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Foxboro - Ryan Riley's 10-stroke victory in the 48th annual Attleboro Area Golf Association Championship Tournament could be called a coronation, for a number of reasons.

It established Riley as the area's dominant non-professional player of the new millennium, giving him his second victory since 2005 and his sixth straight top-five finish. Sunday's final round at Foxborough Country Club also plodded along at times as a real-life coronation might, as if Riley was dragging a three-car-length cape and train behind the ceremonial gown.

There wasn't an abundance of shot-making or derring-do in this final round. All of the excitement had transpired in the earlier rounds at Wentworth Hills, Highland and Norton. Sunday was a day for taking care of business, maintaining the big lead that had been built over the first three days - and not screwing up.

Finishing in the red

"I really wanted to try to finish in red numbers (below par)," said Riley, 27, the club champion at Norton Country Club. "That was something that I tried to do, but I didn't end up doing it because I didn't hit a heck of a lot of putts again today, same thing as yesterday. But in the same instance, I was able to stay away from the big numbers and put together a pretty good win." Riley couldn't have gotten much closer to the crimson numbers. His four-day total of 284 was even-par for the four-course lineup, and the third-best total in the history of the tournament, trailing Jim Renner's 281 (set in 2004), Marc Forbes' 282 from 1984 and Renner's 284 from 2002.

Riley also threatened to venture into another Renner-esque area of achievement when his lead over the venerable Billy Vine blossomed to 13 strokes on Sunday's fourth hole. But he would have had to go to the afterburners to match Renner's 18-stroke margin of victory in 2004.

That wasn't going to be the case Sunday, and it became clear on the third hole, a 216-yard par 3, when a par putt lipped the cup and spun off for a bogey.

Foxborough's greens have always had a reputation for being challenging, but there were no complaints about pin placement. For reasons no one was able to pinpoint, practically no one was able to read them correctly or accurately predict their speed. From among the final threesome of Riley, Vine and Ray Lyons, there was a grand total of two birdies on the front nine - those coming on the eighth (by Vine) and ninth (by Riley) holes.

There were eight bogeys and two double-bogeys in that group.

"They were very slow uphill," Riley said of the greens, "and very dangerous and fast downhill. It just seemed like a lot of the putts I had were longish putts downhill and shortish putts uphill. So I tended to roll the really good, longish putts close to the hole, and I struggled to get the putts that were uphill to the hole."

Briefly - so very briefly - Vine put together a charge at the 12-stroke lead Riley enjoyed at the final turn. Starting with an 18-foot birdie putt that had to travel a right-to-left arc on the hilly No. 8 green, the three-time AAGA champion was 3-under-par through the next five holes.

But he still couldn't get Riley's lead out of double figures because the leader kept a par pace through the first five holes of the back nine.

The tournament was his.

"It was something I looked forward to all year," Riley said after the round of 3-over 75. "Once I got off to the good start, I just wanted to keep hitting good shots. And now I'm just happy that it's over and I can enjoy it." Four days on four different courses is not a walk in the park for even the best amateur golfer - one of the reasons why winning the AAGA Open is a special accomplishment and one that's so highly coveted by the individuals that compete in it.

"I had a conversation with Billy White (the 2007 AAGA champion) a few weeks ago at a match, the club championship at Norton, and I asked him which one meant more to you," Riley said. "I couldn't answer that and he couldn't either, and now both have been able to feel both in the same year, and it really feels good.

"As nervous as I've been in the state (amateur), the New England (Amateur) and all these other tournaments, I'm more nervous on the first tee here, every day here, than any other tournament win," he added. "It's the highlight of my summer."

It's becoming the highlight of the local golf summer, too. Since Riley finished in a tie for 37th in 2000 at the age of 19, taking 318 strokes to tour the four courses, there has been steady improvement in his game - a tie for 13th at 303 in 2001, a tie for ninth at 301 in 2002, and then the run of six top-fives, including the two victories and a playoff-hole loss to Forbes in 2003.

"I'd always like to get myself in the final round on Sunday," he said. "I know these courses well, so obviously I'd like to continue to give myself a chance. I'm not turning pro, so this is something I look forward to doing. I'm going to stay in the area, so I hope to play in it every year and hopefully get another one."

With Riley just 27, and with Renner now in the pro ranks, there's little doubt that the next chapter of the history of local golf will be entitled, "The Life of Riley."

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella