UH-Manoa’s best contending at Manoa Cup

The men’s side of the 2024 Manoa Cup has a heavy UH-Manoa presence, with five current University of Hawaii golfers in the quarterfinals.

Current Rainbow Warriors Joshua Hayashida, Kolbe Irei, Tyler Ogawa, Anson Cabello and Isaiah Kanno are joined by former UH golfer Zachary Sagayaga in the quarterfinals. Rounding out the final eight are Spencer Shishido and Kihei Akina.

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“It just shows how hard they worked at it,” UH head coach and former U.S. Open champion Scott Simpson told KHON2 sports director Rob DeMello. “They’re working hard all year long and we do a lot of qualifying, a lot of competing, and I think it shows off. So, the only bad part is they got to start playing each other. But we have a great team, a lot of good guys that it’s a really fun tournament to watch.

“They know when they go out there, they’re representing not only UH, but they’re representing Hawaii. They take that seriously and they’re proud of it. We want it to be special to be one of the Rainbow Warriors.”

The quarterfinals and semifinals for the men’s division takes place on Friday, with the finals taking place on Saturday. Meanwhile, the women’s competition wraps up on Friday.

“This is a blast,” Simpson said. “I just love seeing them play in season, out of season, and I just want them to have fun, keep learning and keep improving. We have such a good team. I just love watching them play.”