Billy Dowling en route to a round of 68 today – image APAC

Queenslanders Billy Dowling and Harry Takis find themselves seven shots from the lead as the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship heads into tomorrow’s final round at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai.

At 10 under, they trail Japanese 16-year-old Taisei Nagasaki by those seven shots and are in a share of 4^th place.

After sharing the lead into today’s third round Takis faltered early when after a birdie at the 3^rd hole he recorded a horror quadruple bogey 8 at the 5^th hole before dropping another shot at the 8^th hole to make the turn in 39.

Takis did, though, gather himself to play the final nine holes in 3 under 34 for a round of 73.

Dowling, after recording 19 straight pars from the 8^th hole on Friday, finally birdied the 10^th hole today and then added four birdies in his last five holes for a round of 68 and heads into tomorrow’s final round seven back.

Not that such a lead is insurmountable. In 2016, Perth’s Curtis Luck began the final round seven behind his fellow countryman Brett Coletta and caught him to win this title to go with his US Amateur Championship win a few weeks earlier.

Dowling was a little frustrated by his run of pars. “It was a little frustrating at times.  You hit so many greens and have a lot of chances, and the putts don’t drop, and when putting is probably the strength of your game, it’s like, wow, this feels like a long time without some entertainment.”

When asked about the seven-shot deficit, he responded;  “I mean, it’s golf.  I think anything can happen.  If I go out and play my game as well as I know I can, then I think I can really get myself up that leaderboard.  I don’t know if I’m going to be in the last group or second‑to‑last, but when you hold the lead, you’ve still got to go out and play well.”

Nagasaki is already building quite a record in amateur golf despite his age. Tomorrow, he has created a great opportunity to win the title for a fifth time for Japan.

He has opened up a considerable lead, but given what is at stake tomorrow, including starts at the 2026 Open Championship and the Masters Tournament, and this very significant title, he will have to deal with a lot of pressure, and the chance of a come-from-behind win by his chasers is not completely out of the question.

Leaderboard

Harry Takis during his second round of 66 – image APAC 

A late surge in his afternoon on day two of the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship, has given San Diego State-based Queenslander, Harry Takis, a share of the lead at the halfway mark of the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai.

Beginning the day one off the lead, Takis took a while for his round to build, but once he made the turn at 1 under for the day, he would reel off five birdies on his closing nine to finish with a round of 66 to join Japan’s Rintaro Nakano and Vietnam’s Khanh Hung Le at 11 under and in the lead by one.

“Yeah it was good,” said Takis. “I stayed patient front nine and rattled off a few in a row there on the back, which was nice.  Unfortunate to miss that putt on the last.

“I said to my caddie when we made the turn. We were only 1‑under, and I was like, I think we can rattle off a few if he can with stay calm and stay in the present.  You have to be patient on the front side, hit it to 15, 20 feet all day, hole a few, and then back nine you can really tear it up if you get hot.”

“There’s no better group to play in than the last one,” added Takis, referring to the opportunity to play with his fellow leaders tomorrow.  “I can’t be disappointed with that.  It’s what we play for, massive opportunity, great city, great part of the world.  It’s golf.  So I’m always going to try and enjoy it out there.  I think that’s when I play my best.”

Takis, now nearing his second year at San Diego State University in California, is coached by highly regarded Brisbane coach Ian Triggs and in his opening year at San Diego State he has performed with distinction, twice finishing runner-up in Mountain West Conference events, and earlier this year he also won the Singapore Amateur Championship.

The next best of the Australasians is New Zealander Cooper Moore, the New Zealand Amateur and Australian Junior Champion, adding a round of 68 to his opening 69 to be at 7 under and four off the lead.

Moore made a big move early with 5 birdies in his first 13 holes, but the momentum slowed over the closing holes to finish with his round of 68. Still, he is nicely placed to perhaps better his 8th-place finish as the leading Australasian in this event last year.

“Yeah, everything fell into place and everything worked out,” said Moore.  “I stayed pretty patient all day. I found myself 5‑under through 13 and in good position and sort of just stayed there for a little bit.  Hit a poor swing on 15, the par 3, 6‑iron in and sort of just pulled short left.  So, every shot in from there was a bit of a struggle.

“I made a good par on 18 after hitting into the water.  Poor course management down there, but that’s all right.  We got away with a par and the ball was in the hole in the end.  That was nice.”

Queenslander Billy Dowling who was one of three leaders overnight, could only manage a round of 72 on day two and is now in a share of 7^th place at 6 under and five from the lead.

Leaderboard

This writer interviewing Tianlang Guan during his historic win in Thailand in 2012

This week witnesses the 16^th staging of one of golf’s more significant amateur championships, the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship, this year being played at the Emirates Golf Club, the second occasion the prestigious event is being played in Dubai.

41 teams from around the Asia Pacific region will field as few as one and as many as seven members, vying to claim a title that earns not only the coveted title of Asia Pacific Amateur Champion but also a start in the 2026 Masters and the 2026 Open Championship, among other benefits.

The event is a partnership between the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation and the Masters Tournament, with most of the funding for the event coming from Augusta National, which uses monies generated by their magnificent major championship in April to fund much of the growth of the game. This is a perfect example.

No expense is spared in the running and broadcasting of the event, played over 72 holes of strokeplay.

Australia will be represented by seven players in 2025. NSW’s Declan Donovan, Jye Halls and Kyan Mudadana will be joined by Queenslanders Harry Takis, Billy Dowling, Chase Oberle and Graeme Hourn, Hourn being the odd man out here given his age of 57 compared to the next oldest Declan O’Donovan (22).

The New Zealand team consists of Christchurch’s Cooper Moore who finished as the leading Australasian in the event in 2024 and Josh Bai and Robby Turnbull of Auckland.

Australians have won the event on four occasions previously. In 2014, South Australian Anthony Murdaca won at Royal Melbourne, Perth’s Curtis Luck came from seven behind in the final round to win in Korea in 2016, the same year he was US Amateur Champion, in 2022, NSW’s Harrison Crowe was successful, and in 202,3 Victorian Jasper Stubbs took the title.

Chinese players hold the record of five wins with Australia and Japan each winning four times.

The most recognisable figure to come from the event is Hideki Matsuyama, who won back-to-back in 2010 and 2011 and would go on to win the Masters and ten other PGA Tour and 8 Japan Tour events in his remarkable career to date.

Perhaps, however, one of the greatest stories to come from the event was the win of 14-year-old Tianlang Guan, who holed a sliding let to right 5 footer at the final hole in 2012 to defeat CT Pan in Thailand.

While that was remarkable in itself, less than six months later, Guan became the youngest ever golfer to make the cut in a major when, at the age of still 14, he made the weekend at the 2013 Masters despite a one-shot penalty for slow play.

The Asia Pacific Amateur Championship has, in its short 15 year history, developed into one of the top three amateur titles in world golf and the much coveted title and its significant benefits will be hard fought for in Dubai this weekend.

Players 

Oliver Bekker with a long-awaited trophy – image Australian Golf Media 

South African Oliver Bekker, who has missed the cut in his last eight tournament starts, has today won the WA Open at the Mt Lawley Golf Club to potentially resurrect a career that had appeared to be going nowhere.

Currently ranked outside the top 1000 in the world ranking, after being close to the top 100 two years ago, Bekker came from one behind the lead through 54 holes to record a final round of 69 to win by one over Victorian Cameron John with South Australian Lachlan Barker, Victorian Marc Leishman and NSW’s Nathan Barbieri sharing third place at 5 under and two from the winner.

Bekker has won several events on the South African Sunshine Tour over the years, but in more recent times, it has been a struggle, and by gaining an invite to play this week’s event, he has taken full advantage and perhaps saved his golfing future.

The victory will give him at least two full years on the OGA Tour of Australasia, and with the possibility of a move to Perth in the future, the win is both timely and potentially career and life-changing.

“This comes so far out of left field,” Bekker told the PGA Tour of Australasia. “I’ve missed the last six or seven cuts in a row, but I said to my wife, I feel like [my game’s close and I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m playing well one week. This was the week, apparently.

“This golf course is so unforgiving. You’ve got to play such conservative golf, even with wedges in hand from the middle of the fairway. It was a grind and I’m glad I could stick it out.”

“Let me tell you, there were some things that happened that I’ve never seen in my life,” added Bekker, referring, in the main, to a near-disaster at the final hole which turned into a remarkable par save to set the mark for those playing behind.  “So yeah, it was interesting.”

The last Australian to win on the PGA Tour of Australasia is likely to have been the 2008 Australian Open winner, Tim Clark, mainly due to their Sunshine Tour events clashing with those in this country.

After four events on the 2025/2026 PGA Tour of Australasia schedule, Bekker has moved into 4^th place behind the new leader, Nathan Barbieri of NSW.

The next event on the schedule is the Webex Player Series South Australia event at the Willunga Golf Club beginning on Thursday, 23^rd.

Results 

Austin Bautista – image Australian Golf  Media

A 28-year-old New South Welshman, Austin Bautista, has reversed the result of four years earlier, coming from behind to win the WAPGA Championship at the Kalgoorlie Golf Course in Western Australia.

In 2021, it was NSW’s Jay Mackenzie who defeated Bautista by two shots, and in the early stages of today’s final round over the spectacular Graham Marsh-designed layout in the gold mining town some 600 kilometres east of Perth, it appeared Mackenzie was well on track to win again.

Mackenzie took a two-shot lead into the final round, moved four ahead early in his round, and was still ahead by two through 10 holes. Bautista, however, who has experienced success both internationally and at home, found a way to wear down his good friend Mackenzie and take the title with a birdie at the 72nd hole, winning by one.

Bautista is now in second position on the Order of Merit on the Sunshine Tour (South Africa), having won and finished runner-up there in 2025, and so despite being 578^th in the world ranking, he arrived in Kalgoorlie as one of the more credentialed players in the field.

Mackenzie led from halfway through his second round of 64 and was not headed until he bogeyed the 72nd hole, where he narrowly missed a 15-foot putt only to watch his opponent hole from 8 feet for birdie to take the title by one.

Queensland’s Will Florimo finished alone in 3^rd position, three shots from second place.

Bautista moves to 3^rd place on the 2025/2026 PGA Tour of Australasian Order of Merit while Mackenzie, having played all three of the events thus far, is in 4^th position.

Corey Crawford still leads the Order of Merit, having won the opening event of the season in Papua New Guinea.