HOSTS Zimbabwe settled for third place behind winners South Africa and Zambia in second at the All Africa Golf Team Championship which concluded at Bulawayo Golf Club yesterday.
Zimbabwe went into the final looking to wrest second spot from Zambia, one who enjoyed a slender one stroke advantage, but it didn’t go according to plan as the team managed 14-over par 878 for the tournament.
In the end, the hosts were four strokes behind Zambia, who finished the tournament on overall 10-over par 874.
South Africa have been dominant in this tournament and were runaway winners finishing the tournament on 21-under par, 31 points ahead of their nearest rival Zambia.
Mauritius finished fourth on 27-over par, while Egypt, the defending champion settled for fifth place on overall 28-over par.
Zimbabwe captain Michael Wallace was full of praise for his team for the performance.
“I am really proud of the guys. We really fought hard, but it’s not what we wanted. Being on a home turf, but still a podium finish is really good,” he said.
“Going into the final round we were sticking with the same game plan, not to think ahead of ourselves, but just to stick to what we know. It didn’t work out, but I’m still really happy. We will go back to the drawing board, we still have another year until the next All Africa Championship,” Wallace added.
- Zim headed for a political dead heat in 2023
- Record breaker Mpofu revisits difficult upbringing
- Tendo Electronics eyes Africa after TelOne deal
- Record breaker Mpofu revisits difficult upbringing
Keep Reading
It was, however, a good tournament for Wallace, who finished the tournament in a tie for third place on overall 2-under par 286 in four rounds on the individual leaderboard along with South Africa’s Arthur Austin.
South African Jordan Burnand needed a playoff to beat compatriot Ivan Verster after the two golfers finished on 9-under par the tournament.
And in the playoff, Burnand shot a birdie, while Verster bogeyed the playoff hole.
Egyptian Issa Amr completed the top five with an overall level par, while Michael Chuma, tied for sixth, was the best Zambian player on 1-over par with Joseph Akena from Uganda.
Keegan Shutt was the second best Zimbabwean in the tournament on 6-over par in four rounds and tied for 10th with Folindo Rodrick from Malawi.
Another Zimbabwean Vincent Chidambazina, by his standard, struggled in the competition and finished in a tie for 16th on 11-over par for the tournament, while Kelvin Muchenje was tied 27th on 24-over par.
A total of 11 countries took part in the tournament.
