Kellie Yamane’s week at Oahu Country Club has been improbable, but the ‘Iolani graduate and Hawaii Pacific sophomore still remains in contention for the Manoa Cup entering today’s semifinal matches.
The 19-year-old Yamane won her quarterfinal round match against Punahou’s Sydney Fuke 6 and 5 on Wednesday and will face Punahou’s Alexa Takai in the semifinals today at 8:12 a.m. after Takai’s 4-and-3 win over Mililani’s Mariko Yonemura.
After narrowly making the field for the match-play championship with a two-hole playoff win on Monday, the 16th-seeded Yamane upset top-seed and defending Manoa Cup champion Raya Nakao on Tuesday in her opening match.
In the other semifinal match of the Women’s Division, Punahou graduate and FIU sophomore Karissa Kilby will face Roosevelt graduate and Utah Valley signee Chloe Jang at 8:21 a.m. Kilby, the 2019 Manoa Cup runner-up, defeated Kahuku’s Ava Cepeda 3 and 2 while Jang defeated the OIA champion, Kalani graduate and Colorado State signee Kara Kaneshiro 2 and 1 on Wednesday.
In the Open Division, 29th-seeded Derek Chinen upset fourth-seeded Kamehameha graduate and University of Hawaii sophomore Blaze Akana 2 and 1 to advance to today’s quarterfinal round. Chinen will play Katsuhiro Yamashita at 7:18 a.m. The HHSAA state champion, ‘Iolani graduate and UH signee Dane Watanabe, will play Punahou graduate and University of San Diego senior Evan Kawai at 7:36 a.m.
The Open Division’s two-time defending champion, Maryknoll graduate and Washington State sophomore Peter Jung, also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 5-and-3 win over Robert Kim. Jung will play UH sophomore James Whitworth at 7 a.m.
Yamane showed no sign of losing her momentum Wednesday.
“I feel like my game is in really good shape right now,” she said. “When I was on the range, I was hitting the ball really good and I felt kind of confident going into today.”
Yamane had a range of emotions facing Fuke on Wednesday, “because she played really good the past few days,” she said. “I was nervous going in, but I was excited to see what happened out there.”
Yamane won four of the first five holes before Fuke won the sixth hole with a birdie. Yamane won the seventh and eighth holes to go 5 up. She closed it out with a birdie on No. 13.
“I was just trying to play it hole by hole,” Yamane said. “Even if I was up, I wasn’t trying to think about it. I was just trying to focus on the next shot ahead so it wouldn’t get into my head and I wouldn’t mess up because I thought I had such a big lead already.”
Yamane admits that she did previously get into her head a lot and match play was harder for her as a result, but worked on the mental aspect and improving her self-confidence during this past season at HPU.
“I didn’t play the best that I wanted to play during the season, but I feel like I made a lot of progress while I had my season,” she said. “I think it really helped me be more confident out on the course.”
The increase in self-confidence is arguably why Yamane is still playing in the tournament.
This is Yamane’s third Manoa Cup, and in her previous two appearances, she was eliminated both times in her opening match. In her opening match on Tuesday, she trailed Nakao by three holes with seven to play.
“I feel like in the prior years, I kind of gave up a little bit because I was so down,” Yamane said. “But (this year) I feel like I knew that I could do it, so I didn’t give up no matter what.”
Yamane erased her three-hole deficit by winning holes 12-14 before Nakao won the 15th. After the two tied on the 16th hole, Yamane won the 17th with a par to tie the match again. On the 18th green, Yamane made a 10-foot putt for birdie to win the hole and advance to the quarterfinals.
“I was really nervous when I was about to putt it because I knew that was to win,” Yamane said. “But my caddie (Todd Rego), he told me, ‘Don’t be nervous’ and to just put a good stroke on it.”
“I was just in shock because I knew that I would have to fight really hard yesterday to win the match and the whole day, there was not a point where I was up in the match until the very end.”
Yamane also battled in her qualifying round on Monday after her 4-over 77 in the round put her in a three-way tie for the final spot in the field with Punahou’s Madison Kuratani and Kahuku’s Mia Cepeda.
“Two of us made a five and one made a six (on the first playoff hole),” Yamane said. “We went to the next hole, and I hit my drive into the center. My second shot, I had a really good 3-wood onto the green and then I two-putted to win the playoff hole.”
Since the Women’s Division of the tournament expanded to 16 players in 2017, only one previous 16-seed advanced to the quarterfinals. Yamane’s win Wednesday made her the first 16-seed to get to the semifinals.
“My goal this year was just to make it past the first match because I’ve never done it before,” Yamane said. “I’m really happy that I won these last two and I’m excited to see what happens.”
