Tyler Ota mapped out a path to history back in March.

After Ota successfully defended his title in the Hawaii State Amateur Stroke Play Championship in the spring, he decided to research a surprising tidbit he’d heard from Hawaii Golf Hall of Famer Brandan Kop.

Kop mentioned that no player had paired the State Amateur and Manoa Cup titles in the same year, and after Ota compared the lists, “I texted my girlfriend and I was like, ‘I can maybe create history by winning Manoa Cup … that would be pretty cool.’ ”

History was indeed his when Ota took a refreshing plunge into Oahu Country Club’s pool on Saturday.

With his 7-and-5 victory over Evan Kawai in the 111th Manoa Cup’s 36-hole championship match, Ota joined an exclusive list while creating one of his own.

By completing the arduous six-day grind, Ota — the 2015 Manoa Cup champion — became the 18th player to claim multiple state amateur match-play titles and just the fifth in the past 33 years to earn membership in the club.

“It’s something really special,” Ota said. “We always try to peak for this week … everyone has this tournament on their calendar. I’ve been able to do it twice and just to have it all come together for one week, a long week too, it’s a very satisfying feeling.”

This year’s Manoa Cup swelled in significance for Ota after he ran away to a nine-shot win to retain the State Amateur title at Pearl Country Club in mid-March.

He opened his run at OCC last week by shooting a 64 in the qualifying round on Monday. After surviving six matches over the next five days he was the first player since David Fink in 2010 to go from qualifying medalist to champion of the Hawaii State Golf Association’s oldest and most prestigious event.

“Coming into this week I felt really good about my game — the only thing that had me worried was my putting,” said Ota, the four-time reigning HSGA player of the year.

“From the qualifying round I putted decent, struck it well enough to shoot 64. But I was just hoping I would get one round where the putter just went off. Unfortunately it didn’t, but the ball striking kept me in it throughout the week.”

After reaching the final for the first time since his 2015 victory, Ota never trailed in the title match against Kawai, a University of San Diego sophomore making his second appearance in the championship match in the past three years.

“It’s a lot harder to get here the second time, for sure. So I’m proud of myself and how I played this week,” Kawai said. “Obviously I wish I brought my game today like I’ve played throughout the week. Tyler played great and that’s how it went.

“You can always count on Tyler to play solid golf. He knows this place probably as good as anyone and he just played OCC how it’s supposed to be played.”

Ota was 1 up after nine holes and extended the lead at the par-3 11th after his chip for birdie hit the flagstick and stopped inches from the cup. He had a 4-up cushion after 18 holes, but knew better than to feel safe. Less than 24 hours earlier, he was 5 up with six holes to play against Maryknoll’s Peter Jung and eventually closed out the semifinal win in 20 holes.

“I had that experience, so it was in the back of my head, I’m not gonna lie,” Ota said, “just knowing I have to get the job done.”

He tightened his grip by winning two of the first three holes after the hour-long break and was dormie after making a 5-foot downhill putt for birdie on No. 12. A par after making the climb to the 13th green was enough to close out the match and give Ota a spot in Hawaii golf history.

“Whether it be the first match, the final match, the last 18 holes, whatever, I always just try to make as many pars as I can, just tire him out,” Ota said. “I always say if I play a match-play tournament and I make 18 pars and lose 1 down, I’m completely fine with that.”

After adding a second Manoa Cup title to his already lengthy list of achievements — and being tossed into the pool by Kop and fellow champions Joshua Sedeno, last year’s winner; Guy Yamamoto and Matthew Ma — Ota, 25, acknowledged the thought of turning professional “does cross my mind here and there.”

That said, “There’s still so much more I want to accomplish as an amateur. Be like a Guy Yamamoto and win a USGA event. I have my dream set on doing that and playing in the Masters like he did.”