Online Reporter
A PLAY-OFF round for top position featuring South Africans Ivan Verster and Jordan Burnand was a fitting finale at the All Africa Golf Team Championships which were held at Bulawayo Golf this Friday.
The play-off round, which was won by Team South Africa captain, Burnand, was after they both finished 9-under after four rounds. Team Zimbabwe captain, Micheal Wallace was placed third on the individual leaderboard.
Zimbabwe managed to secure a podium finish.
The Zimbabwean team finished in third place, behind Zambia and winners South Africa. South Africa reclaimed the title having lost to Morocco in the previous edition in 2022.
Zimbabwe finished four shots behind second placed Zambia and 35 strokes behind the winners South Africa.
The hosts finished 14-over-par-878 while second placed Zambia finished 10-over-874.
Winners South Africa finished on 21-under-par-843 to reclaim the coveted title which they have only lost once.
It was an improvement for Zimbabwe who finished fifth in the previous edition held in Egypt in 2022.
During a brief flag lowering ceremony, Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) president Martin Chikwana said they are pleased to have hosted such a prestigious event despite having scarce resources.
“I want to show my gratitude to everyone who played a part in the successful hosting of this tournament. It was a very difficult road that we had to travel to get to this point.
“We went through very difficult times, resources were few but it is so fulfilling to see you all standing here today, some of you slightly dejected, others very happy but at the end of the day we have successfully hosted All Africa Golf Team Championship at Bulawayo Golf Club in Zimbabwe,” said Chikwana.
Africa Golf Confederation (AGC) president Johnson Omolo praised the ZGA for successfully hosting the continental showpiece.
“Africa Golf Confederation is grateful, it’s not easy to host this event. ZGA, we thank you for working round the clock to ensure we have a successful event. We do not have any complaints,” said Omolo.
After securing a third place finish, captain Wallace said they would take the podium despite having eyed a top two finish. Wallace said he was proud of how his team fought.
“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.
“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 still really happy. But we will go back to the drawing board, we still have another year until the next All Africa Championship,” he said.
With South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe completing the top three, Mauritius finished in fourth place with a score of 27-over-par-891 followed by Egypt on 28-over-892 with Uganda securing a sixth place finish with a score of 32-over-par-896.
Kenya finished in position seven with a score of 41-over-par-905 while eight placed Malawi registered a score of 48-over-par-912.
Eswatini finished on number nine with a score of 87-over-par-951 followed by Gabon on 90-over-par-954.
Botswana anchored the standings with a score of 100-over-par-964.
On the individual leaderboard, there was a reason to smile for Wallace who finished tied for third place with South Africa’s Astin Arthur.
Wallace carded an impressive two-under-par-286 in four rounds. He had round scores of 74, 69, 73 and 70.
Going into the final round, he was on tied for fifth on level-par-216 but managed to shoot two-under-par-70.
In the front nine, Wallace birdied the par-five fourth and fifth holes while shooting bogeys on the par-three third and par-four sixth holes. He had a double bogey on the par-four ninth hole.
In the back nine, he birdied the par-five 14th hole while bogeying the par-three 11th hole.
Keegan Shutt finished tied for 10th place with a score of six-over-par-294 after carding one-over-par-73 in the yesterday’s final round. He had round scores of 76, 69, 76 and 73.
Vincent Chidambazina finished in position 16 on 11-over-par-299 after carding three-over-par-75 on Thursday. He finished with round scores of 70, 76, 78 and 75.
The fourth Zimbabwean representative was Kelvin Muchenje who finished in position 27 with a score of 24-over-par-312. Muchenje had round scores of 77, 75, 79 and 81.
A total of 11 countries competed in this year’s edition and are set to depart today to their respective nations.
The 2026 edition will be hosted in Tunisia
