After playing six rounds over the past five days, Matthew Ma and Nick Matsushima know Oahu Country Club’s unique features pretty well by now.

But they’ll still be in new territory when they tee off together this morning.

Neither had made it past the third round in their previous appearances in the Manoa Cup bracket. But they’ve both survived Monday’s qualifying round and five often nerve-wracking matches to reach today’s 36-hole final for the 104th title and the state amateur match-play championship.

"You look at who’s won this tournament before … there’s a lot of history to it," Ma said. "I’m just thrilled to have the opportunity. I’m just trying to follow the guys who came before me."

Ma, an ‘Iolani alum and now an assistant coach with the Raiders varsity golf team, advanced Friday with a 1-up quarterfinal win over David Fink, thus ending Fink’s bid to become the first player in 80 years to win three consecutive Manoa Cup titles. He then held off Jared Sawada 3 and 1 in the semifinals in the afternoon.

Matsushima, a Kalani graduate and a junior at UH-Hilo, defeated Skye Inakoshi 3 and 2 in the quarterfinals and was 4 up with five holes to play in his semifinal against Eric Le. Le won the next three holes, but two clutch chips helped Matsushima hang on for the 1-up win.

Matsushima entered the tournament three previous times and will play for the title a year after a rough qualifying round left him out of the 64-player bracket.

"I felt a lot of jitters in that hour wait before the (semifinal), it kind of hit me where I am," Matsushima said. "Once I teed off on No. 1 it kind of went away …until the last few holes."

Even with the anticipation of today’s match, Ma and Matsushima probably didn’t have much trouble getting to sleep Friday night after two tours of OCC’s undulating course.

"The last time I played 36 walking must have been in college in 2007," said Ma, an Oregon graduate. "We used to do it every week. It’s fun, it’s good to do it again."

In the quarterfinal, Ma was 4 up through nine holes against Fink and was 2 up again going to 17. His birdie putt lipped out to give Fink hope. Fink then drained a tricky 5-footer to win the hole and send the match to No. 18.

After Ma settled for par, Fink had a birdie putt to force extra holes, but it slid just past the edge to end his streak of Manoa Cup match wins at 15.

"It didn’t break in the last foot like I thought it would," Fink said. "It started breaking early, but it didn’t finish breaking. It went straight. I gave it a good run.

"This was all about representing (OCC). … I wanted to do it for the people who’ve been supporting me over the years. I’m proud of what I’ve done. I always love playing here and I love being home."

Later in the afternoon, Ma saw his 3-up lead against Sawada shrink to one going to No. 14. His drive went to the left, but he stuck his second shot inside of 5 feet and made the putt to begin a run of three birdies in the final four holes.

"The pitch on 14 was huge," Ma said. "It was good to not take my foot off the gas and make a good shot and it gave me a little bit of breathing room."

Matsushima also saw a sizable lead nearly disappear late in his match with Le. He was 1 up at No. 17 and his drive settled in the rough to the right of the green. He then chipped over a bunker and the ball rolled to within inches of the hole for a gimme birdie.

Le extended the drama by getting a 15-foot birdie putt to drop, and Matsushima’s lead was in jeopardy again when his drive off the 18th tee hooked into the trees. After hitting a 5 iron under the branches and just short of the green, his chip again nestled close to the hole for a par and this time Le couldn’t answer.

"This is probably the best stretch of golf I’ve ever played," Matsushima said of his week at OCC. "I’ve been able to keep consistent, make pars, get lucky and make a few birdies. Mainly just a lot more consistent though this tournament than the other years."