TEEforeTWO Newsletters
Issue: 8th March
Marrakech, 8th March
The Marrakech Trip – a Personal Reflection
19th - 26th February
“Marrakech” suggests the exotic. Rather like “Patagonia” or “Timbuktu”, it evokes a feeling of curiosity and romance. When I saw it listed as a TEEforeTWO event, I found it irresistible.
Rising before 5 a.m. for the Gatwick Easyjet experience and struggling to avoid locking my neighbour’s cat in the house (he has decided to come and help me with everything, whatever the hour) raised the stress levels somewhat, but did not dim the anticipation. When I met my TEEforeTWO colleagues and eventually arrived at the hotel after an uneventful flight, all seemed well with the world. A pleasant lunch and – to be a little economical with the truth, a couple of glasses of wine - in warm sun beside a swimming pool, and the misery of an English winter became a distant memory. Oh, did I mention the English winter? That was another reason for going on holiday!
I should clarify that the trip was organised in association with Greencard Golf Holidays, who have been offering organised golf trips, each combined with a competition, for some 30 years. There were approximately 30 golfers who came through Greencard and 20 who came through TEEforeTWO.
Saturday was our introduction to Moroccan golf, and to Richard Munroe, representing Greencard, our guide and organiser for the week, and very capable, professional and charming he turned out to be. The Royal Marrakech Golf Club was the venue. It was a damp day, though not really wet. Caddies are compulsory at the courses we played at. They are all young Moroccans for whom being a caddy is a career. They are better than the average bag carrier that passes for a caddy at my own club, but not as good as established caddies at the more famous clubs in the UK. I found they read putts extremely well, though others found them less competent. Disconcertingly, they sometimes bet on their players, which rather increased the pressure!
The game on the first day was a friendly stableford competition, played in fours, with a system of “holes to count” that I found baffling, so I was rather relieved not to be marking the card. It was an enjoyable round, though the course was not in prime condition and was not as good the others we played.
Apart from the first round, the golf was organised as a singles stableford competition, comprising four rounds. Our second round, and the first in the competition, was played at Amelkis in the rain! It seemed the English winter had caught up with us, as we donned our waterproofs and unfurled our umbrellas. Worse news followed: we were to play off the white tees – 7,000 yards. My aversion to wet golf is well known at my club and the best part of that round was shaking hands on the 18th. I found it easy to add up my points – I never have difficulties when the total is in the low twenties!
By the next day the rain had stopped and we enjoyed the weather we had come for, which from then on got better and better. We played at Samanah, a new golf complex with a course designed by Jack Nicklaus. It was a fine test of golf, though perhaps a bit tough for high handicappers. By now, sanity prevailed and we played off the yellows. Even then, the course measured of 6700+ yards. It (and Amelkis) has many of the hallmarks of American golf courses – plenty of room, but numerous, vast bunkers. The greens at Samanah were superb. I had another magnificent round in the low twenties!
Tuesday was our day off – though the more masochistic among us went back to Samanah for another round. Many of us, including myself, did the “tourist thing” and went on a coach trip to the Oukira valley, to see a typical Berber village. Yes, it certainly was the “tourist thing”!
Wednesday saw us at Amelkis again. It was a glorious day and an enjoyable round of golf, so I did not mind too much scoring again in the low twenties.
I had caught a bug and opted out of golf at Samanah on the Thursday. I decided to see a little of Marrakech and walked to the Medina – the old city – and the famous main square at its heart, Djemaa el Fna. All human life passes through the square, which is enormous, and just to sit at a café with an espresso and look out over it is a marvellous experience.
Sadly, this marked the last day in Marrakech. There remained only the prizegiving and what a prizegiving! Our very own Julie came first with around 140 points. This was a tremendous achievement on such difficult courses and against regular Greencarders who play frequently in this very demanding format. She wins a holiday in November when she competes in a competition involving all the year’s Greencard winners. Emily and Rosie also featured in the prizes.
What are my best memories? Not the golf for me, which is best forgotten, but the wonderful TEEforeTWOers: Libby, Emily, Richard, Mark, Sue, Brian, Rosie, Trevor, Julie, Malcolm and, of course, the crème de la crème, Janet! If I have missed anybody, don’t take offence – I am most likely under the mistaken impression that you came with Greencard. My other best memory is Marrakech itself, which I think deserves a return visit (without golf clubs) to absorb its culture and unique atmosphere.
Many thanks to Janet, as always, for organising the holiday and for her imaginative TEEforeTWO programme planning. I look forward to other Greencard/TEEforeTWO events, but for the moment, I look forward, at last, to the English spring!
John
"For years, I'd been wondering about going on a golfing holiday, and my weekend at Stoke by Nayland end-October spurred me into putting my name down for the Grrencard/TEEforeTWO week in Morocco. The last time I visited Marrakech was in January 1977, and despite the chic French-inspired developments of recent years, the pulsating Djemaa main square and souk retain their traditional character with singers, sorcerers, herbalists, raconteurs, preachers and snake charmers all competing for your attention.
The co-operation between Greencard and TEEforeTWO worked pretty well. The human tendency towards tribalism was displayed by the instant indentification of each of the 52 golfers as being either a "TEEforeTWO'er" or a "Greencarder". By the end of the week, however, the "Greencarders" had fully appreciated that "TEEforeTWOers" are civilised, respectable and very "British" - and good golfers!
Each of the courses we played had something different and interesting to offer and the backdrop of palm trees in the foreground and snow-capped Atlas mountains in the distance was stunning. I greatly enjoyed the company, and thank the organisers for their initiative and hard work"
Trevor
And last but not least!
Congratulations to Julie (pictured above receiving her prize from Richard) Her comment below and some comments from other members.
"What a fantastic week. The company was excellent and I feel as though I have found a whole load of new friends. Thank you to everyone for the support they gave me during the competition, let’s hope we can do it again in Portugal and Turkey. Good luck to those who are going."
Julie
"Julie became 'our Julie' as her main competitor for the prize was also called Julie from Greencard, not that it was a competition between the two companies, but we were incredibly proud of her, she kept her cool, under enormous pressure and really deserved to win. I wholeheartedly agree with Julie, it was a fantastic week, great company, nice courses, good food and good fun. Another great success for T42, well done!"
Sue
"It was a superb win, Jules, showing huge commitment, courage and concentration. I knew those three training games we played would be a good idea :-)
I've never played so much golf but loved every minute of it and think the format worked perfectly, although I can understand why some people found the golf a bit challenging. Personally, I love having to raise my game: it makes me concentrate! The fact that T42 members top-scored on all four stableford days shows that we’re more than capable of holding our own against the Greencard crowd. I also thought it was a good mix of people: the GC bunch I played with were really friendly. There was great company both on and off the course. Thanks to everyone who helped make it one of the best holidays of my life.
Nick
“It doesn’t get much better than that for a golfing vacation! Thanks to all my new friends, great fun, please keep in touch. Oh! and well done Julie.”
Richard