Jakarta, Indonesia: Living upto his billing as pre-tournament favourite, Yutaka Toyoshima swept to a runaway victory at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Mid-Amateur Championships.

For the third day in succession, the 48-year-old from Saitama Prefecture barely put a foot wrong as he meticulously plotted his way around the 6,188-metre Gading Raya Golf Club course.

Having followed an imperious opening 66 on Tuesday with a solid 70 in round two, Toyoshima left his rivals trailing distantly in his wake with a near-faultless, bogey-free closing 66 today. After holing out on the final green, the champion was embraced by his wife and two daughters.

His 14-under aggregate of 202 was eight shots clear of his fellow-Japanese Kazuma Inaba. A further three strokes back in third was Hong Kong China’s James Gill who signed off with a 68. Alit Jiwandara had the distinction of finishing as the leading Indonesian in fourth place on 215 after a final-day 75 with Indian Army Lieutenant Colonel Varoon Parmar carding a 76 to settle for fifth on 216.

“Congratulations to Yutaka on a dominant performance. This has been a memorable and historic week for the APGC and Yutaka has set an incredibly high benchmark for our Mid-Amateur Championships. We could not have wished for a more accomplished first champion,” said Taimur Hassan Amin, Chairman of the APGC.

A five-time winner of the Japan Mid-Amateur Championship (2015, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023) who reached a high of 385th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Toyoshima entered the final round here with a four-stroke cushion.

Any hopes his pursuers may have had of catching him were instantly crushed when he underlined his mastery of Gading Raya’s front nine by reaching the turn in five-under 31. He rolled home birdie putts at the first, second, fourth sixth and eighth to build an unassailable lead, allowing him the luxury of a stress-free back nine.

For the three rounds he was 12-under on the front nine and two-under on the back. Over the 54 holes, Toyoshima had 17 birdies and just three bogeys.

“I’m proud and honoured to win the first APGC Mid-Amateur Championships. That was my goal when I came here,” said Toyoshima, who lists making the cut in both the Japan Open in 2023 and last year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship among the highlights of his glittering career.

“I hope to be able to defend my title next year,” added Toyoshima, who was presented with the trophy by Andra Soni, Governor of the Province of Banten, Suharsono, Secretary-General of the Indonesia Golf Association, and APGC Chairman Amin.

There will not be much time for Toyoshima to celebrate his latest triumph. He will spend two days back at home then head to Hawaii to compete in a qualifying tournament for the US Mid-Amateur, an event that rewards its champion with a starting spot in the Masters Tournament at Augusta National.

“That’s a challenging dream,” said Toyoshima, whose travel commitments mean he will be unable to make use of the exemptions for the APGC Mid-Amateur champion to play in the Asian Development Tour’s Ciputra Golfpreneur at Damai Indah next week and the Asian Tour’s Mandiri Indonesia Open at Pondok Indah at the end of the month.

As well as taking the overall title, Toyoshima topped the standings in Group D, for players aged 47 and above.

Other age-group winners were Muhammad Luthfi Haiban (Group A, 25-29 years old); Inaba (Group B, 30-37 years old) and Gill (Group C, 38-46 years old).