Golf: Morocco surrender lead in final round at Hammamet
Leaders going into the final day, Morocco finish second in the African Amateur Team Championship. Reda El Hali shares third place in the individual standings.
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Morocco had an eight-shot lead going into the final day. They finished second in the African Amateur Team Championship, which ended on Saturday 17 October in Hammamet, Tunisia. On 628 strokes in total, the Moroccan side were beaten by four shots by South Africa, who claimed their thirteenth continental title.
The turnaround came in the last of the three rounds. The South Africans added up 202 strokes, against 214 for the Moroccans. That twelve-shot gap in a single day wiped out Morocco's advantage and then swung first place the other way.
Two rounds of 66 changed the race for the title
In this competition each team fields four players, but only its three best scores of the round count towards the team total. The lowest number of strokes wins. Jonathan Andrew Wilsenach and Judd Sundelson each completed their final round in 66, six under par, the course's reference number of strokes.
Together with Constantyn Van Wyk's 70, their cards gave South Africa a decisive total of 202. Ivan Verster's 74 did not count towards that tally. The team result therefore matches neither the sum of all four players nor the individual ranking of the best of them.
Reda El Hali shares third place in the individual standings
Morocco also leave with a place on the individual podium. Reda El Hali finished joint third with Sundelson: both played 209 strokes over the three rounds. Seychelles' Adrian Andrade won the individual standings with 205 strokes, ahead of Wilsenach, second on 208.
In the team standings, Zambia completed the podium with 646 strokes. They finished eighteen shots behind Morocco, who therefore keep a comfortable margin over third place despite losing the title in the final round.