Late Friday morning, the pieces were nearly in place for the first Manoa Cup championship rematch in the open division since 1927 — the tournament’s first years of match play. Reigning champion Josh Hayashida and returning runner-up Kihei Akina ended their quarterfinal matches early. Both just needed one more win to prompt a second 36-hole showdown at Oahu Country Club.
Hayashida was pushed to the brink by former UH-Manoa teammate Zach Sagayaga but escaped with a one-stroke advantage at the 18th hole to advance. Attention then turned to Akina.
He told the Star-Advertiser earlier in the week that a chance to rematch Hayashida in the final was motivation for him.
Enter Anson Cabello, the name placed adjacent to Hayashida in the championship section of the Hawaii State Golf Association’s bracket instead.
He also had a lot to be motivated by.
The UH-Manoa sophomore and Kamehameha-Maui alumnus lost to Akina in last year’s semifinals. And it wasn’t particularly close. Cabello never led in Akina’s 3-and-2 win and trailed for 15 of the 16 holes. They tied the first hole.
When Cabello finished 1 up in a highly competitive quarterfinal against UH-Manoa senior teammate Tyler Ogawa, he knew who was next.
“I got Kihei again,” Cabello said to friends during Friday’s hour lunch break.
This time around wasn’t any easier for Cabello, but he proved formidable.
Akina was 2 up through 11. And Cabello, again, had yet to impose a lead against the uber-talented BYU commit. Birdies at three of the next four holes suddenly enabled him to do just that — lead, albeit for only a few holes.
By the 18th, they were tied again, with Cabello staring at a pin-straight putt of about 10 feet.
Make it, and he extends the match. Miss it, and he falls back down to the base of his proverbial hump. Against a forceful headwind while on an upward slant, Cabello appeared unfazed.
“Any other day, it’s just a straight uphill putt,” Cabello said. “But, I mean, under pressure — if I don’t make that, the tournament’s over.”
He drained the putt for par, and for the sake of his championship hopes, which he nearly clinched from the rough of the first playoff hole. Both Akina and Cabello chipped shots from behind the green. Akina did well to set up a routine putt.
Cabello almost won the match outright with his shot, as the ball ricocheted off the pin, bouncing mere feet from the hole. He was right there, so close to victory.
His par-5 birdie putt at the second playoff hole put him over the top.
“Obviously, Kihei is one of the top (junior golfers) in the country and a really good player,” said UH-Manoa men’s golf coach Scott Simpson, who was in attendance. “So for Anson to match him shot by shot and to beat him was, I think, a huge deal.”
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