http://golfclubatlas.com/courses-by-country/teelal-golf-saidia/
I was listening to a telecast ~ two decades ago from Firestone and one of the commentators remarked, ‘The appeal of the course is that you get what you hit here.’
I recall thinking,
‘That might be the appeal to you but it doesn’t sound very exciting to me.’ I still have not been there.
Indeed, I already know what kind of golfer I am – I don’t need a course to remind me that the glory days (or ‘day’ as my brother Bill says
)
are long gone! I need a course that excites, that makes me want to experiment and play different shots. I want to leave it thinking I will do better next time. In short, the golf needs to be fun.
So it is a delight to post this profile today on Teelal in Morocco. It is a fascinating story, in part because its architect, Nicolas Joakimides, did the thing we wish all architects would do, namely maximize the opportunity by applying thought to each and every shot. Teelal is all about position and your chess match with an architect who actually provides features and contours that can assist you in your match against him. High on the list are six (1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 9th, 17th) greens that feature some element of a Punchbowl in them. Maybe Firestone has such shots – where you aim off the green to x to end up near hole location y – and I have just missed them over the years. Nonetheless, Teelal is replete with shots that are both fun and exasperating. Having a swipe at the 2
nd green 270 yards away from the tee in a crosswind is exhilarating and conversely, I could sit in the middle of the 18
th fairway all day and keep muddling up the daunting approach shot.
For those interested in the study of golf course architecture, tracing the spread of exemplary design elements around the world is akin to sorting out a puzzle. How did a classic, albeit modern, Streamsong inspired green end up 4500 miles away in Morocco? Is it a surprise that a Frenchman who loves Chantilly added central and cross hazards to his design? Or that his other favorite course in France (St. Emilion) features a paucity of greenside bunkers and so too does this one? What about a Frenchman building a modified Biarritz? I first met Nicolas in 2017 during his trip to Pinehurst, so his crowned green at 13 made sense!
Conversely, some people don’t care about such; their focus is on where they are playing tomorrow. I was at an event last fall in San Francisco chaired by everyone's favorite host, Andy Johnson of Fried Egg fame. Afterwards, while talking about course x with a group of guys, a man interjected
'Since I am never going to play there, I don't care.' Well! Personally, I find that view point a bit limiting and this month's Feature Interview won’t hold appeal.
For the rest of us, seeing classic features amid a Moroccan landscape represents another piece in the never-ending puzzle - and struggle – for engaging golf to reach and enrich people's lives on a global basis.The opportunities are too good in a country blessed with an abundant coastline, dunes and barrancas; let’s hope that this form of fun architecture leads by example.
Congratulations to Nicolas for pulling it off and to the
Saïdia Resort in trusting in him.
For those who want to read it in tandem with Nicolas's June Feature Interview, here is that link too:
http://golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/feature-interview-with-nicolas-joakimides/Best,