was a round that could have been anything, having 22 putts and 6 birdies. Unfortunately the magic number was an even par 72.

My second round tee time was 3pm which was the last time slot in the field. I started with a soft bogey on the second but got that shot back with a good birdie on the par five 7th. Unfortunately double bogeying the 9th to be 2 over after nine. With a good birdie on 11 and then giving it back two holes later bogeying the 12th from the middle of the fairway. Then disaster struck as I lost my ball on the 15th causing an easy double bogey putting me to 4 over par with only 3 to play. I birdied the next getting me back to 3 over, I had a soft 3 putt on 17 and a par on 18 to finish on 4 over 76

Unfortunately 4 over for the tournament put me into 51st place missing the cut by one person :( !!

It was a good learning curve to see what kind of standard we were coming up against.

The second event was 2 hours down the coast in a small town El Jadida. The event was being played at the Royal El Jadida Golf Club. A brutal course situated right on the coast. After a good solid practice round I felt good going into this tournament. I was working on a few things in my swing that I felt were starting to come right.

The El Jadida Golf Club was a very tight tree lined course with bushes all under the trees which meant if you miss the fairway you loose your ball, It was a long course with a lot of tee shots in which you have to shape. Due to the length you cannot lay up off the tee either, which means you have to play very aggressive and back yourself off the tee.

The first 9 holes were a disaster, I was hitting the ball terribly and not committing to any shots. Being 8 over through the front nine wasn't exactly the way I wanted to start the tournament. . I slowly started to fight back on the back parring 4 holes in a row before I lost a ball on the 15th creating a double bogey, I got my sole birdie for the day the hole after. Losing another ball on the 17th and bogeying the 18th finishing out my round shooting 85 !

The next day I knew I would have to do something special to make the cut.

I started the second day similar to that of the first, every shot I was hitting would end up dead, no matter what I tried to do it was not working for me in this tournament. With 3 birdies today, I still could only manage a 79 (+7)

This as you can imagine missed the cut !

Here are some photos from our some what interesting/ unsuccessful trip to Morocco

Bring on spain !!!

Visiting Rabat

Markets in Al Jadida

Visiting Rabat

Practice session at Mohammedia

The Portugese Cistren

Third largest mosque in the world