A Moroccan beach resort has just crashed an exclusively Asian party. Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, on the Atlantic coast near El Jadida, has become the first venue outside Asia to join Asian Tour Destinations (ATD), the invitation-only network of golf clubs connected to the Asian Tour. It is now the 13th member of a group that until now ran entirely from Singapore to Japan.
The link-up is no surprise to anyone who followed this summer's tour calendar. Mazagan hosted back-to-back professional events in May: the am green IGPL Bharath Classic on the Asian Development Tour, won by Thailand's Tanapat Pichaikool, followed a week later by the am green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars on the Asian Tour, taken by Sweden's Charlie Lindh. Both were jointly sanctioned with the Indian Golf Premier League, and tour officials report glowing feedback from players and staff — the basis, they say, for the club's promotion into the network.
What is Mazagan actually getting into? ATD membership means certification at tournament standard year-round, plus branding and marketing reach across the Asian Tour's footprint. Asian Tour professionals can practise at member venues, which in theory gives resort guests the chance to rub shoulders with touring pros. Founding members include Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore, Black Mountain and Laguna Phuket in Thailand, Classic Golf & Country Club in Delhi, Kota Permai and Horizon Hills in Malaysia, Laguna Lăng Cô and Legend Danang in Vietnam, Sapporo Country Club and The North Country Golf Club in Japan, Parahyangan in Indonesia, and Angkor Golf Resort in Cambodia. Mazagan now sits as the odd one out — on a different continent.
For travellers, the resort itself is the bigger story. The 18-hole course was designed by nine-time Major winner Gary Player, running along a stretch of Atlantic coastline, and the property backs it up with 500 rooms and suites, a large casino, a luxury spa, outdoor pools and direct access to seven kilometres of sandy beach. Casablanca's international airport is only about an hour away by car, which makes it one of the easier big-resort golf escapes to reach in North Africa.
Resort general manager Jacques Claudel framed the move as an effort to put Morocco and El Jadida on the international golf map, bridging Morocco, Asia and the wider golfing world. For holidaymakers, it is a signal that a serious, tour-tested golf product now comes bundled with a proper family-scale beach resort — a rare combination in one place. Golfers who like the idea of playing a course the pros have just graded, and beach crowds who could not care less about birdies, both have something here.
The practical takeaway: if Morocco has been on your list for golf-and-sun, El Jadida deserves a look alongside the better-known Marrakech and Agadir golf scenes. And with tour management openly hinting at more events at Mazagan, there is a decent chance you could time a visit around live professional golf.
