[MANOA CUP]

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Damien Victorino applied body English to a missed putt yesterday at the 11th hole of the Manoa Cup. Victorina beat Hee Beom Kim to earn a spot in today's final against Travis Toyama.

Toyama, Victorino
to meet for Cup

They go into the final with
momentum earned in the semis

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By Ryan Ito
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Golf is a game of swings. But not only in terms of a golf club. Momentum swings are just as important. And Damien Victorino and Travis Toyama can attest to that, as both used momentum swings to overcome first-round deficits to win their semifinal matches at the 2002 Manoa Cup.

Toyama, who is only 15, trailed Kurt Nino by one hole with 18 to play and used all the remaining holes of the second round to rally for the 1-up victory. And despite being down three holes to Hee Beom "Mike" Kim, Victorino used an almost flawless second round to gain the other spot in today's championship with a 3 and 2 victory.

"I played the second 18 well," said Victorino. "I think I hit only one bad shot and that was the second on the 14th hole in which I made a bogey. Other than that, it was the only bogey of the round so I played pretty solid.

"When I'm down, I just tell myself just don't give up. Hit the fairway and hit the green. And if I make a par and they beat me then, hey, they deserve (the win)."

This mentality helped Victorino swing a three-hole deficit into a one-hole lead. And according to Victorino, the start of the momentum shift began on the par-4 third.

"While he was 3-up, he hit a long birdie putt," recalled Victorino. "But I was able to cover him (halve the hole) and I was able to stay 3-down. If I fell 4-down, I'm not sure I would have been able to turn it around on the next four holes. If I missed that putt, it would have really been hard."

From that point, Victorino won four of the next six holes to finish the front nine with a one-hole lead.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Hae Beom Kim shot out of a bunker near the 16th hole in a Manoa Cup semifinal yesterday at the Oahu Country Club.

"It is like an ebb and flow," said Victorino. "When things are not going your way, it is hard to change the momentum. Like any other sporting event, things were not going his way and it started to snowball."

But Kim never gave in until the par-5 15th hole.

That is when Victorino practically closed the door on the match with an eagle putt from off the fringe.

"I knew he was right (and short of the green on his second shot)," said Victorino. "So I just wanted to get my second shot on. And when he had a long putt for par, I just wanted to two-putt it. So I was just trying to lag it down there and it just happened to go in. I really didn't need it, but that's the case a lot of time."

In the other semifinal, Toyama battle with Nino for the full 18 holes of the second round and closed out the match with a crazy finish on the par-4 18th. Toyama never led the match until the 16th and stood at the 18th tee with a one-hole lead. But Toyama's tee shot went left of the fairway and bounced off a tree and into the water.

That's when Toyama showed golf intellect beyond his years. Instead of taking a drop at the point of entry in the middle of a group of trees, or taking a drop on the other side of the water on a severe down slope, Toyama decided to hit from the tee box again. Nino then pulled his approach left of the green, leaving him a very difficult downhill chip.

"After I hit a good (second) drive and I saw him pull this second shot and I knew (Nino's lie) was a tough chip from where he was," Toyama said. "And so I wanted to put myself in a good position and I did."

Nino then chipped his ball over the green. Nino duffed his next shot well short of the hole, leaving him on the green with his fourth shot -- the same as Toyama.

"And after I saw his chip, my caddie and I said, 'OK two-putt,' " said Toyama. "Then on my second putt my caddie told me, 'OK, you are on your own.' "

The finals of the 2002 Manoa Cup will be held today at Oahu Country Club.

The first 18 holes begin at 7:00 a.m. with the course spruced up and in excellent shape.

"For the finals, we will be changing the hole locations, double cut and roll the greens, so it will be extremely quick. So putting will be a huge factor in the game tomorrow," said Andrew Feldmann, the Oahu Country Club professional.

"Typically, throughout the week, (groundskeeper) Curtis Kono tries to keep six easy hole locations, six medium hole locations and six difficult hole locations. But tomorrow, there will be a few classic hole locations (difficult pin placements). He'll make it a little trickier to get to for the players."