Winning the Manoa Cup the first time was tough.
Retaining the title required a historic effort for Peter Jung.
The Manoa Cup’s championship match went beyond the scheduled 36 holes for only the second time in the 113-year history of the state’s oldest golf tournament, as Jung and Kolbe Irei traded momentum swings throughout a Saturday duel at Oahu Country Club.
When Jung rolled in a 9-foot birdie putt to finally end the 38-hole match, he became the first player to claim back-to-back titles in the state amateur match-play championship since David Fink’s victories in 2010 and ’11.
“Even last year I knew the final match is never going to be easy,” Jung said. “But I’ll tell you what, I didn’t think it was going to be this hard. It was insane.
“I think this is the most fun I’ve had on a golf course.”
The champion’s traditional toss into the OCC pool was probably even more refreshing this time around after finishing off the first title match playoff since 1987 — some 8 hours and 20 minutes after Jung and Irei struck their opening tee shots at 7 a.m.
Irei was among those who helped with the toss, and although he came up short of taking the plunge himself, the Roosevelt graduate and UC Irvine junior came away buoyed by his rally from 4 down entering the second round to force extra holes in the final of the Hawaii State Golf Association’s most storied event.
“I’m definitely not disappointed about today’s round. I did pretty good to even come back, so I’m just taking it as a big step forward,” said Irei, who needed just 23 putts to get through the second 18 holes. “I’m taking this experience forward and hopefully it’ll help me in future tournaments.”
Jung’s past experience came in handy in finishing the weeklong endurance test with a second straight title. The Maryknoll graduate and Washington State sophomore recalled falling short in a 20-hole semifinal against 2019 champion Tyler Ota and needed a birdie on No. 18 to fend off Remington Hirano in the round of 16 on Wednesday in a rematch of his 3-and-2 win in last year’s final.
“Looking at the board right here, I’m really happy with the way I played this week,” Jung said, sitting beside the 64-player bracket displayed on the balcony outside the OCC pro shop.
“I’m just grateful to have an opportunity to play. And I really hope the younger guys coming up can have the same opportunity and experiences, because there’s a lot history behind this tournament and it’s pretty cool to win it twice.”
Jung birdied the opening hole of Saturday’s match and never trailed through the afternoon finish. He went 4 up when his birdie putt on the 14th hole circled the cup and dropped and held that margin going into the second 18 holes.
Irei reset his focus in the hourlong break between rounds after a bogey on No. 18 and played his next nine holes at 5 under.
“I let a couple of holes go in the first round and I went to the range and I found my swing,” he said.
Irei closed to 1 down after sticking his approach shot on No. 8 to 4 feet and setting up another birdie on the par-3 ninth hole with a tee shot that settled about 7 feet from the pin.
“I’m sure we played the front nine quick, because that guy was going nuclear,” Jung said.
Irei rolled in a lengthy birdie putt from the back of the 11th green and caught Jung on the 13th hole, drilling his second shot on the uphill par-5 within 10 feet of the flag. He then curled in the eagle putt while playing close to 4 feet of break on the slippery green.
“I had a bunch of adrenaline and I was hitting it on some holes 20 yards farther than I normally would,” said Irei. “I was sticking to my lines on all of my shots.”
Irei finally appeared to falter when the left-hander sliced his drive on No. 17 beyond the 18th tee box neighboring the green and into the No. 1 fairway. He scrambled to give himself a look at par and drained a 15-footer to keep the pressure on Jung, whose birdie putt to reclaim the lead lipped out.
Jung saw another potential winning birdie putt slide by the hole on No. 18 and Irei made his par to force a playoff a day after going 21 holes in his semifinal match with Luciano Conlan.
“(Jung) was kind of down about that one, but I just told him to keep his head in the game and play like the golfer he is,” said Zachary Sagayaga, who caddied for Jung on Saturday after falling to Conlan in 22 holes in the quarterfinals on Friday.
“His way of getting mad is just channeling all his talent and then letting it all out on one hole. That’s what he did on the last couple of holes.”
Jung and Irei both threatened the flagstick to match birdies on No. 1 and perhaps the decisive swing would come off the second tee. Irei’s drive sailed right, bounced off the cart path and into the tall grass. He found his ball and did well to punch out into the fairway, where Jung was lining up his second shot.
Jung’s 3-iron came up just short of the green and he chipped to 9 feet. Irei again scrambled, but this time missed his par putt and Jung, needing a two-putt to win, finished the job in one.
”Honestly, I don’t know if that even sunk in yet,” Jung said moments after the round. “I’m drained. It’s awesome to win, but to me, knowing I’m playing this well, it’s huge.”
