Definitely an interesting experience and worth the visit if you are ever in Marrakech.
Sick Biarritz
Classic Biarritz. Marrakech is a great city.
Be honest, you played around the water didn’t you?
@TomFairway
This is I think #12 or #13 on the ridge course at Oxmoor Valley. Also a great track though
Biarritz Biarritz!!
Minimalist golf courses. I like it. Seems to be a place designed by or for Bryson. All angles.
Zinn said:
Minimalist golf courses. I like it. Seems to be a place designed by or for Bryson. All angles.
What about this is minimalist? That hole is 100% manufactured.
Zinn said:
Minimalist golf courses. I like it. Seems to be a place designed by or for Bryson. All angles.
What about this is minimalist? That hole is 100% manufactured.
Do you think minimalist means not manufactured?
@Ode
Yes
Vance said:
@Ode
Yes
In architecture, minimalism refers to extreme simplicity of form, cleanliness of design, and plainness.
I think it applies pretty well here!
Vance said:
@Ode
Yes
In architecture, minimalism refers to extreme simplicity of form, cleanliness of design, and plainness.
I think it applies pretty well here!
That’s what I was alluding to. But I found this which I didn’t know about until now. Interesting read.
@Zinn
Admittedly I glanced through the article, but I would say for a course in Morocco, this sort of design is definitely minimalist by both definitions. They did the bare minimum in terms of terraforming to create this course. And it also is very plain and simple.
Vance said:
@Ode
Yes
In architecture, minimalism refers to extreme simplicity of form, cleanliness of design, and plainness.
I think it applies pretty well here!
So I agree and disagree with what you’re saying! I agree with you from an architecture standpoint, but not a golf course architecture standpoint.
In terms of golf architecture, minimalism is more so thought of as courses that are essentially already there. Sand Hills is the perfect example. All natural bunkers on that course, very little earth was moved during construction. Essentially they graded off some tee boxes, staked a few greens, and the rest was already there. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw are credited with starting the minimalist movement in golf architecture.
@Vance
Well, that would be quite difficult in Morocco 
But correct as well
@Vance
Yes, as RackepUp surmised I was speaking from an architectural standpoint. I wasn’t aware that there was a golf course design school that used that term. Thanks for pointing that out.
So I went digging and this is the first article I read which explains the concepts and the issues with this term. An interesting read.
@Zinn
The hole that is pictured is called a Biarritz. It’s inspired by a hole in France and was brought to America by CB Macdonald and was perfected by Seth Raynor. Raynor, a land surveyor by trade who did not play golf, became one of the best architects of all time by using these template style holes and employing them to perfection. If you like this style, I’d strongly encourage you to look up courses of his like Chicago Golf Club, Fishers Island Club, and Yeamans Hall Club, among others. His courses are especially distinct due to how linear and straight everything looks. Many of his greens are square, and most of his bunkers are as well. It’s a really beautiful style of golf architecture.
As for that article, I can’t really say the author makes any sort of good argument for his claim as to why the generally accepted definition of minimalism in golf course architecture is wrong. He does not name any architects or courses to back up his argument that you can move millions of cubic yards of earth and still be considered minimal in design.
Either way, thanks for letting me ramble about my favorite thing to ramble about. But seriously, if you aren’t familiar with Seth Raynor, look him up. He is what would fit the definition of architectural minimalism. He was a surveyor, dude loved straight lines.
Ah…Golden Tee!