LIHU‘E — It was all set up to be an amazing repeat performance by one of the state’s top young golfers as Kaua‘i’s TJ Kua eyed his second straight Manoa Cup championship, Saturday at the O‘ahu Country Club. He put
LIHU‘E — It was all set up to be an amazing repeat performance by one of the state’s top young golfers as Kaua‘i’s TJ Kua eyed his second straight Manoa Cup championship, Saturday at the O‘ahu Country Club.
He put himself in position to be the first champion to defend their crown since four-time champion Brandan Kop took first in 1997 and 1998. Having had the most high-profile run through the event — first knocking off last year’s finalist, Kaua‘i’s Layne Morita, in the first round, then beating Punahou’s Alina Ching, who had made history as the furthest-advancing female player in the Cup’s history — a championship seemed a fitting end.
But finalist David Fink, a 19-year-old fellow left-hander from Kailua, began to write his own story from the very first tee.
Fink, the No. 2 seed in the event behind Kua’s automatic No. 1 slot, birdied the first three holes of the morning as Kua parred each, then took advantage of Kua’s bogey on the fourth to go 4-up.
That start sent Fink on his way to an electric first 18 holes, firing a 6-under par 65 that included eight birdies.
Kua gave nothing away, shooting an even-par 71, but found himself 5 down heading into the afternoon’s round.
The 36-hole championship format gave Kua a chance to get back into the match, though it would take a phenomenal effort to overcome such a deficit against a player so locked in.
The second round started as the first did, with Fink winning the opening hole after a Kua bogey to go 6-up. After Kua won the third hole, Fink applied even more pressure by winning the fourth and fifth holes, birdieing No. 5, to move to 7-up with 13 holes to play.
Kua birdied the sixth to get back within six, but bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9 allowed Fink to take an 8-up advantage with just the back nine to play.
It looked like the day would end on No. 10, as Fink fired his tee shot short of the green-side bunker on the par-4, 257-yard hole. He then chipped in for an eagle.
Not to be outdone, Kua kept the match alive by driving the green and then chipping in for an eagle of his own.
The two players shared a laugh and gave each other a big hug on the green, the friends each showing good sportsmanship, opponents in name only.
The tournament came to a close on the following hole, as each player parred the 198-yard 11th hole, giving Fink the 8 & 7 victory and the 102nd Manoa Cup championship.
Through the 11 holes of the second round, Fink was at a 2-under 40, while Kua had a 1-over 43.
Fink is a member of the Oregon State University golf team, though he redshirted this past season, his freshman year. He came into the program as a three-time All-State honoree at ‘Iolani.
He won the 2007 Aloha Sectional PGA Championship, the 2008 HSJGA Match Play Championship, the 2008 King Auto Hawai‘i State Championship and took second at the 2008 O‘ahu Country Club Men’s Invitational, all before finishing second at last year’s HHSAA Golf Championship.
Kua was one of the top performers all season for the University of Hawai‘i Rainbow golf team.
