The blueprint for Nainoa Calip remained the same. He made birdies to grab the lead, then he avoided bogeys like the plague.
The blueprint for Nainoa Calip remained the same. He made birdies to grab the lead, then he avoided bogeys like the plague.
Nobody at Oahu Country Club ever figured out a formula to stop him.
Calip defeated Isaac Jaffurs with five holes to spare Saturday, winning in his six straight match 6 and 5 to claim his first Manoa Cup.
The field of 95 golfers competing in oldest tournament in the state was pared to two players with Big Island connections for the scheduled 36-hole final.
Calip was a three-time Big Island Interscholastic Federation golf champion at Kamehameha, while Jaffurs played for the University of Hawaii at Hilo and is from Haleiwa, Oahu.
As had become his custom this week, Calip started strong out of the gates. He already was ahead by three shots after making his third birdie on No. 5. And he gave Jaffurs little room for error by bogeying only three of 31 holes contested to go along with seven birdies and an eagle.
He was particularly strong on par-5 holes, a playing them at 4-under in the final.
An eagle on the second set of 18 holes on the par-5 No. 2 increased Calip’s lead to 4-up. Jaffurs birdied the next par 5 and quickly made up two strokes to to pull within three shots, but Calip made birdie on Nos. 10 and 12 and earned points on four of five holes to go 6-up when Jaffurs bogeyed the par-5 13th to end the championship.
In his final 39 holes spanning two matches, Calip carded just four bogeys.