Moanalua Na Menehune stood tall after a near-miss last year, winning the David S. Ishii Foundation/HHSAA Boys Golf State Championships on Wednesday and bringing the title back to the Oahu Interscholastic Association for the first time in 32 years.
On the sophomore shoulders of medalist John Oda, Moanalua won its first state boys golf title, overtaking ‘Iolani and holding off two-time defending champion Punahou at Wailua Golf Course on Kauai.
Na Menehune are the first OIA school to win the boys title since Castle in 1980. Moanalua also is the only OIA school to ever win a state girls golf title.
The boys did it with the third-best score in history, fulfilling a goal first set back when Tadd Fujikawa was playing some six years ago.
"We’ve always wanted one and this year we finally got it. It feels good," Oda said. "Since Tadd, we’ve had a bunch of good golfers. This is partially the reason I wanted to go to Moanalua and not private school."
Na Menehune opened with a 3-over-par 291 on Tuesday and trailed ‘Iolani by four heading into the final round.
"We had a nice barbecue at the pool with the rest of the OIA teams after that," Oda said. "We weren’t really stressing out. Four shots is not much out there. A lot can happen in 18 holes."
It happened quickly. Na Menehune surged into the lead on the first few holes Wednesday and closed with a 294—585 total.
The Raiders (306—593) rallied on the back nine to salvage second and Punahou (293—595) was third. Last year, the Buffanblu beat ‘Iolani by one shot and Moanalua by two.
Individually, Oda’s remarkable year rolled on. His 4-under 68 on Tuesday gave him a two-stroke edge and no one could cut into his lead or his confidence in the final round.
Oda, who turns 16 this month, qualified to play in January’s Sony Open in Hawaii and lost a playoff with Korean pro Jun Won Park for the Hawaii Pearl Open title in February. He won the State Amateur Stroke Play championship in March and the OIA title last month. Last summer, Oda was the youngest finalist in the 103-year history of the Manoa Cup.
He closed states with a 71, making the turn at even par after a great up and down at No. 8. He then birdied three of the first six on the back nine.
"He has so much poise," Moanalua coach Gordon Yuen said. "Nothing rattles him. He never lets anything bother him. He doesn’t look too much ahead, just knows what he needs to do and does it. I don’t see very many flaws at all, his whole game is awesome."
The birdies ended the drama created by Seabury Hall’s Alex Chiarella, who took second — three back — after a 68. Defending champion Lorens Chan (72—143), an ‘Iolani senior, took third. Chiarella will play for San Diego in the fall and Chan is going to UCLA.
Kamehameha sophomore Donny Hopoi (74—145) and Punahou junior Kalena Preus (75—146) rounded out the top five. Campbell senior Rudy Cabalar, the 2010 state champion, shared low-round honors with Chiarella to move into a tie for sixth at 147.
Menehune seniors Seungjae Maeng (74—147) and Jefferson Yee (78—148) finished in the top 12. Sophomores Brent Grant (73—153) and Jared Flores (76—162) struggled Tuesday — Grant fighting through a bad headache and Flores playing with a broken driver —but rallied to contribute scores Wednesday.
"I told them Tuesday night you can’t fight mother nature, it’s not you guys’ fault," Yuen said. "You know what you need to do tomorrow. Go out and take care of business, and they did it."
