In a classic Eastside rivalry, Kalani’s Miki Manta outdueled Kaiser’s Malia Nam to win the Oahu Interscholastic Association girls individual golf championship by one shot Tuesday on the Turtle Bay Fazio Course.
The back-and-forth day came down to the final hole — the par-4 9th. Nam, the defending champion, overshot the green and couldn’t get down in two, and Manta two-putted from 40 feet to finish with at 3-over 75 for the day and 5-over 149 for the two-day tournament.
Manta and Nam entered the day tied at 2-over 74 and it looked like Nam might pull away early when Manta bogeyed two of her first four holes. However, Manta righted the course with birdies at Nos. 15 and 17 before the turn and then at No 2 to take a two-shot lead. Nam’s double bogey on No. 4 boosted Manta’s lead to three strokes before Nam fought back fiercely to even it up going into the closing hole.
“I feel kind of sad for her,” Manta said about Nam, whom she called a friend and who was still shedding tears a half-hour after the finish. “We’re all rivals since we were little, under 10 years old, and I think it’s a good thing to have rivals. Winning the tournament is a great accomplishment. Not everyone can do it. You get to know the feeling of winning and it can help you in the future.”
To Manta and Nam, both sophomores, Nam appeared to hit a beautiful approach on the final hole.
“I was in the rough and I had like 145 yards, which is about my 8 iron, but it was into the wind, so I grabbed my extra club,” Nam said. “I knew me and Miki were tied going in and I wanted to stick it close because she wasn’t close to the hole. I hit it really good and it was going straight for the pin and I thought it was going to be really good. I saw it go over and I was just like, ‘Are you serious?’ It hit the back of the green, and coming out of the rough, you don’t get as much spin so it rolled over (the green).”
After her chip, Nam needed to sink a 12-footer to force an extra hole, but the ball rolled a few feet past.
“I knew I had to make it, so I had to ram it,” she said. “I didn’t want to leave it short.”
On the boys side, Moanalua junior Jun Ho Won shot a brilliant 6-under 66 to take OIA medalist honors. After a first-round 73, he started the day four shots behind leader Keanu Akina of Kahuku, who faded with a second-round 75 for an even-par 144 and fourth place.
Won’s two-round 139 was just one stroke ahead of defending champion Kyosuke Kevin Hara (72-68—140) and three up on Shawn Lu (72-70—142) for a 1-2-3 Na Menehune finish. Moanalua earned its 10th straight boys team title at 571 — 42 strokes ahead of second-place Kaiser.
Won had seven birdies, including a 45-footer on the par-3 14th (his fifth hole) that kick-started his rise to the championship. His only bogey came on the closing hole, No. 9.
“After nine holes, I was 3 under and I was thinking maybe I can win this if I just continue,” Won said. “I tried to make a charge.”
Lu and Hara were in other foursomes, so when Won was done, he had to wait for others, including Hara and Lu, to finish and see how it was going to shake out.
“I was trying to hit it close to give myself a chance to make birdies,” Won said. “I missed two short birdie putts and I was frustrated, but I tried to forget those as soon as possible. I wasn’t sure I won. I was thinking they might be shooting really good. Shawn is playing really good these days. I figured he might go 5 or 6 under.
Lu, who won the Mid-Pacific Open championship flight on Sunday, was actually 2 under for the day and 2-under 142 for the tournament.
“Jun Ho played well these past two days,” Lu said. “I was just trying to hang in there. I was pretty satisfied with the Mid-Pac and obviously I was trying to shoot for this one too, but it just didn’t fall that well the last two days. Two under is not bad. You just can’t win with 2 under. Kyosuke played well too. Him and Jun Ho really like this course for some reason. In my opinion, this course is OK, but I’ve never played that great here. Always around the top but never No. 1. They play really well at this course.”
Kaiser, led by Nam, took the girls team championship at 471, 33 shots ahead of Kalani.
