WAIKOLOA — Hawaii entered the 9th annual Asia Pacific Cup looking to rebound from a lopsided 2014 loss to Japan.
Last year, the Japanese junior golfers ran away with the title in the Ryder Cup-style competition, capturing 12 of the 16 available points on the final day to defeat Hawaii 25.5 to 6.5.
This year, the competition would be much closer, but Japan would escape the third day with a three point victory, beating the golfers from the Aloha State 17.5 to 14.5.
“The competition for Hawaii is really stiff if you consider how many kids from Japan are vying for a position in this tournament,” tournament director Karen Murray Boston said. “This year the play has been amazing and the competition was really tight.”
The Asia Pacific Cup is comprised of 16 golfers from Hawaii and 16 from Japan, who are selected through a series of qualifying tournaments. In Japan, over 7,000 junior golfers battle for a chance to come to Hawaii to represent their country.
While the competition is stiff, it is also a friendly one, with players often keeping in contact well after the tournament is over.
“The junior golfers that come to this event build life long friendships,” Murray Boston said. “The kids stay in touch through social media, and hopefully as they continue to grow and go to college, they have have a chance to play with each other again.”
The Asia Pacific Cup takes place over three days. The first two days consist of 2-on-2 team match play, while the final day is individual match play.
Hawaii took a 4.5 to 3.5 lead after the first day on Sunday. However, on the second day Japan made its move, winning five of the eight matches to go up 9 to 7.
Though they came up on the losing side on Day 3, Hawaii managed to avoid the collapse that hurt the team in 2014 and had some very close matches that could have easily went either way.
Three of the final 16 holes on the final day of the tournament ended in a tie, while seven other matches were decided on the final hole.
Hawaii picked up wins on the third day from Kyosuke Hara, Malia Nam, Justin Williamson, Justin Arcano, Kengo Aoshima and Matthew Shen. Hara, Nam and Williamson also competed in the Asia Pacific Cup last year.
Hara had a one hole lead heading to the 13th tee box, and then went par, birdie, par, birdie to take his match over Japan’s Takumi Kanaya by three holes with two holes to play.
Williamson jumped out to a three hole lead after putting out on the sixth green against Japan’s Tatsuya Hookabe. Hookabe won the next two holes but Williamson gained the lead back with a pair of pars to start the back nine. Hookabe took two of the next three holes. On the par-5 16th hole, both players struggled, but Williamson managed to escape with a bogey, taking the hole by one stroke and the match.
It would take all 18 holes to decide Nam’s fate on the final day of the competition. She entered the back-9 with a one hole lead and then made par on 11 and 12 to go up by three. Matsubara battled back, winning two of the next three holes. Down by two heading to the 17th hole, Matsubara edged out Nam with a birdie to keep the match alive. However, Nam birdied the 18th while Matsubara had to settle for par. Nam won 2 up.
Sayaka Takahashi, Kodera Daisuke, Rio Ishii, Ayari Kohda, Amu Hiratsuka and Gaku Tsukamoto all won on Day 3 for Japan. Filling out the Japanese team were Yu Osawa, Ren Okazaki, Hina Arakaki, Kodai Aoyama, Ryota Wakahara, Amu Hiratsuka, Ryunosuke Sakane and Jigen Serizawa.
Other members of the Hawaii roster included Kyle Suppa, Mari Nishiura, Zachary Kaneshiro, Zoey, Akagi-Bustin, Aiko Leong, Jasmine Cabajar, Allysha Mae Mateo, Jun Ho Won, Justin Ngan and Shawn Lu.