While hardly a golf hot spot, the African nation has a rich golf history thanks to the enthusiasm of former monarch, King Hassan II.

Ruling from 1961 until his death in 1999, the king wasted no time indulging his golf passion, enlisting Robert Trent Jones to build three courses on a 1,000 acre property near Rabat in the early 1960’s.

The Red course is the tournament venue and has hosted several professional events while the Blue course has hosted the Ladies European Tour.

The third layout is the nine hole green course, designed for recreational play.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Inaugural event.

After being a part of Punch GC's second place at the LIV Golf finale, Wade Ormsby has headed to Morocco. PHOTO: Montana Pritchard/LIV Golf via Getty Images.

COURSE: The Red Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam is no stranger to big time tournament golf having hosted the Moroccan Open 11 times and the Trophee Hassan II as a full field event from 2010.

Prior to 2016, scoring in that event suggested a course that played quite easy but a major renovation the same year changed that.

Rhys Davies won the inaugural Trophee Hassan II event at 25-under and mid-teens under par was the norm until 2015.

But in four tournaments since the overhaul no winner has finished double digits under par.

All 18 green complexes were rebuilt in 2016 with fairway bunkering also changed and fairway corridors widened.

While many would assume that makes for easier scoring, the results don’t bear that out so it will be interesting to see how this week’s field fares.

RELATED: So-called expert golf tips for this week

PRIZEMONEY: US$1,500,000

PLAYERS TO WATCH: A number of LIV Tour regulars have made the trip from Miami to Morocco and several will be among the favourites heading into the week.

The unique Royal Golf Dar Es Salam welcomes back tournament golf this week. PHOTO: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

Nine of the top-10 on the International Series Order of Merit will tee off Thursday with leader Scott Vincent looking to increase his margin of US$70,000.

Vincent played all eight LIV events in 2022 and while his best individual result was 14th in Chicago, he will be in his comfort zone this week.

Also making the trek from the US are a pair of Thai players who are also LIV regulars, Phachara Khongwatmai and Sadom Kaewkanjana, and both will like their chances this week.

Prolific winners on their home Tour both will have gained from seeing some of the big names of the LIV Tour up close and at third (Khongwatmai) and eighth (Kaewkanjana) on the International Series OOM respectively there is much to play for.

This is the penultimate International Series event for the year and while Kaewkanjana is likely too far behind Vincent to claim the title, Khongwatmai is in with a chance.

While his form hasn’t been outstanding most of the year another LIV regular, Wade Ormsby, has tended to play some of his best golf in Asian Tour events.

He has more knowledge of the course than many in the field having played here three times, his last outing proving his most fruitful with a T14 finish in 2019.

Another Australian, Travis Smyth, tees up for the second time since his maiden Asian Tour win and at sixth on the International Series Order of Merit is not without a chance of claiming end of year honours.

Perhaps the most interesting player in this week’s field, however, is Western Australia’s Brett Rumford.

The former European Tour player focusses more on coaching these days but received an invite to play this week and has accepted.

Rumford hasn’t played competitively very much in two years but it is a long journey from Perth to Rabat so he must have some belief in his game.

AUSTRALIANS IN THE FIELD: Travis Smyth, Wade Ormsby, Brett Rumford, Scott Hend, Todd Sinnott, Jake Higginbottom, Cory Crawford, Daniel Fox, Sam Brazel and Kevin Yuan.

TV TIMES*
Round 1: Thursday (Fox Sports 505 12am – 4am)
Round 2: Friday (Fox Sports 505 12am – 4am)
Round 3: Saturday (Fox Sports 505 10pm – 2am)
Round 4: Sunday (Fox Sports 505 10pm – 2am)
*AEST, check local guides