When the opportunity to visit The Atlas Mountains arose, I was immediately captivated by the prospect of visiting such a mysterious destination – even more so given the trip was primarily concerned with my unhealthy golf obsession, and more importantly, playing in the Michlifen Atlas Pro-Am 2024.
A swift early morning flight from London on a drizzly, autumn morning had my wife, Danni, and I landing by 9:30 am in the deep red, sun-scorched lands of Fes, Morocco – eagerly awaiting our upcoming adventure at the Michlifen Spa and Golf Resort. We were immediately greeted by our private chauffeur, organised by Michlifen, who whisked us away onto the busy dusty roads of North Africa.
As we passed several herds of camels trudging through vast sandy planes, it was hard to envisage that we were only an hour away from our mountainous home for the next four days. However, we quickly arrived at the foothills and started to climb, and with that, the landscape began to change around us.
Within 30 minutes, we had ascended over 1000 metres, snaking our way around the mountain terrain through several colourful villages surrounded by fruit orchards and lush forests. The local town of Ifrane is suitably named ‘Little Switzerland’ and we were taken aback at the uncanny resemblance to a typical scene found within a European ski resort. Alpine timber lodges with steeply pitched gables line the streets as you enter into Michlifen, in front of a seemingly endless backdrop of pine trees.
Upon arrival at this stunning hotel, we were greeted by the concierge who took our bags and my golf clubs to our room. Immediately, we understood that this hotel oozes sophistication and attention to detail. We were handed some traditional Moroccan tea as we completed our check-in formalities and took in our surroundings.
The impressive entrance lobby is grand in scale, yet feels cosy and welcoming, due to the beautifully designed interiors. The timber-clad walls, coffered ceilings and rugged stone surfaces, clearly inspired by its Alpine location, provide a soft and inviting atmosphere – which continues throughout the hotel. As we were taken to our room, we passed a roaring fire crackling away in the downstairs lounge as a live band played an acoustic set.
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Hotel Michlifen Resort & Golf
The hotel is large, however there are only 70 rooms, which gives off a very boutique vibe. It’s quickly evident that its size is due to the exceptional facilities; every bedroom is luxuriously extravagant with a variety of suites on offer, and ours was no different.
Solid wood panelling, hardwood floors, classic furniture and a ginormous roll-top bath made us both feel very pampered – my wife wanted me to note that our bed was one of the most comfortable she’d ever had the pleasure of sleeping in! After settling in, we went to explore the rest of the hotel and its grounds, ahead of the Michlifen Atlas Pro-Am Grand opening ceremony later that evening.
The lower floor encompasses a 3,500 m2 world-class spa with dozens of specialist wellness rooms, an indoor heated pool and a fully stocked fitness suite. Danni immediately booked a traditional hammam massage from a vast menu of treatment options for the next day – the hotel offers plenty of very reasonable spa packages for you to relax and unwind.
Soon enough, it was time to get suited and booted for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Michlifen Atlas Pro-Am – and what an event it was! At 8 pm sharp on Thursday evening, a cohort of excitable professional and amateur golfers congregated down in the hotel’s ‘Theater Royal’ where the event was launched with a spectacle from the mightily impressive local, traditional drumming band.
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The atmosphere was buzzing and a superb evening followed where players eagerly chatted in anticipation of the upcoming tournament over an extremely generous spread of local delicacies and drinks. The tournament director, Clement Rousseau, announced the competition format for the next three days and it was clear to see that a serious amount of planning and coordination had taken place – I could tell that this was going to be an unforgettable golfing experience!
A practice round was scheduled for Friday, and after an enormous buffet breakfast down in the hotel’s ‘Le Chalet’ restaurant, a shuttle bus escorted us to Michlifen Golf Club – a swift journey through the very pretty Ifrane suburbs, less than 10 minutes from the hotel. As we turned off the main road, the sun started to peek through some high-altitude fog, revealing glimpses of Jack Nicklaus’ signature golf course – its fairways sparkling in the early morning dew. Upon arrival, our golf clubs were quickly whisked away by the Caddie Master, Majid Yaäcoubi, and his team – to be left for us at the practice area. Before heading there, we had some time to check out Michlifen golf clubhouse.
The main entrance leads you into a double-height atrium space, with a well-stocked pro shop and reception area at the front. After signing in for our team’s practice round, we continued through to the open-plan bar area at the rear, where you begin to witness the magnificent slow reveal of the vista that awaits – and it’s hard to think of a better clubhouse outlook in world golf.
The building sits perched on top of a mountain clifftop 1650m above sea level and is perfectly designed to capture the spectacular panoramic views, extending miles across the Atlas Mountains and deserts beyond. After a quick refreshment, we were ready to warm up ahead of our round.
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The practice area is a short walk from the clubhouse and boasts world-class training facilities. A grass driving range, with turf-like billiard tables and golf balls neatly arranged in pyramids, was a complete delight as we arrived to find our bags set up in our own bay. The short game area has a chipping green and several bunkers all constructed to the same specification found on the golf course which allowed us to familiarise to the playing conditions.
Sponsored and managed by IMG Prestige, the state-of-the-art indoor golf academy is situated close by, and holds three specialist simulators, all fitted with Trackman, V-One, Sam Putt and Sam Balance technology – a perfect place to get custom fitted or have lessons. There were certainly no excuses to be had ahead of our practice round!
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Michlifen Atlas Pro-Am 2024
Our team of 4, supplied with buggies stocked with tees and water, was ready to go.The golf course feels remarkably mature having only opened fairly recently in 2018, and there are two distinct nines. The routing on the front nine has been carefully crafted into the topography of the land, and is more open in nature than the back nine, which is tighter and winds its way through mountain forest.
The course begins with a gentle, quite modest par 4 that brings you into the middle of the rugged landscape around you. The contrast of the rocky wasteland in between the perfectly manicured tee boxes and fairways, neatly mowed with lattice patterns, is a beautiful sight to behold and all of us couldn’t stop taking photos.
The 2nd hole offers a nice vista across several holes and is probably the most open part of the golf course. A decent length par 5, which snakes from right to left, offers a good scoring opportunity with a good drive. However, a precisely-judged second shot is required as the green is narrow in depth and is well protected with a large bunker across the front.
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As we proceeded onto the 3rd hole – we all heard a loud guttural grunt that echoed from the forest beside us, and suddenly out of nowhere, a troop of monkeys sauntered out onto the cart path. The ‘Barbary Macaque’ species is native to the area and can be found regularly strolling up and down the fairways and weren’t all too bothered about our presence.
A collection of par 4’s follow, the stand-out hole being the 5th which is a steep, uphill right-to-left dogleg with a raised green site. Although not a particularly long hole, the second shot involves a lie well above your feet due to the sharp incline of the fairway – which makes hitting the right part of the two-tiered green very difficult.
The golf course begins to show off its infamous views across the valley below as you arrive on to the 8th hole – a beautiful par 5 with a blind tee shot up to a fairway that splits into two around a collection of mature trees. Although another decent chance for a birdie, the green slopes heavily from front to back with micro-undulations all over – making a three-putt very easy to come by.
The show-stopping reveal arrived on the 9th hole, as we worked our way up through the woodland cart path. The awe-inspiring scenery hits you with a bang as soon as you climb the steps up to the tee box. Arguably the signature hole on the golf course, the view really is breathtaking – and so is the shot that you are required to play.
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A 200-yard par-3 over the cliff edge, with out-of-bounds to the left, makes one’s palms a little sweaty. This is easily the ‘card-wrecker’ hole of the front nine, with several of the professional players succumbing to its danger over the weekend.
A mid-round lunch was organised for us on the outside terrace, with a selection of sandwiches and drinks so that we could refuel before tackling what was supposed to be the trickier back nine.
Like the front nine, the 10th opens up with a simple downhill par 4 – Mr. Nicklaus evidently wanted to ease the player slowly into the round. However, this quickly switches to the most difficult part of the course, and in my opinion, the strongest stretch of holes that weave through the mountain forest.
The 13th hole requires an accurate drive over water, into an extremely narrow curving fairway between dense woodland on either side. If you are able to pull the tee shot off, a raised green with a false front and steep drop-offs on both sides awaits to gather any slightly offline approach shots.
Holes 15 demands a laser-accurate tee shot if you want to go for the green in two. The lengthy par-5 forces most to lay up before the dog-leg corner, which makes it a certain three-shot hole, thanks to a lake hugging the front of the green. Any errant tee shots here are lucky to be found in the dense scrubland.
The last three holes of the course will test the nerves of the most skilled players. The stroke Index 1, par-4 16th hole measures a whopping 490 yards from the tips, with a fairway no more than 30 yards wide. The hole shapes from left to right, with the corner running out at 250 yards, therefore drives that are too straight end up running into the bund. Players need to be able to shape the ball or else are forced lay-up to the dog leg, which still asks for a 230-yard approach to a long slender green. A bogey is a good score here.
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The closing two holes of the course match the intense theatre found on the 9th hole, running along the steep ridge of the cliff edge, overlooking the foothills and into the distance, where the desert meets the horizon. As we stood on the tee box, a dramatic scene unfolded with flashes of lightning as a storm cloud brewed in the distance. The par-3 17th is only 150 yards or so, but the left-hand side of the green kisses the edge of the clifftop – ready to swallow a golf ball, never to be seen again.
As we finished the stunning 18th hole, Majid Yaäcoubi’s team collected our golf bags from our buggies and explained that they would be ready for us on the first tee in the morning, after being cleaned. This was an exceptional service that I hadn’t had the pleasure of experiencing before at any previous golfing event and made us all feel very well looked after.
Furthermore, we were offered a complimentary sports massage by the resort’s spa staff in the clubhouse afterwards to keep us feeling loose ahead of the first round of the Pro-Am. An afternoon buffet lunch consisting of mezze platters, salads and a selection of slow-cooked meats was served on the terrace, with beer and rosé wine being served by the bottle.
That afternoon, Danni and I had a swim in the heated indoor pool, followed by an evening stroll through the grounds to see the hotel’s farm yard, which is stocked with goats, sheep, chickens and turkeys. We later ate at Michlifen’s ‘L’oriental’ – a traditional Arabic restaurant that is beautifully designed to convey a North African Riad. Vaulted mosaic floors and hand-painted ceilings, together with a live Moroccan band created a beautifully authentic atmosphere.
The 2024 Michlifen Golf Atlas-Pro Am kicked off early on the Saturday morning and continued until Sunday evening, where each team, consisting of one professional and three amateurs, battled it out for a selection of unbelievable prizes including a three-night stay for two at Michlifen. Two of the best scores counted from the group, which made for a very competitive format.
The standard of professional golf was extremely high, which is a testament to the tournament’s prestige; an impressive feat given it has only been held for three years prior. Several players in the field have made recent starts on the Challenge and European tour which is a credit to its organisers and sponsors for creating an event with such a strong reputation and appeal.
I must take the time to thank Thi Vanada Kim, the tournament coordinator and Clement Rosseau, the tournament director for their meticulous planning and exceptional hospitality – I’ve been fortunate enough to stay and play at several major golf destinations, including Trump Turnberry and Quinta Do Lago, and the service here outshone both.
A big special mention to Chris Brown, IMG Operations Director, who was pivotal in the success of the event and was a superb host. It was great to meet them all and have a fabulous final evening with them at the Gala Dinner awards ceremony. I will certainly be recommending Michlifen to my golfing peers and am already planning my own return very soon.
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