What Canadian golfers have not measured up to now is the wealth of courses to play, and how unique they are in the golf world. For those who believe a golf vacation should include other sidelights, like visits to world-famous historical sites, or plush living at five-star hotels that sit on pristine beaches beside a wine-dark sea, then Tunisia is a real eye-opener – and a must-visit.

The question is, of course, how difficult is it to get there? The answer: difficult – but well worth it.

About 18,000 Canadians visit Tunisia each year, mostly French Canadians. That's due to two factors: French is the second language in this former French colony; and flights from Montreal to Tunis are routed through Paris, via Air France. There's no doubt, the long transcontinental route is tiresome.

But Tunisia is well worth the extra hours in the air. Sultana Tours has both golf and historical tour packages that are more than reasonable – especially in the off-season. Who wouldn't want to visit the immortal Roman Coliseum at El Jem (second largest in the world), or the great mosque at Kairouan (fourth most important Islamic religious site in the world), or the Bardo?

Mix that with a stay at the luxurious L'Hotel Tamerza Palace (my favourite) in the Atlas Mountains near the sandy Sahara, and you're only a short hop away from the Tozeur Golf Club, one of the most unique in the world.

Sitting in a giant oasis of the same name, the club features fairways cutting through giant sandstone boulders, and the fabulous 18th. It's a nervy Par 5 with a canyon to the left and desert to the right. Picking your way to the green is one of golf's fun challenges, and if there's a raw, natural, ethos about the course, there's also a sublime beauty that makes you think of other desert destinations, like the southwest United States.

The day we played Tozeur, the greens were heavily top-dressed and extremely springy, which reminds everyone, that it's always important to check ahead when playing courses in out-of-the-way places. I can only imagine Tozeur with smooth, quick, hard greens.

Playing Tozeur was the perfect aperitif for the rest of our tour of Tunisian golf courses. From the sun-bleached south we quickly made our way north and east to the heart of golf country, and the El Kantaoui Golf Course and its two 18-hole beauties: the Panorama and Sea courses. Both are, as their names imply, pretty venues with lovely vistas, and fairways lined with olive trees.

North Americans would feel comfortable in the parkland setting, with occasional views of the sea. The conditions were much more like what you'd expect back home – fast, tilted greens, and generous fairways.

Moving on the Hammamet with its amazing old downtown (medina) and its views of the Mediterranean, I was eager to try out Yasmine Golf Course, a par 72 that also sports sublime views of the sea.

Golf Citrus is the real gem in Hammamet, a 45-hole golf resort second to none in Africa. Designed by American Ronald Fream, Le Foret is an undulating course surrounded by pine trees and played into fast greens set on plateaus. The stunning Les Oliviers features large fairways built in an olive grove area and sand raps within reach of your driver. This is a challenging test, and both courses stretch well beyond 6,000 meters (for men).

In Monastir there's the Palm Links and Flamingo Golf Clubs, and both rise and fall over beautiful Tunisian countryside. Palm Links is inspired by the Scottish model (dunes covered by wild plants) while Flamingo (designed by Fream) sits on a plateau. The opening tee shot is memorable – a long carry down into a green valley. The whole course rises and falls and finishes at No. 18's tilted green (back to front) which, at dusk, leaves players gasping for breath, a camera, and more golf.

As our trip came to an end in Tunis, one last course awaited us: the Robert Trent Jones-designed Residence Golf Course.

Long, flat, with lots of water, you might think you're in North America until you observe the huge salt lake that rides along the outside of the club. It's a jewel of a design and runs along the edges of 14 lakes. The closing Par 5 is a fun finisher – out of bounds right, lake left.