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The momentum of the Manoa Cup’s final match seemed to follow Oahu Country Club’s undulating landscape.
From their opening drives at 7 a.m. Saturday to the final handshake nearly eight hours later, Joshua Sedeno and Justin Ngan traded birdies and exchanged the lead over two tours of the hilly layout in Nuuanu Valley.
The 36-hole grind made the traditional plunge into the OCC pool all the more refreshing for Sedeno — a rising junior with the Alabama golf team — after holding off Ngan for a 2-up win to capture the 110th Manoa Cup title and the state amateur match-play championship.
“At Alabama we preach finish, finish, finish,” a dripping Sedeno said after climbing out of the water. “In everything we do — workouts, practice — everything is always about finishing. So I kept reminding myself throughout the day just focus on what you’re doing, what you can control and finish.”
Although Sedeno grew up in Northern California, his grandfather was a past president at OCC, both sides of his family are from Hawaii and he introduced his Crimson Tide teammates to Spam and eggs for breakfast.
His family planned their annual island vacation around the Manoa Cup this year and Sedeno will return home today after a six-day run at OCC that began with a 68 in Monday’s qualifying round and ended with him accepting the green jacket awarded to the winner of the Hawaii State Golf Association’s premier event.
He made his Manoa Cup debut at 13 and watched David Fink, the event’s last back-to-back winner, claim the title. Fink is now a pro living in California, and Sedeno said they’ve played together and spoken about returning to play in the Manoa Cup.
To join Fink on the list of champions, Sedeno had to overcome his first deficit of the week, then fend off Ngan’s remarkable comeback over the final four holes.
Sedeno and Ngan combined for 14 birdies in the morning round, with Ngan taking a 2-up lead at No. 8 when his approach rolled to within a foot of the cup. Sedeno caught Ngan at No. 12 and moved ahead when he ripped two shots up the steep 13th fairway to set up an 8-foot eagle putt.
“Especially when he had birdie in the hole and I had to make it to win the hole, that was a huge momentum change in the morning,” Sedeno said.
Sedeno was 2 up through 18 holes and twice stretched the lead to three in the afternoon round, the second time at No. 14 when his towering flop shot hit the flagstick to set up a birdie.
Although he had an awkward stance in the rough, “It was actually a great break,” Sedeno said. “With the way the wind was, I wasn’t going to be able to stop the ball if I had a flat lie. So being on the upslope was actually a huge advantage there.”
Despite being 3 down with four holes left, Ngan — the 2016 runner-up — wouldn’t let Sedeno celebrate just yet.
“At first I was kind of giving up, but in my mind I said, ‘Nah that’s the old me,’ ” Ngan said. “I have to start trying to not think negative and just think I can make a comeback.
“It’s pretty unlikely that I’ll win, but I’ll make him a little scared before he leaves.”
The Baldwin graduate and University of Hawaii sophomore rolled in a downhill birdie putt on No. 15 to stay alive, then stuck his tee shot on the par-3 16th inside of 4 feet to set up another birdie. He calmed his shaky hands enough to drop his third straight birdie at 17 to head into 18 one down.
But Ngan’s comeback stalled when his drive sailed out of bounds to the right and into the OCC parking lot. Ngan said he felt the ball come off the heel of the club “and the wind did the rest.”
Swinging for par next to a tree on the left side of the fairway, Ngan’s shot at a miracle flew over the green. With Sedeno safely on the green in two, Ngan conceded the hole on the walk up the fairway to end the first Manoa Cup final to go the distance since TJ Kua outlasted Layne Morita 1 up in 2009.
“It was emotion after emotion, up and down all day, ” Sedeno said.
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