There will be a touch of the Civil War amid the tranquility of Oahu Country Club today.
The rivalry between Oregon and Oregon State, which bears the nickname, figures to be represented in the colors David Fink and Matthew Ma wear to the course for today’s Manoa Cup quarterfinal match.
Fink, a junior at Oregon State, said he’ll be sure to break out his orange and black gear for the match with Ma, a product of the Oregon golf program, who still uses the green and yellow golf bag he kept from his senior season with the Ducks.
“It’s going to be fun,” Ma said. “I always tease him about going to Oregon State.”
The 7 a.m. pairing of ‘Iolani graduates will be the first of today’s four quarterfinal matchups. The winner faces Jared Sawada or Todd Rego in a semifinal match starting at noon.
The other side of the bracket features matchups between high school and college golfers. Eric Le (‘Iolani) meets Cory Oride (UH), and Skye Inakoshi (Mid-Pacific) plays Nick Matsushima (UH-Hilo). The winners tee off again at 12:07 p.m.
The two remaining after today’s rounds will meet on Saturday for the 104th Manoa Cup title and the state match play championship in the 36-hole final.
Fink continued his bid for a third straight title with a 3-and-2 win over Kauai’s Pono Tokioka in the third round on Thursday. Fink traded the lead with Tokioka through the front nine and was 1 down going to the par-3 11th. Fink hit his first shot into a bunker and got his second on the green about 10 feet away from the hole.
Fink said he played about 4 feet of break on the downhill putt and got it to slide into the cup to save par. The match was tied when Tokioka missed his par attempt, and Fink won the next three holes as well.
“Making that putt just got my adrenaline going again,” Fink said. “It was a good confidence builder and just got my energy back up.”
Tokioka’s week at OCC ended with his best finish in three appearances in the Manoa Cup bracket. The senior at Kauai placed eighth at the David Ishii Foundation/HHSAA boys golf championship last month and will follow a busy summer schedule by playing in the World Deaf Golf Championships in Japan in October as part of the eight-member U.S. Deaf Golf Men’s team.
“I started good, on the back nine I couldn’t make any putts, and he played good on the back nine,” Tokioka said. “I’m glad I could make it this far. Hopefully I can improve next year.”
This morning’s round will be Ma’s first in the quarterfinals after he edged Moanalua freshman Shawn Lu 2 and 1.
With the match even through six holes and Lu lining up a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventh, Ma’s putt from close to 50 feet away crossed the green and fell into the cup to preserve the tie.
“That was actually the best putt I’ve hit in a while,” Ma said. “I picked a line, I picked a point on the ground and I hit it and it never left the line.”
Ma, an assistant coach with ‘Iolani’s varsity golf team, took the lead with a par on No. 9 and maintained a slim edge through the back nine to defeat the 13-year-old Lu.
Ma has been playing with a new set of clubs that arrived last week to replace a set that was stolen during an interisland trip in March. He played his first full round with the clubs last Saturday and has continued to adjust to them while progressing through the bracket.
“I’m comfortable with what I’ve got right now,” he said. “That’s the main thing, comfort and confidence.”
Fink is the lone past champion remaining in the final eight after Inakoshi defeated four-time champion Brandan Kop 5 and 4.
Rego and Oride also ended their matches early while Sawada, Le and Matsushima endured tense finishes on the 18th to advance.
“I’ve been pumped this whole week, just so excited to play in this tournament and I’m really thankful I made it this far,” Sawada said after scrambling for a match-winning par on No. 18.
