Andy Okita caught a glimpse of the challenge ahead when he noticed Joshua Sedeno heading back toward the clubhouse from Oahu Country Club’s 11th green Wednesday morning.
Okita was 10 holes into a second-round duel with Isaac Jaffurs and overlooking the par-3 11th when Sedeno, the defending Manoa Cup champion and top seed in this week’s state amateur match-play championship, finished off a dominant performance in the group ahead.
“I just saw him walking and I was just like ‘oh dear,’ ” said Okita, who captured the Hawaii State Golf Association’s most storied championship in 2017.
At that point, Okita still had quite a bit of work to do to join Sedeno — an 8-and-7 win over Tyler Ogawa — in today’s round of 16. Okita saw a 3-up lead after 14 holes dwindle to one going into No. 18, and needed to drop a nervy 4-foot putt for bogey to fend off Jaffurs and set up a meeting of the last two Manoa Cup champions.
Okita helped punctuate last year’s tournament by presenting the champion’s green jacket to Sedeno. They’ll tee off in their first on-course meeting today at 7 a.m. with one of them remaining in contention for a second title.
>> More photos for Day 2 of 111th Manoa Cup at Oahu Country Club
“I’m kinda scared. I just don’t want to get annihilated,” Okita said with a laugh. “Just see what happens. I think I found something on the back nine with my swing and we’ll see if I can drop a few putts.
“I know he’s a really good player, but I just have to think about my own game. Just play my own game and see what happens.”
Sedeno, who plans to turn pro in the fall after completing his college career at Alabama last month, went bogey-free for the second straight day and played his final five holes at 5 under on Wednesday. He closed out the match with Ogawa with an eagle on the par-4 10th hole and a birdie on No. 11.
Okita managed to hold off Jaffurs, the 2014 runner-up, by saving bogey after sending his chip over the green on No. 18. His final putt earned him another day off from his job with Kop Distributors with his boss, Hawaii Golf Hall of Famer Brandan Kop, playing two groups behind.
Not long after Okita advanced, Kop’s shot at a fifth Manoa Cup title ended when Roosevelt senior Kolbe Irei dropped a 35-foot birdie putt from the edge of the 18th green. Irei was 1 down going into No. 17, but surged to his first lead against Kop with a birdie-birdie finish for a 1-up victory.
“I was trying to play the most break possible and lag it up, because I knew that it was a fast putt so I didn’t want to putt it off the green,” said Irei, who placed second at the state high school championship last month on the Big Island.
“I was surprised to see it go down, I wasn’t even thinking about making it. I was just trying to lag it to a foot or two.”
Irei next takes on Evan Kawai, who faced Okita in the 2017 final and recently finished his freshman year at San Diego.
Two past Manoa Cup champions remain on the other side of the bracket. Second-seeded and 2015 winner Tyler Ota wasn’t thrilled with his putting in a 3-and-2 win over Eric Takaki. But match play allows for a clean slate going into today’s meeting with Chaminade’s Jeren Nishimoto.
“I hit it really well, missed a lot of short ones out there, but it was enough,” Ota said. “That’s all that counts, get to tomorrow. It doesn’t matter how it looks, just keep on going.”
Matthew Ma, the 2012 winner, will meet Kamehameha senior Blaze Akana today for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The women’s bracket reaches the semifinal round this morning. Punahou junior Karissa Kilby advanced with a 7-and-6 win over Jolie Chee and faces ‘Iolani graduate and New Mexico freshman Kamie Hamada today at 8:21 a.m.
Kilby advanced to the semifinals two years ago and got a taste of match-play tension when she finished second at the Hawaii State Amateur Stoke Play Championship in a playoff with Patricia Ehrhart.
“I just think it’s a lot more fun, there’s more adrenaline flowing,” Kilby said. “You’re kind of just playing yourself in stroke play and at the end you see how you stand against everyone else. But in match play you know what’s going on, it’s just you and the other person so I think it’s a lot more fun.”
Danielle Ujimori, a Mid-Pacific graduate who played at Nevada this season, takes on ‘Iolani sophomore Katrina Huang in the 8:30 semifinal match. Huang outlasted Kalani’s Rachael Wang in 20 holes to advance on Wednesday.
111TH MANOA CUP
At Oahu Country Club
Wednesday
Open
Second round
Joshua Sedeno def. Tyler Ogawa, 8 and 7
Andy Okita def. Isaac Jaffurs, 1 up
Evan Kawai def. Noah Koshi, 1 up
Kolbe Irei def. Brandan Kop, 1 up
Jeffrey Weinstein def. Robbie Kia, 2 and 1
Remington Hirano def. Marshall Kim, 5 and 4
Nick Ushijima def. Todd Kimura, 3 and 1
Zachary Sagayaga def. Toby Baladad, 1 up
Tyler Ota def. Eric Takaki, 3 and 2
Jeren Nishimoto def. Jake Sequin, 1 up
Justin Taparra def. Ethan Dezzani, 3 and 2
Justin Ngan def. Jacob Torres, 2 and 1
Peter Jung def. Isaiah Kanno, 1 up
Joshua Hayashida def. Samuel Crocker, 7 and 5
Blaze Akana def. Tyler Isono, 2 and 1
Matthew Ma def. Shawn Sakoda 5 and 4
WOMEN
Quarterfinals
Karissa Kilby def. Jolie Chee, 7 and 6
Kamie Hamada def. Lorraine Char, 4 and 3
Danielle Ujimori def. Chloe Jang, 4 and 3
Katrina Huang def. Rachael Wang, 20 holes
TODAY’S MATCHES
Open
Quarterfinals
Joshua Sedeno vs. Andy Okita, 7 a.m.
Evan Kawai vs. Kolbe Irei, 7:09 a.m.
Jeffrey Weinstein vs. Remington Hirano, 7:18 a.m.
Nick Ushijima vs. Zachary Sagayaga, 7:27 a.m.
Tyler Ota vs. Jeren Nishimoto, 7:36 a.m.
Justin Taparra vs. Justin Ngan, 7:45 a.m.
Peter Jung vs. Joshua Hayashida, 7:54 a.m.
Blaze Akana vs. Matthew Ma, 8:03 a.m.
WOMEN
Semifinals
Karissa Kilby vs. Kamie Hamada, 8:21 a.m.
Danielle Ujimori vs. Katrina Huang, 8:30 a.m.
