ORANI, Bataan – Antonio “Tonito” Payumo, son of former Bataan Congressman and former Chairman of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Felicito “Tong” Payumo, won 2nd runner-up at the prestigious World Amateur Golfers Championship and Invitational 2018 held recently in Johor, Malaysia.
This was confirmed by Tonito’s father, Tong, during an interview at the Sinagtala Farm Resort located in Barangay Tala here over the weekend. Tonito was the champion in the last year’s same event.
Tonito, a former football and junior tennis star, hurdled the local elims last year where he beat the reigning national Mid-Amateur champion then placed second to Katigbak in the national finals to gain a berth in the Philippine delegation to the four-day event spread over four courses, also in Malaysia last year.
National teams from 40 countries have battled their way through national championships to reach the world finals of the World Amateur Golfers Championship (WAGC). They were joined by VIP golf enthusiasts, business leaders, sponsors and even royalty from all parts of the globe.
“Thank you for all the support and encouragement! It’s been a wonderful and eventful week. Fortunate to have been able to grind my way back into contention, finish strong, and bag a third place finish. Proud too of the entire Philippine contingent that showed a lot of grit and resilience playing against some of the best golfing nations in 4 unfamiliar tour-quality courses. At the end of the week, we have this, two other individual awards (including Champion in Division 3), and 1 team award coming home with us,” Payumo posted on his Facebook page.
Today, WAGC is the the largest amateur golf tournament in the world and has been commemorated 22 times in numerous countries from around the world.