Tyler Ota birdied the third playoff hole to win last weekend’s 60th Army Invitational at Leilehua. Ota, two-time Army champion Matt Ma and Kengo Aoshima finished regulation at 6-under 210.
Ota opened the tournament with a 63, but lost his lead when he shot 76 in the final round. Aoshima caught him with a 71 and Ma fired 68 the final day.
Caleb Keohokapu (74—211) took fourth.
Mark Murphy (67-217) took Mid-Am honors. Flight winners were Robert Nakagawa (76—231) in A, Ernest Barrett III (75—235) in B and Dan Nakamura (80—247) in C.
Chiarella retains Maui title
Alex Chiarella defended his title at the Maui Open, played last weekend at Dunes at Maui Lani. Chiarella collected the $5,000 first prize by shooting rounds of 72-71 to finish at 1-under-par 143.
Chiarella, a Seabury Hall alum who played college golf at San Diego, was the only golfer to finish under par. Jake Grodzinsky (73) and Sam Cyr (75) were four shots back and won $2,250 each. Chris Shimomura had the only other sub-par round, opening with a 70 and finishing alone in fourth at 149.
Manoa Cup runner-up Justin Ngan (79—155) took low-amateur honors. Senior flight winners were Mark Keith (77—152) among the pros, Nelson Domingo (75-154) for the amateurs, Dean Prince (75—149) for super senior pros and Raymond Tendo (80—155) for super senior amateurs.
Otani shines at junior event
Elle Otani led Hawaii’s qualifiers at the Optimist International junior event played earlier this month at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Nearly 700 kids from some 30 countries participate in the annual tournament.
Otani took fifth in the Girls 13-14 division, finishing 11 shots out of first with a three-round total of 232. Kara Kaneshiro (237) tied for 11th in the same age division and Katrina Huang (239) was 16th. Kolbe Irei (292) also finished 11th in the Boys 16-18 division.
