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).