Top Zimbabwe amateur golfer Michael Wallace was the star of the show after he captained the country to a commendable third place at the All Africa Golf Team Championship while he also took third place in individual competition at Bulawayo Golf Club last week.
The four-day biennial competition concluded last Friday with South Africa winning the competition by a massive 31 strokes after finishing on overall 21 - under par with Zambia settling for second place on 10 - over, four shots ahead of Zimbabwe on 14 - over par.
Wallace shot rounds of 74 69. 73 and 70 over the four days for a 2 - under par finals score and was seven strokes behind winner Jordan Burnand from South Africa who needed a playoff to beat compatriot Ivan Verster to the individual prize after they both tied on 9 - under par at the end of the fourth round.
The 20-year-old golfer went into the tournament on a high after winning the FBC Elephant Hills Open in Victoria Falls two weeks ago.
While he is happy with his performance in the continental championship, Wallace revealed that he came into the tournament targeting the ultimate prize.
"For myself I was coming to the tournament to win. You can't win all the time but I am really happy with the third place . It is my highest finish at the All Africa Golf Team Championship as a whole I am really happy with myself," he told The Sports Hub.
Keep Reading
- Beijing’s policy destroying Tibet’s environment
- Huayou Cobalt to inject US$300m into lithium project
- Feature: Lithium: Chinese lead scramble for Zim assets
- Fake Gaffa challenges Winky D
Wallace was also full of praise of the team's effort which saw them improve from the fifth place in the previous event to third.
Keegan Shutt, who tied for 10th on the individual leaderboard on 6-over par for the tournament, Vincent Chidambazina and Kelvin Muchenje made up team Zimbabwe.
Chidambazina finished in tie for 16th while Muchenje was in a two-way tie for 27th.
Nevertheless, the captain was pleased with the team's performance.
“I am really proud of the guys. We really fought hard but it’s not what we wanted being on home turf but still a podium finish is really good," he said.
It has been a good year for Wallace who opted for another route to professional golf after he dropped out of school, Midland College in Texas, United States this year to focus on his game.
The plan for Wallace is to play in top amateur tournaments before turning pro in two years time.
Since his return from the US, Wallace has finished second at the Manicaland Amateur and second at the Zim Amateur before winning the Roland Park Open as well as the FBC Elephant Hills Open.
He has also had some good performances in South Africa where he has a second place finish.
Wallace is sponsors by Fastjet, Firstlink Insurance and Srixon Golf South Africa.