Peter Jung beats Joshua Hayashida in a battle of past Manoa Cup champions

It’s not his favorite golf course to walk, but Peter Jung is savoring every stroll up and down hilly Oahu Country Club this week.

The two-time Manoa Cup winner wakes up every day knowing it could be his last round as an amateur before he turns professional later this summer.

His quest for a third title in five years continues into the men’s quarterfinals today after he knocked off two-time defending champion Joshua Hayashida 2-and-1 on Thursday in the opening match that teed off bright and early at 7 a.m.

Jung, who couldn’t remember why he didn’t play last summer, improved to 22-3 in his sixth appearance in the event when he sunk a short putt on 17 to knock off Hayashida, who had won 14 straight matches dating back to the round of 64 in 2023.

The two have combined to win the past four Manoa Cups.

“There was expectation for sure. This was probably one of the more looked-at matches of the day,” Jung said. “I just tried to play how I normally play. I did not play great by any means. I made some careless mistakes. Josh did not play his best either out there. We were kind of just scrambling out there, really.”

Hayashida, who led the University of Hawaii in scoring average this past season as a junior, had yet to be extended past the 15th hole when he found himself down early against Jung.

Jung took three of the first four holes before Hayashida came back to cut the deficit to one on the short 281-yard, par-4 fifth hole.

Jung pointed to his eagle on the par-5 13th hole back up the hill as the moment he took full control of the match.

He was up three with four to play when his second shot on the par-5 15th hole headed right toward a collection of golf carts but hit a tree and bounced back into play with a clear shot at the green.

He split the hole with Hayashida, who extended the match once on 16 with a birdie on a par-3 after his tee shot rolled just short within 6 feet.

Both golfers drove just short of the green on the par-4 17th and Jung was able to roll in a short birdie putt after Hayashida missed a chip for eagle.

“Honestly, that par-5 eagle was one of the better shots,” Jung said of No. 13. “I was really lucky (on 15). I hit the tree and birdied that hole. Honestly, it was just scrambling all day, really. It wasn’t that great of golf.”

Hayashida was trying to accomplish the first three-peat of the Manoa Cup since Francis Ii Brown did it 93 years ago in 1932.

He was visibly frustrated at times on the course but held his own and crushed a drive on the 17th that Jung was able to match.

“(A three-peat) is a special thing to do. Nobody had done it since 1930-something. Today I just didn’t have the right putts fall,” Hayashida said. “We both kind of really didn’t play very well. Both of us gave each other opportunities to win holes, but Peter did what he needed to do.”

Hayashida will leave Saturday for Japan, where he has another opportunity to win a third consecutive time in the same tournament.

Jung, who just finished his senior season of collegiate golf at Utah, advances to play Katsuhiro Yamashita today.

After this tournament is over, he will hang out for the next few weeks until he plays in the Long Beach Open in his first professional event in late July.

After that, he will move to Atlanta, where his sister lives, to continue his foray into professional golf.

“It’s time to play some real golf now,” Jung said. “To be honest with you, I’m not really good at many other things, so this happens to be the one thing that I am decent at, so yeah, let’s give it a shot.”

Four-time champion Brandan Kop, who came within a final of winning three straight from 1997 to ’99, advanced to the last of the four quarterfinal matches today against Zachary Sagayaga.

Ava Cepeda, who a month ago won the first individual girls state championship in Kahuku history as a senior, defeated Varnika Achanta 5 and 3 to advance to today’s final against Kara Kaneshiro, who got past Leia Chung 4 and 3.

Kaneshiro finished runner-up in her best finish at the Manoa Cup in 2022.