Kaneshiro, Ma march toward Manoa matchup

Zackary Kaneshiro made quick work of his first three Manoa Cup matches.

Matthew Ma leaned on patience to make another run at the state amateur match play championship.

Their approaches have proven equally effective while marching toward a quarterfinal matchup this morning at Oahu Country Club.

Kaneshiro, who graduated from Mid-Pacific Institute last month, has yet to play OCC’s 16th hole during an aggressive charge in his Manoa Cup debut.

The lessons Ma imparts as an assistant golf coach at ‘Iolani come in handy while working his way around the course and through the 64-player bracket.

“I think it helps my patience,” Ma said of his experience in the state’s longest-running golf tournament. “You’re not going to win every hole. If they fire one at you, you just have to fire one back. Sometimes it’s not the next hole or the next shot, it’s five holes later. You just have to hang in there and be patient.”

Although still 33, Ma — the 2012 champion — felt his age a bit as the oldest player among a group of high schoolers and 20-somethings left in contention for the 109th Manoa Cup title.

“Now they call me ‘Uncle,’” Ma said with a chuckle. “Uncle or Coach makes me feel old. If it’s a respect thing, I’ll take it.”

Kaneshiro, the top seed, has arguably been the week’s hottest player and has dropped just two of 41 holes in match play.

Summer travel kept him from entering the Manoa Cup in previous years and he decided to give it a shot before heading off to Santa Clara. Although he said he didn’t hit the ball quite as well as the previous two rounds, he managed to keep Justin Taparra at arm’s length in a 5-and-3 win on Thursday.

“It’s just trying to stay steady throughout the tournament, trying to keep the momentum going and just having fun out there,” Kaneshiro said.

Kaneshiro’s “win or lose early” motto for the week worked well while seemingly trapped behind a tree on No. 8.

“My caddie (girls state champion Claire Choi) was holding the clubs and I was just, ‘I have no clue what I’m going to do here,’” he said. “I pulled a random club and I was like, if I hit this short of the green it’ll roll up. I was aiming right edge of the green and pulled it. … It hit the front edge and kicked up to about 15 feet and we tied the hole.”

The top six seeds and eight of the top 10 coming out of Monday’s qualifying round advanced to the quarterfinals. This morning’s four survivors return to the course after lunch for the semifinals starting at noon. The 36-hole final is set for Saturday.

Roosevelt sophomore Kolbe Irei ended 13-year-old Go Nakatsukasa’s run with a 2-and-1 win to advance beyond his third-round finish in his Manoa Cup debut last year. Irei next faces Andy Okita, who rolled past Nick Ushijima 5 and 4.

David Saka, a University of Hawaii and Moanalua graduate, pulled out a 1-up win over A.J. Teraoka, a current Na Menehune golfer and runner-up at the HHSAA championship last month. Saka meets Punahou senior Evan Kawai, a 3-and-2 winner over MPI sophomore Davis Lee.

Tyler Ota, the 2015 champion, trailed for eight of the first nine holes against Punahou’s Rilen Loo, squared the match on No. 10 and advanced by winning four of the last five holes.

Ota takes on Gonzaga junior and Baldwin graduate Tyler Munetake, who closed a 1-up win over Punahou senior Remington Hirano with a chip-in on No. 18.

Click here for Thurday’s Manoa Cup scores.