[ THE MANOA CUP ]
Shannon Tanouye teed off at the eighth hole yesterday during his 5-and-3 victory over Damien Victorino.
Perez, Tanoue tee it up
The two friends square off
for the Manoa Cup title in
a 36-hole final
Featuring a physical endurance test rare to the sport, and March Madness-like brackets, the Manoa Cup isn't your typical golf tournament. The state amateur match-play championship is a parade of paradoxes.
It's a tradition-dripping 96-year-old event that attracts a pack of teens each year -- a growing group of young guns from which the winner sometimes arises.
It's contested at Oahu Country Club, one of the state's most beautiful courses -- but the conditions get ugly fast when the wind and rain come hurtling down the Pali, making par an unlikely achievement for even the best.
When Ryan Perez and Shannon Tanoue tee it up this morning, though, that will all be window dressing. For them, regardless of history or conditions, or even legs sore from a week of hoofing the Nuuanu hills, this final comes down to two friends enjoying a round. Actually, two rounds -- the final, like yesterday's semifinals, is scheduled for 36 holes.
As for the Cup, both say it will go to the golfer who stays steady.
"The one who makes the least mistakes will win," Perez said. "And once a mistake is made, you have to jump on it and take advantage."
Match play rewards the killer instinct, and Perez and Tanoue both showed plenty yesterday in dominating their semifinals, both against former champions.
There was little drama, as Perez knocked off 2000 champion Randy Shibuya, 6 and 5. Minutes later on the 15th hole, Tanoue closed out 1996 winner Damien Victorino, 5 and 3.
Ryan Perez watched his tee shot at the 10th hole en route to his 6-and-5 victory over Randy Shibuya yesterday.
Tanoue, 25, won the first four holes, and Victorino never got closer on the first 18 holes. It wasn't like Tanoue got out to a blazing start; he bogeyed No. 1, but Victorino three-putted. It started a trend.
"It was taking advantage of his mistakes. He hit to the wrong places and was getting some bad breaks. I was just lucky," Tanoue said.
"After I got the big lead, I just played for the middle of the green and played for pars. Let him get birdies."
But there weren't any to be had for the Kauai landscaper.
"Five down after seven. That makes it very tough to come back," Victorino said. "He's a solid player. Once he took the lead he didn't make any mistakes."
Tanoue, who beat four-time champion Brandan Kop in Wednesday's third round, widened the lead to seven on the 21st hole. Victorino surged back a little, but it was over when his 30-footer on No. 15 didn't break as he expected.
The Perez and Shibuya match was closer early on, and Shibuya, 29, was 1-up after 11 holes. But Perez won four holes on the first back nine to go 2-up at the midway point. The state high school boys' runner-up from Moanalua won the first hole after lunch with a birdie.
"That was a real confidence booster," he said. "I felt strong after that."
Perez took four of the last five holes to end it. A 12-foot putt on No. 9 began the closing run.
"I thought we were going to halve, but then he missed his putt. After that I had four one-putts," Perez said. "On the 13th I hit the shot of my life. Through the trees and up the bunker slope to leave myself a 2-footer (for a birdie on the 438-yard par 5)."
Shannon Tanouye reacted to a missed putt on the seventh hole in his match against Damien Victorino yesterday.
Tanoue and Perez both said they enjoy playing with each other. The last time they did so, it was more fun for Perez. It was Monday in the qualifying round, when Perez fashioned a 1-under 70 and Tanoue limped in with a 78 that made him the 47th seed.
"We played the back nine first, and I was 1 under at the turn, keeping up with him," Tanoue said. "Then he kicked my (butt)."
Little did they know they'd be playing for the championship in five days. Sometime this afternoon, a first-time Manoa Cup winner will be crowned for the sixth year in a row.
Tanoue's 14-year-old cousin, Stephanie Kono, is a much-better known golfer to the Hawaii general public. Tanoue said he won't play with her, for fear she will out-drive him.
Kono, in the gallery yesterday, laughed when told of that.
"He hits the ball farther than me, he did today," said Kono, who won the women's state match-play championship when she was 11. "He has a good chance of winning. He just has to keep doing what he's doing."
Tanoue said he's enjoying his Manoa Cup run ... even though it means another long walk today.
"I just come out here and play my golf game," he said. "I love this. It's a lot more fun than stroke play. Every hole is like a new game.
"But man, these legs are old already."
