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Joshua Sedeno and Hunter Hughes had some catching up to do when they reported to Oahu Country Club’s first tee for the opening match of the 111th Manoa Cup on Tuesday morning.
The duo first met in the semifinals of the state amateur match-play championship last summer and kept in touch as Sedeno completed his collegiate golf career at Alabama while Hughes continued his football odyssey in France.
Sedeno returned to OCC this week atop the bracket as defending champion and found himself again matched up with Hughes, who earned the final spot in the 64-player field on Monday by showing up for a playoff that never happened.
“To get that last spot to play Sedeno with our history from last year was very unique,” said Hughes, a former University of Hawaii backup quarterback. “It was cool to play with him because we’ve kind of built a friendship through this tournament.”
Once they got out on the course on Tuesday, Sedeno pulled away from Hughes in a bogey-free round and opened his defense of the Manoa Cup title with a 6-and-4 victory. But they were already making plans to meet up again well before another year passes.
>> More photos for Day 1 of 111th Manoa Cup at Oahu Country Club
“I think we’re going to go to the beach later this week,” Sedeno said.
Sedeno hopes to keep busy through the next few days as he seeks to become the first back-to-back Manoa Cup champion since David Fink won the 2010 and ’11 titles.
Sedeno, a Northern California product whose grandparents are OCC members, took the lead against Hughes on Tuesday with a birdie on the third hole and was 3 up at the turn. He closed out the match with three birdies in a four-hole stretch from Nos. 11 to 14.
“I just made a lot of putts today. There wasn’t anything that stuck out, but I made pretty much everything I looked at today,” said Sedeno, who ranked fourth on the Crimson Tide with a 73.53 stroke average this season and plans to turn pro in the fall after finishing up his coursework online this summer.
“I just came from a completely different climate and completely different greens. So it’s nice to be putting really well right away and not trying to figure them out over the course of a week.”
Sedeno faces Punahou junior Tyler Ogawa in today’s 7 a.m. opener.
Hughes, meanwhile, said he’s “putting like a football player right now.”
Understandable, considering he just picked up the clubs again after playing quarterback for the Montpellier Hurricanes of the French Federation of American Football this spring.
His girlfriend, Kara Doles, got a job teaching English in France and Hughes started contacting teams in the area to see if any had room for a quarterback. He hooked on with the Hurricanes and earned a starting role.
“It was a blast,” Hughes said. “My dad always said you play until they tell you you can’t play any more and make it on your terms. So being the backup at UH to being given the opportunity to start over in a foreign country was something I couldn’t pass up.”
The season ended just about two weeks ago and he decided to take another shot at the Manoa Cup after his run to the semifinals a year ago. He scuffled to an 82 in Monday’s qualifying round and finished tied with five other players for 64th. But he found himself alone when he checked in for a playoff and was awarded the final berth in the bracket.
Along with Sedeno, past Manoa Cup champions Tyler Ota, the medalist in Monday’s qualifier with a 64; Andy Okita; Brandan Kop and Matthew Ma advanced to today’s second round.
Kop, a four-time winner, again relied on his wealth of knowledge at OCC and deft touch with his wedges to outlast Santa Clara junior and Mid-Pacific graduate Zackary Kaneshiro 1 up.
Neither player went more than 1 up throughout the match, with Kop catching Kaneshiro when his approach on the par-4 14th checked up 2 feet from the pin to set up a birdie.
“It’s a chip-and-putt course,” Kop said. “My chipping has been pretty good. I putted really bad (Monday), but I found it later on on the (practice) green.”
Kop pointed to his first two shots on No. 18 as his best swings of the day. He split the fairway with his drive and stuck his approach from 121 yards away about 10 feet from the hole. Kaneshiro’s drive drifted left into a bunker and Kop won the hole and the match with a two-putt par.
“I knew from the start it was going to be a tough match. I knew Brandan’s history here — everyone knows him as the master of OCC,” Kaneshiro said of his first matchup with Kop. “He played really well. He hit a few stray shots, but he recovered every time. … You could tell he knew this golf course like the back of his hand.”
In the women’s tournament, MPI sophomore Jolie Chee, who earned the final spot in the 16-player bracket on Monday, knocked off top-seeded Heather McGinnis 5 and 4 to set up a second-round match with Punahou’s Karissa Kilby. Rachael Wang of Kalani advanced with a 3-and-2 win over third-seeded Kaylee Shimizu, the runner-up to Brittany Fan last year.
111TH MANOA CUP
At Oahu Country Club
Tuesday
First round
Open
>> Joshua Sedeno def. Hunter Hughes 6 and 4
>> Tyler Ogawa def. Dillon Ah Chong 2 and 1
>> Andy Okita def. Robert Kim 5 and 4
>> Isaac Jaffurs def. Benjamin Sandborn 5 and 4
>> Evan Kawai def. Lance Migita 4 and 3
>> Noah Koshi def. Torin Dezzani 2 and 1
>> Kolbe Irei def. Shakil Ahmed 5 and 4
>> Brandan Kop def. Zackary Kaneshiro 1 up
>> Jeffrey Weinstein def. Thayne Costa 3 and 2
>> Robbie Kia def. Desmond Mello 2 and 1
>> Remington Hirano def. Mason Nakamura 4 and 2
>> Marshall Kim def. Nick Gerard 5 and 4
>> Todd Kimura def. Jordan Terada 5 and 4
>> Nick Ushijima def. Nicholas Matsushima 3 and 2
>> Zachary Sagayaga def. Adam Chiya 2 and 1
>> Toby Baladad def. Yoon Ho Park 2 and 1
>> Tyler Ota def. Colby Gunderson 7 and 5
>> Eric Takaki def. Ka’ena Kaulia 2 and 1
>> Jake Sequin def. Taylor McGerity, conceded
>> Jeren Nishimoto def. AJ Teraoka 5 and 4
>> Ethan Dezzani def. Tyson Tonokawa 5 and 3
>> Justin Taparra def. Lawrence Taff 2 up
>> Justin Ngan def. Bradley Yosaitis 6 and 5
>> Jacob Torres def. Nickolaus Nelson 3 and 2
>> Peter Jung def. Patrick Boyce 6 and 5
>> Isaiah Kanno def. Joe Phengsavath 19 holes
>> Joshua Hayashida def. Reynn Hoshide 3 and 2
>> Samuel Crocker def. Andrew Otani 3 and 2
>> Blaze Akana def. Elia Laeli 6 and 5
>> Isono def. Alex Kam 4 and 3
>> Matthew Ma def. Trevor Nishiyama 2 up
>> Shawn Sakoda def. Adam Quandt 2 and 1
Women
>> Jolie Chee def. Heather McGinnis 5 and 4
>> Karissa Kilby def. Anna Murata 2 up
>> Kamie Hamada def. Shayna Lu 6 and 5
>> Lorraine Char def. Annika Espino 1 up
>> Danielle Ujimori def. Daesza Tomas 5 and 3
>> Chloe Jang def. Kellie Yamane 3 and 2
>> Rachael Wang def. Kaylee Shimizu 3 and 2
>> Katrina Huang def. Nicolle Nitta 2 up
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