Noria Golf Club in Morocco

[Matt_Cohn]

Wut?

[Adam Lawrence]

It's supposed to emulate the formal water features you see in Islamic architecture. Kyle Phillips' Al Maaden in Marrakech has some very formal water features too.

[Tom_Doak]

I am actually looking forward to going to see that course next year for The Confidential Guide.


If there is any hole in the world which makes sense in such a formal, symmetrical setting, the Biarritz is the hole.


Also, your pics don't show the tower behind the green, which is a big part of the visuals of the reflecting pool.

[Brett Hochstein]

Yeah, this is kind of cool and kind of works. 


While I normally advocate making things as natural as possible, I also advocate the importance of regional and cultural context.  A formal element culturally works in this location and setting, and using the Biarritz to play off of it is perfect.  Thanks for sharing.

[paul cowley]

I first look at that hole it holds my interest...or I should say piques my interest, but then I ask myself could I add another 17 similar holes to make a truly interesting course one would want to play more than once?


I don't know. Extreme angularity is a little harsh for my golfing soul...but that now becomes the gauntlet.


So yeah, I'm in if anyone wants me.

[Thomas Dai]

Are there two holes playing in opposing directions both over rectangular ponds in the photos posted above?
Also, are there other courses in other countries adopting some form of formal garden approach? Japan and the use of areas of formal curvy gravel patterns, rocks and shrubs comes to mind.
Atb

[Peter Pallotta]

I wonder:
Some time in the mid 1800s, perhaps in response to the effects of the industrial revolution and to the uniformity of mass produced goods, nature and natural settings and an unkempt/wilderness aesthetic seemed to take on, for a certain class of people in GB&I, a spiritual if not sacred quality/aspect/function. It is my theory that this naturalistic aesthetic and ethos had a role in shaping the golden age of golf course architecture, and that this development is still at play today, in this second golden age; the depth of feeling I read about from those who've played Sand Hills and Pacific and Ballyneal is a testament to that. Perhaps in the Islamic world, in the context of an art/landscape architecture that sees/feels the formal composition and order as a reflection of the Sacred, this golf hole is meant to engender the same type of feeling that the view from Ben's Porch does the western mind.

[paul cowley]

I guess Peter...but imagining a golf hole where the tee is on the Capital steps with a fairway on either side of the reflecting pool and a green in front of the Washington Monument might inspire a sense of awe and US patriotism...but is it good golf or better left to Landscape Architecture and park design?

[Mike Sweeney]

There is a slide show here:


http://worldgolfawards.com/vote/noria-golf-club-2015

[Jim McCann]

Here's a link to the webpage that Top 100 Golf Courses created for Noria in December 2015:


http://www.top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/noria


Unlike the formal "water garden course" that Kyle Phillips designed a few years earlier at nearby Al Maaden
which I really don't like, I thought Noria (though highly contrived) was actually very good and managed to
achieve what it was meant to do.
 

[paul cowley]

Thanks Jim...the extra pictures and reviews help understand the design intent. I know better than to judge a course from a few pictures of one hole!...and I know and respect Steve Forests work.

[K Rafkin]

Interesting.  From the second picture it looks as though the flag is placed ad the bottom of the swale of the Biarritz green.  Cant say that I've seen that before.