Yorkshire golf: Oulton Hall is final stop on road to Morocco for Hickleton GC duo

DONCASTER pairing Graham Sugden and Andrew Maddock are following in the footsteps of Hollywood stars and avid golfers Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

And next week in Leeds they hope to take the final step on the road to Morocco by winning an expenses-paid trip to play at Golf de Mogador, in Essaouira, a 16th-century, fortified harbour town on the country’s Atlantic coast.

Sugden, 60, a 13-handicapper and 15-handicapper Andrew Maddock, 59, both of Hickleton GC, will be aiming to finish in the top three in the field at the Morocco Matchplay northern regional final, at Oulton Hall on October 6-7, to earn a place in February’s grand final at Golf de Mogador, a highly-rated Gary Player-designed links-style course.

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In total, 32 competitors will enjoy complimentary return flights to Morocco, five nights’ accommodation at the five-star Sofitel Essaouira Mogador Golf & Spa hotel and four rounds of golf at nearby Golf de Mogador. Participants will also receive a welcome reception and cocktail evening, and a final night presentation gala dinner.

Four competitions culminate at the grand final, sponsored for a second year by the Moroccan National Tourist Office: singles, pairs, mixed pairs and senior pairs, with 32 golfers from across the UK fighting it out for the titles.

Each pair have played up to four qualifying rounds to reach the regional final, with the knockout rounds taking place between June and September.

The Moroccan National Tourist Office’s director for UK and Ireland, Amine Boughaleb, said: “Last year was the centenary of golf in Morocco and, fittingly, the first year our country was the title sponsor of the HowDidiDo Matchplay. The event was such a huge success, however, for both the participants and Morocco, that we were only too happy to renew our association with the competition.

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“We are confident that the excellent facilities on offer at both the hotel and golf course will leave the lucky 32 golfers keen to return to see more of our beautiful country.”

HowDidiDo is Europe’s largest golfing community, holding in excess of 21 million rounds of golf along with the handicaps, results and scores of more than 1,300,000 UK golf club members.

The Morocco Matchplay, involving by HowDidiDo, will take place from February 7-12, 2016.