AROUND THE GREENS
Asao back to defend his crown at 96th edition of Manoa Cup

By Bill Kwon

Kellen-Floyd Asao, left, and his father Norman dried off following the celebratory plunge after Kellen-Floyd captured the Manoa Cup championship last year. Asao won last year's tournament on his 20th birthday. Advertiser library photo • June 7, 2003 96th annual Manoa Cup WHAT: Hawai'i state amateur match play golf championship WHERE: Oahu Country Club WHEN: Monday—Qualifying off first and 10th tees from 7 a.m. Tuesday—7 a.m. first round, 11 a.m. second round. Wednesday—7 a.m. third round. June 10—7 a.m. quarterfinals. June 11—7 a.m. semifinals (36 holes). June 12—7 a.m. championship (36 holes). TOP SEED: Defending champion Kellen-Floyd Asao ADMISSION: Free

The format for the Manoa Cup — or the Hawaiian Amateur Golf Championship, if you want to be stuffily precise — calls for four 18-hole matches and 36-hole semifinals and final over a stretch of five consecutive days at the hilly Oahu Country Club.

You're talking 144 holes of golf, not counting the 18-hole qualifying round, if all the matches go the distance. And you've got to walk the golf course. (Caddies may use a golf cart).

No wonder the younger legs have dominated the event in recent years:

• Asao, a University of Hawai'i junior, won it last year on his 20th birthday.
• In 2002, Travis Toyama, then a University High sophomore, became the youngest champion at the age of 15.
• Ryan Koshi in 2001 and Randy Shibuya in 2000 were in their early 20s when they won.
• Shane Hoshino was a student at Hawai'i-Hilo when he spoiled Brandan Kop's bid for a three-peat in 1999.

"They're getting better and better," Kop said of the young guns, "and the course is getting longer and longer for us old guys."

The young players are bombing their drives today and the par-71 OCC layout with three driveable par-4 holes (Nos. 5, 10 and 17) make it a fun course for them to take chances, according to Asao, who lost in the finals to Koshi three years ago.

A four-time champion, Kop is the last winner older than 22 when he successfully defended his title in 1998 at age 37. He joins former champions Guy Yamamoto, Damien Victorino and Randy Shibuya in this year's field.

Toyama is committed to a junior golf tournament but last year's finalist, Damien junior Kurt Nino, is entered. So are Moanalua senior Ryan Perez, who lost the state high school title to Nino in a playoff last month, and O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion Alvin Okada of Waianae.

The low 63 players after Monday's qualifying will join the top-seeded Asao when match play starts with the opening two rounds Tuesday.

A couple of subtle schedule changes have made the Manoa Cup more difficult for the older guys as well, according to Kop.

Until 1999, the finalists had a day's rest, playing on Sunday after Friday's 36-hole semifinals. Now it's back-to-back 36-hole days.

Also that year, the Manoa Cup was moved up a month earlier from its usual July date. June fits well for the younger players who are peaking, having fine-tuned their game right after their prep and collegiate seasons.

So you can't blame the old guys for pining about the good ol' days.

The Manoa Cup has had more than its share of memories over the years since it began in 1907. To put it in perspective, only the British Open and U.S. Open predate the Manoa Cup among golf's four majors.

Although played at the Nu'uanu Valley country club, the tournament was called the Manoa Cup because many members of the old Manoa Golf Club — yes, there was a nine-hole course in Manoa Valley — became charter members of the Oahu Country Club when their course closed.

Alternating between OCC and the then-new Waialae Country Club in the late 1920s and 1930s, the Manoa Cup has been played every year since except for 1942-43 when Hawai'i was under martial law because of World War II.

It returned to the local golf scene in 1944 with OCC as the permanent site and with match play as the format after its early years as a stroke-play event.

"You play the same course, the same holes. History and tradition make it so much special," Kop said.

Many former champions went on to be members of the Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame, including Francis Brown, a nine-time winner; and multiple winners Charlie Chung, Jimmy Ukauka, Arthur Armstrong, Charles Makaiwa, George Nahale Sr., Owen Douglass and Ken Miyaoka, whose six victories rank second only to Brown.

For the record, Henry Naki's 11 and 10 runaway over Frank Sanchez in 1976 is the most one-sided margin of victory in the tournament's history, surpassing Arthur Armstrong's 10 and 9 triumph in 1953 over Danny Kop, Brandan's father.

And the last two holes in one recorded in Manoa Cup play were made by Brandan Kop — on the fourth hole in the 1999 semifinals and the ninth hole in the quarterfinals the following year.

"I lost the next day both times," said Kop, who won't be too unhappy if he doesn't get an ace next week.

Asao's double-eagle at the par-5 second hole during the qualifying round highlighted last year's Manoa Cup as he went on to beat Nino, 8 and 7.

However, the greatest shot in Manoa Cup history still remains Al Souza's double-eagle at the uphill 13th hole when he holed out a 2-iron from 225 yards out in the 1980 finals against Miyaoka.

Who knows what history will be made in next week's 96th Manoa Cup.

Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.