Just 12 holes into his first match as defending Manoa Cup champion, it appeared David Fink’s reign wouldn’t survive the next few swings, let alone the next few days.
But Fink, down four holes with just six to play against Mark Uekawa, kept grinding and rolled in a birdie putt to stay alive. Then another.
When he followed a clutch par on No. 16 with yet another birdie on the 17th, Fink had squared the match heading to the final tee.
And after chipping in from the fringe fronting Oahu Country Club’s 18th green for his fourth birdie in a six-hole stretch, Fink let out a deep exhale upon completing a remarkable escape from early elimination in the state amateur match-play championship with a 1-up victory.
"It was nerve-wracking. I haven’t felt those juices pumping in a long time," Fink said. "(Maryknoll’s Uekawa) played amazing. He has so much to look forward to the next couple years of high school and he has a lot of game.
"As for me, I have a lot of stuff to work on."
With the win, Fink, who recently completed his freshman season at Oregon State, joined a group of current and former ‘Iolani standouts to advance to the second round of the 103rd Manoa Cup.
Among those was Raiders senior Lorens Chan, who defeated Rudy Cabalar Jr. 4 and 3 in a duel between the owners of the past three high school state championships. Marissa Chow, another ‘Iolani senior and one of three females to qualify for the 64-player bracket, moved on with a 6 and 5 win over Lion Rogers.
"It doesn’t matter, girl or guy," said Chow, who scrambled to OCC to make her 8:10 a.m. tee time then bolted to an 8-up lead after 10 holes. "This course doesn’t play as long, so if you hit the ball straight, anyone has a chance."
Chow’s victory paired her with Punahou junior Kalena Preus today in a matchup of the reigning Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls and boys champions.
Alina Ching, who reached the third round last year, lost to Todd Rego 3 and 2. Alice Kim fell by the same margin to Andre Bedard.
Fink’s first-round match also could have ended early if not for his birdie run. Uekawa, who survived a playoff on Monday to earn the final spot in the bracket, was 3 up through nine holes and extended the lead on No. 12 with his fifth birdie of the round.
But Fink, the tournament’s top seed, hung around and took his only lead of the match on the birdie chip-in on No. 18.
"The whole day I was continually trying to stay positive and stay in it," said Fink, who faces Dalen Yamauchi today at 7 a.m. "After he made that putt on 12, I knew I had to go full throttle. … After that the putts started rolling in, almost like magic. Just lucky to pull it out in the end."
At 17, Chan is playing in his fifth Manoa Cup and hopes to advance past the second round for the first time since his 2007 run to the semifinals.
His game has heated up quite nicely after visiting The Oven, Nike Golf’s research and development center, in February. Since being fitted for a new set of clubs during a trip to Texas, the UCLA commit won the state amateur stroke play title in March and captured his second high school state title last month.
He was all square with Cabalar, the 2010 HHSAA champion, through seven holes on Tuesday, then carded four birdies in a five-hole span to take control.
"I like this course a lot and the last few years I never got my game going and peaking at this time," Chan said. "I hope this is the year. I’m playing a lot better and I have a lot of confidence. But there’s so many good players, it’ll be tough. I just want to play well each day."
Sian Rogers, this year’s youngest qualifier at 13, lost to Jonathan Ota 8 and 6. But the Punahou eighth-grader had already counted the week as a success by the time he teed off with the 2006 Manoa Cup champion.
"I had a lot of fun, a lot of experience playing with the big guys," Rogers said. "I hit like half as far as other people out here. … Next year, I’m just going to hope I grow so I can hit farther and have an easier time and work on my short game."
