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The curtain came down on the 2024 All Africa Golf Team Championship (AAGTC) at Bulawayo Golf Club, with South Africa winning the tournament on Friday.

This was the second time that Zimbabwe hosted the biennial continental showdown, having first done so in 2017 at Elephant Hills Golf Course in Victoria Falls.

Zimbabwe managed to secure a podium finish.

The Michael Wallace-captained Zimbabwean team finished in third place, behind Zambia and winners South Africa. South Africa reclaimed the title after losing to Morocco in the previous edition in 2022.

Zimbabwe were four shots behind second-placed Zambia and a massive 35 strokes behind South Africa.

The hosts finished the tournament on 14-over-par 878, while second-placed Zambia were on 10-over-par 874. 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.

Speaking during the flag-lowering ceremony on Friday, Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) president Martin Chikwana expressed his pleasure at hosting such a prestigious event despite having scarce resources.

“I just need to show gratitude to everyone who has played a part in the successful hosting of this tournament. It has been a very difficult road that the ZGA has travelled 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 the 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 showdown.

“The 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 aimed for a top-two finish. Wallace expressed pride in how his team fought.

“I am really proud of the guys. We really fought hard, but it’s not what we wanted being on home turf. 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 I’m still really happy. 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-par 892, and Uganda securing a sixth-place finish with a score of 32-over-par 896.

Kenya finished in seventh position with a score of 41-over-par 905, while eighth-placed Malawi registered a score of 48-over-par 912.

Eswatini finished in ninth place 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 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 over four rounds, with round scores of 74, 69, 73, and 70.

Going into the final round, he was 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 recording 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 tenth place with a score of six-over-par 294 after carding one-over-par 73 in Friday’s final round, with round scores of 76, 69, 76, and 73.

Vincent Chidambazina finished in sixteenth position on 11-over-par 299 after carding three-over-par 75 on Friday. He concluded with round scores of 70, 76, 78, and 75.

The fourth Zimbabwean representative, Kelvin Muchenje, finished in twenty-seventh position with a score of 24-over-par 312, having recorded round scores of 77, 75, 79, and 81.South Africa’s Jordan Burnand won the individual event after a play-off had to separate him and counterpart, Ivan Vester.

The duo had finished on identical scores of nine-under-par-279.

Burnand won the play-off.

A total of 11 countries competed in this year’s edition and are set to depart today for their respective nations.

The 2026 edition will be hosted in Tunisia.

@brandon_malvin