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In case Cole Shintaku had blocked out his opponent’s Manoa Cup history, he got an early reminder when Brandan Kop was introduced as a four-time champion prior to their opening drives on Tuesday.
“When they announced his name this morning I was joking with all the starters, ‘Did he pay you to say that?’” Shintaku said.
Shintaku, a recent Punahou graduate, knows his way around Oahu Country Club pretty well himself and closed out Kop — one of the event’s all-time greats — with a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to advance in the state amateur match-play championship.
“Not the kind you expect to make — you just try to put it close and it just happened to fall,” Shintaku said after the 1-up win in the first round of the 109th Manoa Cup.
Shintaku reached the quarterfinals in 2014 following his freshman year of high school. Now headed to Santa Clara in the fall, he outlasted the always affable Kop to earn a matchup with former University of Hawaii golfer and second-seeded David Saka today in the round of 32.
“It’s such a good opportunity to just play with someone with so much experience and has done it before four times. That’s amazing,” Shintaku said of the pairing with Kop.
Shintaku and Kop were all-square after 12 holes and matched pars over the next five. After Shintaku rolled in a tricky 8-foot putt on on No. 17 to keep the match even, he drilled his drive down the middle of the 18th fairway and Kop hooked his tee shot into the trees on the left. But after watching Kop drain a 35-footer to save par on No. 15, Shintaku knew better than to savor his advantage just yet.
“It was the same situation,” Shintaku said. “I said there’s no way I’m taking anything for granted here.”
Shintaku landed his approach in the middle of the green. Needing a two-putt to win, he got it done in one.
“I had my chance,” Kop said. “Five holes in a row I missed putts 6 feet or less. … You have to sink those, otherwise they’re going to come back.”
Kop, who won his first Manoa Cup in 1983, concedes he can’t match the length of the younger players in the field. But that challenge is part of what keeps him coming back each summer.
“It’s the tradition, the same course, and you get to play the young players and it’s good to see how good they are,” Kop said.
With Kop’s exit, two past champions remain in contention for one of the Hawaii State Golf Association’s most prized titles. Matthew Ma (2012) advanced 3 and 2 against Sequoia Logan, and Tyler Ota (2015) had the quickest finish of the day with a 9-and-8 win over Sian Rogers.
“The putter caught fire today,” Ota said. “I got lucky on 5 and chipped in from 50 yards for eagle.
“It was a nice win today that’s for sure, a nice round of golf, but … it just gets you through to the next round and that’s all you have to do in this tournament.”
Recent Mid-Pacific graduate Zackary Kaneshiro earned the top seed with a 6-under-par 65 in Monday’s qualifying round and rolled to a 7-and-6 win over Jacob Pritchard to open Tuesday’s play.
Mari Nishiura began defense of the women’s title with a 7-and-6 win over Katrina Huang after setting Nevada’s scoring-average record at 74.20 in her freshman season.
Island Pacific graduate and Ohio State signee Alanis Sakuma won the longest match of the afternoon, edging Baldwin alumna and Utah Valley sophomore Kaylee Shimizu in 21 holes.
109th Manoa Cup
At Oahu Country Club
Tuesday
Open
Round of 64
Zackary Kaneshiro def. Jacob Pritchard 7 and 6
Chad Lee def. Nick Gerard, 2 up
Matthew Shen def. Robert Choi, 4 and 3
Justin Taparra def. Joshua Hayashida, 4 and 3
Matthew Ma def. Sequoia Logan, 3 and 2
Alex Kam def Adam Quandt, 2 and 1
Tyler Isono def. Kala’i Pomroy, 6 and 5
AJ Montalbo def. Joseph Condry, 19 holes
Kolbe Irei def. Phillip Anamizu, 6 and 5
Robert Kim def. Doug Williams, 5 and 4
Go Nakatsukasa def. Benjamin Sandborn, 3 and 2
Justin Ngan def. Ryan Chang, 2 and 1
Andy Okita def. Trenton Chang, 7 and 6
Trevor Nishiyama def. Noah Koshi, 4 and 3
Jeff Weinstein def. Preston Ching, 1 up
Nick Ushijima def. Caleb Keohokapu, 1 up
David Saka def. Lawrence Taff, 6 and 5
Cole Shintaku def. Brandan Kop, 1 up
Christopher Lufrano def. Gary Kong, 2 up
AJ Teroka def. Brandt Nishimura, 5 and 4
Nick Matsushima def. Joe Phengsavath, 5 and 3
Davis Lee def. Andrew Otani, 2 and 1
Evan Kawai def. Mark Uekawa, 2 up
Donny Hopoi def. Chris Byrer, 2 and 1
Tyler Ota def. Sian Rogers, 9 and 8
Pono Tokioka def Schyler Murakami, 8 and 6
Nathan Viernes def. Lance Migita, 19 holes
Rilen Loo def. Travis Lau 5 and 4
Tyler Munetake def. Justin Chan, 19 holes
Trevor Arashiro def. Kendall Fukumoto, 2 and 1
Remington Hirano def. Nickolaus Nelson, 2 and 1
Isaiah Kanno def. Desmond Mello, 6 and 5
Women
Round of 16
Mari Nishiura def. Katrina Huang, 7 and 6
Kimberlie Miyamoto def. Keila Baladad, 3 and 2
Lorraine Char def. Danielle Ujimori, 2 and 1
Karissa Kilby def. Kyung Eun Lee, 3 and 2
Isabella Leung def. Jeannie Pak, 1 up
Alanis Sakuma def. Kaylee Shimizu, 21 holes
Alyssa Poentis def. Anna Murata, 3 and 2
Aiko Leong def. Kamie Hamada, 6 and 4
Today’s matches
Open
Round of 32
Zackary Kaneshiro vs. Chad Lee, 7 a.m.
Matthew Shen vs. Justin Taparra, 7:08 a.m.
Matthew Ma vs. Alex Kam, 7:16 a.m.
Tyler Isono vs. AJ Montalbo, 7:24 a.m.
Kolbe Irei vs. Robert Kim, 7:32 a.m.
Go Nakatsukasa vs. Justin Ngan, 7:40 a.m.
Andy Okita vs. Trevor Nishiyama, 7:48 a.m.
Jeff Weinstein vs. Nick Ushijima, 7:56 a.m.
David Saka vs. Cole Shintaku, 8:12 a.m.
Christopher Lufrano vs. Aj Teroka, 8:20 a.m.
Nick Matsushima vs. Davis Lee, 8:28 a.m.
Evan Kawai vs. Donny Hopoi, 8:36 a.m.
Tyler Ota vs. Pono Tokioka, 8:44 a.m.
Nathan Viernes vs. Rilen Loo, 8:52 a.m.
Tyler Munetake vs. Trevor Arashiro , 9 a.m.
Remington Hirano vs. Isaiah Kanno, 9:08 a.m.
Women
Quarterfinals
Mari Nishiura vs. Kimberlie Miyamoto, 9:24 a.m.
Lorraine Char vs. Karissa Kilby, 9:32 a.m.
Isabella Leung vs. Alanis Sakuma, 9:40 a.m.
Alyssa Poentis vs. Aiko Leong, 9:48 a.m.
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