Construction work has now started at Oued Fès Golf Resort, close to the Royal Palace of King Mohammed VI in the ancient mediaeval City of Fès, for the specialist Moroccan tourism developer, MEDZ.
Fès is one of the four so-called “imperial cities” of Morocco – the others being Marrakech, Meknes and Rabat. Fès was the capital of Morocco until 1912, (now Rabat) and has the best-preserved old city in the Arab world, with the sprawling, labyrinthine medina of Fès el-Bali – the larger of the two medinas of Fès and classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The 18-hole course, which also features a golf academy and 300 metre driving range, will be completed in October 2008, with the opening planned for early 2009.
The design of the course incorporates varied habitats for wildlife: woodland, wetland and grassland and also some desert features. This creates a beautiful and memorable course for all golfers: it is positioned at the heart of a site that includes golf villas and apartments, five hotels with accommodation for over 2,000 guests, and a retail area.
The golf course is being built on a 170 hectare site on a flood plain so, in order to keep the golf course in play throughout the year, all features will be raised by 1.5 metres above the 100 year flood level. Those areas not raised will be crossed by timber boardwalks and bridges. The rough grassland areas comprise bold, undulating features with water channels (oueds) that will flood when levels rise in winter and during the drier seasons become wetland and marsh.
The result will be something golfers in Morocco or those travelling there on holiday might not expect – a lush green oasis.
Gaunt Golf Design Ltd www.gaunt-golf-design.com