Koshi claims OCC Men's Invitational

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

By the time Ryan Koshi finally missed a putt, the 39th annual Oahu Country Club Men's Invitational was over.

Ryan Koshi, who had five birdies on the back nine yesterday, had 14 birdies and one eagle in the tournament. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Del-Marc Fujita (72) easily snagged third, but was seven behind Koshi. There were 15 birdies in the final group yesterday —Êseven apiece by Rego and Koshi and one from Fujita.

"They were putting at a bigger hole," Fujita joked.

Their birdies in bunches gave the final day its drama.

Koshi, a porter at a Maui airport, drained five birdie putts on the back nine where the tournament started yesterday morning. In a prelude of good things to come, his approach to the first green rammed Rego's ball; Koshi's shot ended up closer to the hole.

He birdied that and the next hole while Rego, a UNLV junior, was bogeying two of the first three. But Koshi hit OB on the 15th and the ensuing double bogey kept it interesting. Both birdied Nos. 16 and 17. Koshi made it three straight on the 18th, which Rego bogeyed to fall four back.

"I was hitting my shots pretty close and the long putts I was lagging pretty good," Koshi said. "It wasn't too bad."

That relatively large gap remained until Rego put his game into desperation gear.

"I have no clue what changed," he said. "I just thought 'I need to try and catch this guy.' I had to do something. If he made pars and I made birdies I could chip away, but I didn't end up going anywhere."

Todd Rego, a UNLV junior, reacts after missing a birdie putt on the seventh green. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

That putt and the next two holes clinched the tournament for Koshi.

"I was thinking just make pars and try to get in," he recalled. "If Todd made birdies, what can I do? I was just trying to par in."

On the par-3 seventh, he missed the green and chipped seven feet by. Rego put his drive eight feet right of the hole but, with visions of catching Koshi dancing in his head, missed the birdie putt. Koshi's par putt fell into the heart of the hole to keep his cushion at two.

He one-putted again for par on the next hole. Rego, fooled by the slope and speed of the green, three-putted for bogey.

"I knew it was over, already," Rego said with a shrug. "He made big putts on 6, 7 and 8 and that was pretty much it."

Koshi, who turns 24 on Sunday, won the Manoa Cup last year at OCC. He has made peace with the treacherous greens that terrorize most golfers. His only three-putt in three days came on the final hole. By then, it didn't matter.

He had 14 birdies and an eagle in the tournament. Even Rego, who doesn't take his clubs to college, let alone play for the Rebels, couldn't keep up with that in his summer of golf immersion.

The 2000 St. Louis graduate won last year's Army-Hawai'i Invitational by one-putting 11 times in the final round. He didn't know how he did it then and he still has no idea how he succeeds while playing less than half the year.

"I start practicing every summer and see what I can do," Rego said. "When I'm playing in the lead group on the last day that's always better than my expectations."

SHORT PUTTS: Kop Distributors won the 36-hole team championship, shooting 284-302—586. The best four-of-five scores counted Thursday and Friday. Team members were Brandan Kop, Wendell Kop, Clayton Gomi, Joe Phengsavath and Ryan Koshi. Pinnacle Contracting was second at 602. ... Larry Stubblefield (1996, '92 and '82), Casey Nakama (1983-'85) and Allan Yamamoto (1976, '75 and '64) have won this tournament three times. Only Owen Douglass (1972, '71, '69, '68 and '65) has won it more. ... Walter Morgan, a three-time winner on the Senior PGA Tour, was the 1977 OCC champion. Morgan, who was stationed here, did not go pro until turning 50 in 1991. ... Ryan Koshi won a $500 merchandise certificate.