Dalen Yamauchi hadn’t been pushed to No. 18 at Oahu Country Club since Monday’s qualifying. He remembered enough about the hole Friday to get the par he needed to advance to the championship match at the Manoa Cup.
Yamauchi held off a furious rally to defeat Justin Williamson 1-up, advancing to face Tyler Ota in Saturday’s 36-hole final.
“It was tough. The whole tournament has been filled with so much pressure,” he said. “These guys are so good, you never know.”
Yamauchi is the third former UH-Hilo golfer to reach the final in the past four years of the state amateur match play championship, joining Nick Matsushima (2012) and Isaac Jaffurs (2014). He is trying to be the first to break through and also follow in the footsteps of Nainoa Calip and become the second consecutive Big Islander to win the event.
For much of the week, Yamauchi hasn’t had many peers in match play. Friday morning’s 5-and-4 victory against Sian Rogers was Yamauchi’s fourth consecutive victory by at least five shots.
“If you’re playing someone better, you still have chance,” Yamauchi said of the parity of match play. “If you’re better than your opponents, they can still come back.”
In windy conditions, the Waiakea graduate appeared well on his way to another easy win in the semifinals when he grabbed a three-shot lead by winning Nos. 9-11. But Williamson, a 17-year-old who is home-schooled, birdied three consecutive holes to tie the match on No. 15. A hole later, Yamauchi reclaimed the lead with his third birdie of the match, but Williamson knotted it again with a birdie of his own.
“A lot of it was momentum,” said Yamauchi, who shot the equivalent of 2-under. “He just made long putts.”
But not on No. 18, which Williamson three-putted for bogey. Yamauchi used a 7-iron to get to the front of the green and got up and down with a 3-foot putt.
Yamauchi’s only bogey during the quarterfinals came on his first hole, and he blew the match open with five birdies.
Ota reached the final with a pair of 3-and-2 victories Friday, beating Pj Samiere in the semis.
In the 2011 HHSAA tournament, Ota finished runner-up for Moanalua, seven shots ahead of Yamauchi. They tee off at 7 a.m. Saturday.
“We’ve played a lot in state junior golf and (high school). Tyler is a really nice guy,” Yamauchi said.
