Golf Championship at the Hans Merensky Club in Phalaborwa in East Transvaal.

And had it not been for some poor chipping, coupled with "bad luck'', Talbot believes he would have closed the five-stroke gap which separated him from eventual winner, Nick Champness of England, going into the last round.

Champness won the tournament by that margin with South Africa's Peter McIntyre third, seven strokes behind Talbot after the 72-holes. More than 30 players took part.

"For the whole tournament my short game was not that good,'' admitted Talbot, who arrived back home on Tuesday evening. "On the last day I hit the hole about eight times. I had a lot of hard luck.'' That hard luck also included a bout of the flu during the last two rounds, but the Bermudian said he still thoroughly enjoyed his first trip to the once apartheid-torn country.

"After the tournament I wasn't even going to go to the presentation, I was so sick,'' explained Talbot. "Even so, I hit the ball good, though I had bad luck on the greens. The ball rimmed the cup about eight times on the last day.'' Talbot's best round on the par-72 course was an 80 which was also the best by any of the competitors. "The greens were very slow, well bunkered and hard to play,'' the former World One-Arm champion explained.

"The greens are of a similiar texture to our greens. But you have to have a good short game to score good and that's what I'm very unhappy about.

"Chipping really cost me the tournament. My chipping hasn't been very good in the last few months anyway. Even in the final round I had chances.'' Talbot gave winner Champness, whom he knows from his trips to Europe for the World event, credit for the way he played even though he admitted he should have done better himself.

"He's a young lad of 18 and a very good player,'' said the Bermudian. "He has the potential to be the world champion.'' Talbot and his wife Sherry got to see some of the country as they also visited Durban and St. Lucia on the coast.

"We spent time in Phalaborwa and the rest of the week we went to Durban on the eastern coast and then went up to St. Lucia. We also went to gold mines.

"It's a great country and it was an experience to see how blacks still live.

They would walk miles to work and back home.'' Talbot said he saw people living in harmony despite the country's troubled past. "I had a couple of black caddies. They have a lot to feel angry about but you didn't see it, at least not where I was.'' About 15 South Africans competed in the tournament with Talbot being the only black in the entire field. "It is really a nice country and the people treated us good,'' he said.

Talbot is hoping to compete in the World Championships in England in late May, a tournament he has won twice, in 1988 and 1991.