Among the perks of owning the Manoa Cup’s top seed — no traffic.
Sure, Andy Okita isn’t fond of a predawn wake-up, but the 7 a.m. start at Oahu Country Club makes for an easy commute from Mililani to Nuuanu. Once on the course, the opening tee time reserved for the No. 1 player in the bracket eliminates those annoying backlogs on the par-3s.
That said, the path to the state amateur match-play championship remains littered with potential road blocks.
The top seed in the 64-player bracket is automatically awarded to the defending champion and Okita managed to keep his quest for a repeat title on track by outlasting Nick Ushijima in an 18-hole duel on Wednesday.
Okita fell behind on three occasions, didn’t lead until the 15th hole and held on for a 2-up win to advance to the round of 16.
“It feels a lot different,” Okita said of his spot atop the bracket. “I feel a little more pressure on me. It’s not the same as last year when no one knows who I am.”
Okita worked through eight rounds over six days to capture the title last year and the experience “helped me today, especially during the later holes,” Okita said.
“I felt what it was like last year to be in the final match so I felt like it helped me to deal with the nerves. You get nervous but I somehow got through it.”
Okita is aiming to become the first player to win back-to-back Manoa Cup titles since David Fink claimed the tournament’s green jacket in 2010 and ’11. Okita is among three past champions still in contention for a second title in the 110th playing of the Hawaii State Golf Association’s most storied event.
Matthew Ma, the 2012 champion and fourth seed out of Monday’s qualifying round, defeated Nickolaus Nelson 5 and 4. Third-seeded Tyler Ota, the 2015 winner, pulled away from Mason Nakamura 4 and 3.
“The thing that helps is you learn to be patient,” said Ma, who will face former high school state champion and rising Boise State sophomore Jun Ho Won, a Moanalua graduate, today. “Not getting ahead of yourself is really big. Not thinking about tomorrow or what you did yesterday. You have to stay in the now.”
Ma had a match-play preview when he defeated Ota in a three-hole playoff to win the Hickam Invitational on May 20. At 34, Ma is getting used to the high schoolers in the field referring to him as “uncle or coach” and also has a new title at home — dad.
“It kind of puts it into perspective for me now,” Ma said of having a 13-week-old daughter awaiting him after a round. “Playing bad golf is not quite as bad.”
Four-time champion Brandan Kop was 3 down to Stephen Osborne of Reno, Nev., with six holes to play, but rallied to square the match at No. 16. They went to extra holes and Osborne’s par on the 21st hole was enough to advance.
Evan Kawai, a recent Punahou graduate and last year’s runner-up, found himself 1 down with three to play against Peter Jung, but swept the remaining holes to emerge with a 2-up win.
“It’s always fun because you grind the whole day, you get some sleep, you wake up early and start fresh and it’s a different animal every day,” said Kawai, who signed with the University of San Diego.
Former University of Hawaii quarterback Hunter Hughes had a nap in mind after extending his first Manoa Cup appearance when he rattled in a par putt on No. 18 to cap a 1-up win over Thayne Costa.
“I haven’t been sleeping well the last couple days,” he said. “But this is what we play for, this is what we practice for and we care about it.”
The women’s bracket goes into the semifinal round today. Brittany Fan, coming off an appearance at the NCAA championships with Colorado, faces 15-year-old Victoria Takai of Punahou. Fan advanced with a 7-and-6 win over Anna Murata, and Takai defeated Ohio State sophomore Alanis Sakuma 3 and 2.
On the other side of the bracket, Kaylee Shimizu, a Baldwin graduate and Utah Valley junior, faces recent Maryknoll graduate and BYU signee Allysha Mae Mateo.
