When Kyosuke Hara and Kyle Suppa were born, the Francis Hyde I’i Brown Four-Ball Match Play Championship was already 48 years old. Even then, one of Hawaii’s oldest golf tournaments had seen no one like Tyler Ota — "one" being the operative word.

Left to his own devices when partner Rudy Cabalar had to leave for the state high school championship on Kauai, Ota won the 61st Brown Four-Ball on Sunday by himself. He beat a precocious team of 13-year-olds with no fear and no idea they were being schooled in Hawaii golf history.

The four-ball format uses the best score from each team for each hole in a match-play format against another two-person team. No one can remember a lone golfer winning a match in this tournament, let alone in the final.

Cabalar, the 2010 state high school champion, thought his Campbell High team wasn’t leaving for Kauai until Monday. After he and Ota qualified April 28, he found out differently.

Cabalar broke it to Ota, a two-time OIA champ who was second in the state last year as a Moanalua senior.

"I thought, ‘Oh no,’ " Ota recalled. "’OK, well, if we get all the way and I win I’m just going to take your half of the gift certificate.’ I told him that."

Ota is now the proud owner of two $125 Roger Dunn gift certificates, with Cabalar’s thanks and pretty much every golfer’s awe.

Ota threw a 4-under-par 66 at his 13-year-old opponents in the morning round of the 36-hole final at Ala Wai, opening a 4-up advantage. Inspired by a rare practice session on the range early Saturday morning, he reached all three par-5s in two, eagling the first and barely missing two more.

The eighth-graders — Hara is at Kaimuki Middle and headed to Moanalua and Suppa at Punahou — chiseled away in the afternoon. Their deficit was only one when Ota drove into the bushes and had to concede the 35th hole.

"I expected them to do that," Ota said. "In the first round they didn’t make putts I thought they would make. In the second round they started dropping. I thought thank God for that early round. I expected them to make those putts all day, so when it came I was ready for it."

He was also ready for the 18th, after avoiding a branch and hitting his approach shot to the green.

"I had good vibes going in because in the morning I stuck it to about 6 feet and made the putt to go 4-up," said Ota, who won Four-Ball two years ago with Menehune teammate Seungjae Maeng. "That kept me calm."

Suppa and Hara, who needed an extra hole to beat Mark Takahama and Shannon Tanoue in a semifinal, were apparently too young to be nervous. They played the back nine in 3 under to put the pressure on and never even blinked.

"Their future is looking good," Ota said. "They were grinding. They didn’t let anything bother them. They had nerves of steel, they were going for everything.

"I felt very old. It was the first time I went in to play the young guys. Usually I’m the young guy. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I lost because I was playing one ball against their two. Still, there were some moments where I wish Rudy was there to lean on."

Cabalar had been making the big shots in early matches after Ota led the way in qualifying. But Cabalar wasn’t even on the same island when Ota finally clinched it. Ota called it his second-biggest win, after the second OIA championship. The unique victory might also be what it takes to get him into college golf.

"I’m at Kapiolani Community College now. I wanted to take my first year off," he said. "It helped me a lot. I didn’t want to get burned out on golf too quickly. I get to practice on my own time, when I want to. I’m looking to transfer to UH-Hilo. I hope I can. I’m about 99 percent sure I’m going in the fall."

At least there he will have built-in teammates, and not have to fight off 13-year-olds.

Neal Shinagawa and Bino Barrientos won the A Flight, 6 and 5 over Robert Rabago and Randy Tamashiro. Elmer Tadly and Wes Anderson won the last two holes to capture B Flight, 4 and 3 over Jon Shirafuji and Wade Takahashi.