On the 14th green at Oahu Country Club, Raya Nakao stayed back to watch the pair behind her.
Minutes after the Punahou rising senior completed her semifinal match on the hole with a 6-and-4 win over Moanalua junior Mia Hirashima on Thursday, she hugged Kara Kaneshiro as the Kalani senior-to-be was walking off the putting surface, congratulating her on winning the other semifinal of the 113th Manoa Cup with a 5-and-4 win over George Fox University junior and Punahou graduate Alison Takamiya.
“We’re best friends off the course,” Kaneshiro said about her and Nakao.
The two have known each other for a while, having competed with each other since they played junior golf under Casey Nakama. Now two of the state’s top high school golfers, they’ll play each other in the women’s final of the Manoa Cup today.
This will be the third Hawaii State Golf Association event this year that Nakao and Kaneshiro will finish 1-2, with Kaneshiro winning the previous two events, the 59th Hawaii State Amateur and the Women’s Army Invitational. The pair also teamed up to win the 15th HSGA Four-Ball in February, and finished 1-2 in the HHSAA state championship back in May, when Nakao won by nine strokes.
“I’m excited for tomorrow. She’s really good competition,” Kaneshiro said about Nakao. “She’s been playing great this week.”
Nakao entered match play as the tournament’s top seed after recording a 9-under 64 in the qualifying round. Thursday’s semifinal was the first time Nakao trailed at any point in match play this week, when Hirashima won the second and third holes to go 1-up. Nakao won the next three holes to go 2-up and by the time the pair made the turn at 10, the 16-year-old Nakao was 4-up.
“In match play, it’s always like you’re playing against the other person, but I’ve just been trying to play my own game and stay within myself,” Nakao said. “Coach Anna (Murata) has been able to help me out with that a lot.”
Murata, the girls golf coach at Punahou, has been serving as Nakao’s caddie for the tournament.
“Her tips and all her help has really made everything a lot easier for me,” Nakao added. “I have a lot of trust in her, so I just execute what she tells me to do.”
Kaneshiro earned the second seed in the tournament behind Nakao with a 6-under 67 in the qualifying round. The 17-year-old has not trailed at any point in match play, although her rounds have been closer than Nakao’s, winning 2 and 1 in the opening round and 3 and 2 in the quarterfinal.
Thursday’s semifinal was different, as Kaneshiro eagled the first hole to go 1-up on Takamiya before birdieing five of the next eight holes to create a four-hole lead entering the back nine. Takamiya won the 11th hole to cut the deficit to three before Kaneshiro won the last two holes to clinch her spot in the final.
“It went pretty well,” Kaneshiro said about her Thursday performance. “I just focused on my own game today and didn’t really worry what was happening around me.”
When it comes to factors for winning against each other and earning a toss into the OCC pool today, the two golfers kept it simple.
“I just gotta do the same thing I’ve been doing every other day; just play within myself,” Nakao said. “We’ll see how I go.”
“Just hitting the ball straight and putting myself in the right position tomorrow,” Kaneshiro said. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to make some putts.”
On the men’s side, last year’s champion Peter Jung will face the other remaining Manoa Cup champion in the field, 2017 winner Andy Okita, in a quarterfinal match today at 7:09 a.m. Jung advanced with a 1-up win over Remington Hirano on Thursday, birdieing the 18th hole after Hirano overcame a four-hole deficit on the back nine in a rematch of last year’s final.
Okita himself came back from five down to win on the first playoff hole over Adam Quandt in his match on Thursday.
University of Hawaii sophomore Tyler Ogawa defeated Keanu Akina over 19 holes on Thursday and will face Marshall Kim at 7:19 a.m. today. UH senior Zachary Sagayaga will play Luciano Conlan at 7:27 a.m., while Kamehameha senior Anson Cabello will play third-seeded Kolbe Irei at 7:36 a.m.
