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Moroccan Open returns to Dar-es-Salem
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Moroccan Open returns to Dar-es-Salem

After an absence of five years from The European Tour International Schedule, the Red Course at Dar-es-Salem in Rabat returns this week as the venue for the 11th staging of the Moroccan Open.

It was in 1996 that the tournament last featured on the highly rated Robert Trent Jones-designed layout, carved out of the forest of Zaers, and it proved a personal delight for Sweden's Peter Hedblom, who claimed his maiden European Tour title with a one shot victory.

Hedblom grabbed the lead with a first round 68 and never relinquished his lofty position, the nearest challenger being Argentinian Eduardo Romero whose final round 69 got him close to the Swede but not close enough to force a play-off.

The tournament has been played on two other occasions at Dar-es-Salem, in 1987 when Howard Clark emerged victorious, and in 1992 when David Gilford won the first of his two Moroccan Open titles after a play-off, the Englishman edging out Sweden's Robert Karlsson at the third extra hole.

Although the Red Course has not staged a European Tour event in five years, it has not lacked top-quality action on its fairways, the most recent event being the 29th staging of the Hassan II Trophy last November, won by England's Roger Chapman.

The win completed a glorious year for the 41 year old who, eight months earlier, claimed his first victory on The European Tour when he defeated Padraig Harrington in a play-off to win the Brazil Rio de Janeiro 500 Years Open at the Itanhangá Golf Club.

Chapman, currently in his 20th consecutive season on The European Tour, will return to Morocco this week aiming to recapture that winning feeling and admitted he was looking forward to the challenge.

"I can't wait to go back, I really can't, because the course is magnificent," said Chapman. "There is not a bad hole on it, there is no let-up, and every hole demands your attention so you have to concentrate all the way round.

"It is a par 73 and I won the Hassan II Trophy with a 15 under par total after rounds of 69-69-69-70. I think the winning score could well be about that again, depending on the weather. But it is always in pretty good condition and in my opinion it is one of the best courses we play all year, it really is as good as that."

Defending champion in Rabat is another Englishman, Jamie Spence, who ended an eight year wait to record his second European Tour victory 12 months ago with a convincing four shot win at the Golf D'Amelkis in Marrakech.

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