Toyama claims second Cup title
By Brian McInnis
Advertiser Staff Writer
With the way Travis Toyama's game kept rolling along in yesterday's 97th Manoa Cup final, it was fitting his ball found a way to roll into the hole for the match-clinching eagle pitch shot.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The 18-year-old from Kane'ohe put on a commanding performance at Oahu Country Club, defeating Hilo's Jacob Low, 5 and 4, to return to the glory — and traditional toss into the club's pool — he earned with his first Manoa Cup championship in 2002.
Travis Toyama beat Jacob Low, 5 and 4, in the 97th Manoa Cup final. Toyama also won in 2002.
Toyama won this one in style, too, sinking a pitch shot from just over 60 yards for an eagle-2 on the 32nd hole (par-4 14th).
After the match was tied through 18 holes in the 36-hole format, Toyama, a University of Hawai'i sophomore, upped the ante in the second trip around the hilly course by shooting 4-under on the front nine. By the 27th hole he was 4-up.
"I just wanted to take an early lead so I could sit back and make pars, and make (Low) make the birdies," Toyama said. "It's hard to catch up if someone else is playing steady golf."
The tactic seemed to be working, and when neither could win Nos. 28 through 31, Low was running out of holes.
Then, on the 32nd hole, Toyama dropped his dagger shot. He drew gasps and applause from those in attendance when his ball dropped on the green about 12 feet from the pin, rolled up the gentle incline, hovered, and fell into the cup.
"When he hit it that close, I was like, I should take off my hat already and concede," said Low, 17, a 2005 Hilo High graduate. "But then it went in. What a way to finish in style."
Things seemed to be falling in place even before Toyama's dramatic shot.
Five holes earlier, Low drained a birdie as he appeared to gain some momentum right before the turn. Toyama chipped for a birdie attempt from 35 feet, but the green angled downward to the hole. Thinking he had missed and his ball had rolled well beyond the cup, Toyama tossed his cap to the ground in disgust — only to walk up and find his ball had gone in.
"(Toyama) played a great round out there," Low said. "What can I do? This guy's making eagles and birdies ... jeez! But, it was a great tournament."
Of course, not only winners are restricted to getting thrown in the pool. Low ended up getting soaked as well, once Toyama had already been dunked.
Toyama ended up shooting 7-under during the second 18 holes before the match ended on the 14th.
"I actually wanted to head back out there and see what I'd shoot (on the last four)," Toyama said with a smile.
He might have to get used to getting tossed into OCC's pool more often. He is the 16th person to win multiple Manoa Cup titles. Francis II Brown's nine victories stands as the record.
"It's an amazing feat to win once," said Modesto Gaborno, OCC president. "It is a major accomplishment to win twice."
By following up his victory at the Coral Creek Classic last week with his second Manoa Cup title in four years, Toyama seems primed to continue his run of amateur victories.
As for next year's tournament, Toyama — the "old man" of the four Cup semifinalists at 18 — said the recent influx of younger golfers dominating Hawai'i's amateur scene will be enough motivation to keep him sharp.
He knows all too well the trend of junior golfers rising up to successfully challenge their elders in match play at the Manoa Cup. Toyama's victory in 2002, when he was 15, made him the youngest winner in the tournament's history.
And after hiking up and down the Nu'uanu Valley layout to play 151 holes in six days, there's just one thing left he needs to do to prepare for next year's challenge.
"Get in shape," Toyama said with a laugh. "Getting up those hills is getting tiring."
Reach Brian McInnis at bmcinnis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8040.
