HONOLULU — Kara Kaneshiro made good on her second chance at a dip in the Oahu Country Club pool.

The Kalani High alumna left little doubt in her Manoa Cup title pairing with recent Kahuku graduate Ava Cepeda, claiming victory on the 15th hole on Friday as the sole survivor of the 16-person women’s bracket of the Hawaii state amateur match play championship.

In the 2022 final, Kaneshiro fell to Raya Nakao, 3 and 2, and watched as her opponent got the customary toss in the clubhouse’s refreshing water.

[Note: See below for more photos of the Manoa Cup women’s final pairing.]

Arriving back in the last pairing came with its own series of mental challenges.

“It’s definitely a lot more nerves just off the bat, on the first tee, but I tried to just take some deep breaths, stay present, talk to my caddy (CSUN golfer and Iolani graduate Nicole Tanoue), and yeah, it was a lot of fun,” Kaneshiro said.

In the 116th edition of the open bracket, former University of Hawaii golfers Kolbe Irei and Remington Hirano will meet for what will be a first Manoa Cup title. Their 36-hole final tees off at 7 a.m. Saturday.

Irei, a Roosevelt graduate who completed his UH career in 2024, routed the last past champion still in the field, Peter Jung (2021, 2022), 5 and 4 in the semifinals on a day that began with eight remaining — including 64-year-old Brandan Kop. Hirano came back to beat another former UH golfer Zachary Sagayaga, 1 up in the other semi.

For Kaneshiro, who packs power in her 5-foot-2 frame, there was relatively little drama to the week. She credited her short game for taking her home.

She did not play beyond the 15th hole in four matches this week, taking the last three (against Cepeda, Leia Chung and Brooke Asao) by identical 4 and 3 margins. In the opening round of 16, she rolled over Mia Hirashima, 8 and 7.

A birdie on No. 11 helped swing the women’s final in her favor and she steadily built a cushion. By No. 15, the reigning HHSAA girls individual champion Cepeda had no outs left. She got little cooperation from the course on an uphill putt from beyond 15 feet that she needed to sink; Kaneshiro then nailed one from inside 3 feet to clinch it.

Cepeda, who outdueled her sister Mia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, was no stranger to OCC. The soon-to-be New Mexico Lobo

“I think I played all right. My putting wasn’t great today,” Cepeda said. “I had a couple three-putts and just putts that I was making before I didn’t make today.”

Kaneshiro became the ninth champion of the Manoa Cup women’s bracket that was introduced in 2016.

“I think it’s great to grow the game of golf for girls, especially this tournament’s only been around for … less than 10 years for women,” Kaneshiro said. “It’s so awesome seeing all the generations come through and going to college on scholarships.”

Kaneshiro has racked up meaningful accolades in two years at Colorado State, earning Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 2024 and first-team honors and an NCAA regional appearance in May.

Whether or not it was due to her recent experience in the rugged terrain of the Mountain West, Kaneshiro was at ease traversing the hilly terrain of OCC all week.

Now she and Cepeda prepare to head to Maui for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship qualifier at Wailea Golf Club on Tuesday.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.