Grant Haefner arrived in Morocco for his first-ever Asian Tour start. Unfortunately, his clubs didn't.
Thirty-six holes later, he's tied for 12th at the International Series Morocco, just five shots behind former Masters champion Bubba Watson.
The clubs in his bag aren't his. The putter isn't either.
Instead, Haefner has spent the first two rounds using a set borrowed from the Commissioner of the Asian Tour, including a conventional-length putter he hadn't touched in nearly four years after switching to a broomstick.
The opportunity in Morocco started months earlier at Congaree Golf Club in South Carolina.
During a round there, Haefner played alongside Jean-Frédéric Dufour, the CEO of Rolex and a sponsor of the Asian Tour. At the time, Haefner was struggling to gain entry into events on the HotelPlanner Tour with his conditional status. Dufour told him he would be happy to help with an exemption on the Asian Tour.
Haefner, who qualified for both the 2025 U.S. Open and this year's Myrtle Beach Classic, followed up with an email asking about exemptions into two regular Asian Tour events in Taiwan.
"I thought asking for a spot in an International Series event would be in poor taste," Haefner said Friday.
Two weeks passed without a response. Then an email arrived asking if he wanted to play in Morocco.
The 28-year-old didn't hesitate.
After missing out on a return trip to the U.S. Open at Final Qualifying on Monday, Haefner boarded a flight from Cincinnati to Casablanca with an eight-hour layover in London.
His clubs never made it.
When he landed in Morocco, Haefner spent the next two hours at the Royal Air Maroc baggage desk trying to track them down. Eventually, with no answers and nearly midnight approaching, he gave up and made the hour-and-15-minute drive to his Airbnb, arriving around 1:30 a.m.
A few hours later he was back up and heading to Royal Dar Es Salam Golf Club.
Without clubs, there wasn't much he could do. He walked the course instead, taking notes and trying to learn as much as possible before the tournament began.
Then, at 10 a.m., his phone rang. The Tour wanted him to play in the pro-am.
Haefner explained that he didn't have any clubs. The Tour assured him they would find some. The emergency set didn't last long. "The clubs were so bad for me," Haefner said.
Before long he was borrowing equipment from his playing partners.
"I used the driver from one guy, the irons from another, and the putter from the set they gave me."
After the round, Haefner immediately made the drive back to Casablanca Airport hoping his clubs had surfaced. As he walked into the terminal, an email arrived saying they would be delivered the following day. Relief lasted only a few minutes.
The airline desk had no record of the update and told him the clubs may have never left Cincinnati. With no clubs and no real answers, Haefner drove back to his rental, arriving shortly after midnight for the second consecutive night.
The next morning brought no update on Haefner's clubs.
With his 1:45 p.m. tee time approaching, the Tour helped him secure a set belonging to the Commissioner of the Asian Tour. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than having no clubs at all.
Expectations weren’t exactly high. That turned out to be a good thing.
Haefner made six birdies against just one bogey, shooting a five-under 68 on the par-73 layout. As impressive as the score was, the putter may have been the most remarkable part.
"I can't believe I'm putting conventional," Haefner said after the round. When asked how long it had been since he used a conventional-length putter in competition, he paused. Nearly four years.
Somehow, after two sleepless nights, multiple trips to the airport, and three straight days of playing with borrowed equipment, Haefner found himself near the top of the leaderboard.
Haefner knew a round like that, given the circumstances, probably wasn't something he could count on repeating. Unfortunately, there was another problem. The Commissioner was leaving Morocco. And he planned on taking his clubs with him.
Like a scene from Groundhog Day, Haefner found himself making the hour-plus drive back to Casablanca Airport for the third consecutive night.
This time, a sympathetic airport supervisor spent hours searching for the missing clubs. Together they checked storage rooms, baggage areas, and seemingly every corner of the airport.
Nothing. The clubs were still missing.
Back at the Airbnb after another late-night return, Haefner had no idea what the next day would bring.
Thankfully, when he arrived at Royal Dar Es Salam for his 8:35 a.m. tee time, the Tour had good news. The Commissioner had left his clubs behind. Haefner would need to ship them back to Bangkok after the tournament, but for at least two more rounds he had a set of clubs he could call his own.
Compared to the previous three days, that felt like a major victory.
Friday wasn't quite as magical as Thursday, but it was still impressive. Haefner carded a one-under 72 and headed into the weekend tied for 12th against one of the strongest fields the Asian Tour sees all season.
Friday evening brought the same email Haefner had received the previous three days: his clubs would arrive today.
This time, he wasn't making the drive.
After three consecutive nights of trips to Casablanca Airport, Haefner decided sleep was the better investment.
"I'll go if I know the clubs are here," he said.
Until then, Haefner's own clubs remain somewhere between Cincinnati and Morocco, while the Commissioner's set sits tied for 12th.
