The Africa Golf Confederation (AGC) has hailed Zimbabwe for stepping to the plate to host the 2024 All Africa Golf Team Championship which teed off at Bulawayo Golf Club on Tuesday.
A total of 11 African countries are taking part in the tournament which began on Monday with the official opening and flag raising ceremony which was overseen by the AGC.
This year's edition of the competition was initially scheduled to take place in Seychelles but the country was unable to host due to disruptive weather.
Zimbabwe opted to host the event at the iconic 129 year old facility in the country's second largest city.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event AGC president Johnson Omolo hailed Zimbabwe as one of the top golf nations on the continent.
“Zimbabwe is an integral part of golf development on the African continent. Outside South Africa in the region we look at Zimbabwe because they have one of the biggest golf infrastructure in Africa. The Zimbabwe Golf Association team led by Martin Chikwana has done a tremendous job over the years,” he said.
“We have seen Zimbabwe host the All Africa Golf Team Championship in Bulawayo but most countries host this tournament in the capital city, this is a demonstration of the confidence the Zimbabwe Golf Association have in their infrastructure which is at championship level.
“We are aware of the challenges that African countries are experiencing in terms of resource mobilization but we are grateful to the Zimbabwe Golf Association and the Zimbabwe golf fraternity for maintaining the infrastructure to be playable even in Bulawayo.
“This is the premium event on our calendar because in terms of events we have the Region VI games, Region V, the All Africa Junior Team Championship and the All Africa Golf Team Championship which is our signature competition.
“We are excited about this tournament and every time we visit Zimbabwe we stop in Harare but we are grateful to Zimbabwe Golf Association for bringing us to this great city of Bulawayo,” Omolo said.
South Africa are threatening to run away with the tournament as they carried a significant 15 stroke lead into the third day of the competition yesterday on overall 14 - under par with hosts Zimbabwe trailing them.
Zimbabwe overcame a slow start on the first day where they finished first round in fourth place on overall 4 - over par before shooting 3 - under par in the second round to move into second place.
Michael Wallace is the captain of the Zimbabwe team which also includes Vincent Chidambazina, Kelvin Muchenje and Keegan Shutt.
The curtain comes down on the biennial continental championship today.