Trophée Hassan II betting tips
The details
The venue: Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, Rabat, Morocco
Date: April 25-28, 2019
Course stats: Par 72, 7,632 yards
Course summary: A tree-lined parkland layout that’s pretty undulating, doglegs are a feature but water isn’t particularly – only coming into play on four of the holes. The rough is difficult and scoring doesn’t usually get too out of hand.
Purse: €2.5 million
Defending champion: Alexander Levy (-8)
Weather forecast: Mild to begin with but the mercury will rise as the tournament goes on. Temperatures will be approaching 30 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
TV coverage
Thursday: Sky Sports Golf, 11.30am and 3.30pm; Sky Sports Main Event, 11.30am and 3.30pm
Friday: Sky Sports Golf, 11.30am and 3.30pm; Sky Sports Main Event, 12pm
Saturday: Sky Sports Golf, 1pm; Sky Sports Main Event, 3pm
Sunday: Sky Sports Golf, 12.30pm
Trophée Hassan II betting tips: Each-way selections
After winning the Nordea Masters last Summer, Paul Waring (60/1 with bet365) got 2019 off to a very hot start when posting consecutive top 10s at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the Dubai Desert Classic.
It was a stretch that bagged him more than 300,000 euros and he has subsequently had more than a month off to work on his game.
Some may be worried about a touch of ring rust – his last competition round was March 10 – but his form at Dar Es Salam more than makes up for any slight concerns.
The Wirral player has competed in this tournament the last two years, finishing 3rd and 9th, and looks a solid bet if he can hit the ground running.
It’s been a bit stop start over the last few weeks for most of the European Tour’s finest with the Masters and a tournament break meaning an enforced layoff for many.
Like Waring, another player coming back to action after a six-week break is New Zealand’s Josh Geary but he’s an interesting option for each-way players at 70/1.
Geary’s lined up just twice so far this season but he’s made the most of both appearances – squeaking into the top 20 at the Australian PGA Championship and then improving to make the top 10 at the Kenya Open.
It’s a solid start for a player who lost his card last season and bogeyed the final hole at Lumine to miss out on regaining it straight away.
If he carries on his current form, it won’t be long before he’s back again at the top table.
Finally a very speculative punt, but a player I definitely want to keep an eye on in the future is Hurly Long (300/1).
The 24-year-old was a college star at Texas Tech and actually holds the course record at Pebble Beach – his 61 in September 2017 eclipsing the mark set by Tom Kite and David Duval.
He’s been a place machine on the mini-tours so far in 2019 and has had a couple of goes on the European Tour, missing the cut at both the BMW International Open and Porsche European Open last year.
Again, this will be a significant step up but Long definitely has the talent and I’d like to be ahead of the curve when he finally breaks through.
That’s who Steve is tipping for each-way backing, but who does he fancy to win. His Trophée Hassan II betting tips continue on the next page…
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
