The luck of the draw matched Shon Katahira with former Waiakea teammate Trevor Hirata during the qualifying round of the 108th Manoa Cup.
The luck of the draw matched Shon Katahira with former Waiakea teammate Trevor Hirata during the qualifying round of the 108th Manoa Cup.
Feeling good with his surroundings and with accommodating greens at Oahu Country Club, Katahira’s talent took over from there. The Waiakea senior tied for the best round Monday with a 2-under 69 and claimed the second seed at the state amateur match play championship in Honolulu.
“I felt like a pieced together some strong putting and was pretty on point,” Katahira said. “Playing with Trevor, I was comfortable.”
All five players from Hilo in the field advanced, and it was a strong day for Waiakea golfers past, present and future.
Katahira advanced to match play at Hawaii’s oldest tournament for the fourth time in as many tries, but the 69 was his finest round at a Manoa Cup. He already was rolling along with two birdies and two bogeys on his scorecard when he finished with a flash, making birdies on Nos. 17 and 18.
“That really made me confident, and I feel like I can build off that in match play,” Katahira said. “I don’t treat match play and different than stroke play. I just try to make quality shots.”
He’ll face Honolulu’s Bobby Luo, who shot 82, in the round of 64 on Tuesday. The top seed went to defending champion Tyler Oda, who drew a bye.
Dalen Yamauchi, last year’s runner-up and a Waiakea graduate, shot a 71 that could have been even better if not for an eventful 14th hole, a par 4, that saw him hit out of bounds and take a triple-bogey. Yamauchi made his fifth birdie on 18 to get back to even-par. He faces Colby Gunderson (81) of Kaneohe, Oahu, in match play.
“Stroke play is about getting a feel for the course,” said Yamauchi, a UH-Hilo alum. “Anybody I play in a match is going to be a pretty tough golfer.”
Nick Matsushima, Yamauchi’s former Vulcans teammate, shot a 70. Matsushima, a Honolulu native, was the 2012 Manoa runner-up.
Hirata, a recent Waiakea graduate and the three-time defending BIIF champion, carded a 77 after making three consecutive bogeys on the back nine to finish in the middle of the pack. His foe Tuesday, Raymond Tendo of Maui, shot 76.
Preston Ching, a recent Kamehameha graduate, shot 78, and one of the youngest golfers in the field, Waiakea freshman Isaiah Kanno, carded a 79. Kanno made his only birdie on par-4 No. 12.
Ching draws Andy Okita (75) of Mililani, Oahu, in match play, while Kanno gets Matthew Ma (73) of Aiea, Oahu. Ma won the event in 2012.
Former UH-Hilo golfer Isaac Jaffurs, the 2014 runner-up, also shot 79 to advance.