As Jonathan Ota closed his eyes and savored his first Manoa Cup championship yesterday, two facts were abundantly clear: When it comes to Hawai'i golf, old guys still rock and Kaua'i rules match play.

Ota, 44, won the 98th state amateur match play championship, 2 and 1, over 53-year-old Gary Kong, who was attempting to become the Cup's oldest winner.

"Somebody asked me, 'If you win the Manoa Cup, it's you and Casey Watabu from Kaua'i, he won the national publinx, what's the better win?' " Ota said. "I told them it's no doubt —mine. At 22 years old, you walk all the matches to the final, no problem. At 44, that's a feat."

Every footstep up and down hilly Oahu Country Club came under pressure yesterday.

The first 18 was a free-for-all with nine birdies and 10 bogeys.

"I was nervous when we started, of course," admitted Ota, general manager of Kaua'i landmark Tip Top Motel and Cafe. "But then exhaustion took over."

He seized the lead on the first hole and got to 2-up on three occasions. But Kong, a plumbing and waterworks sales rep who has been an OCC member nearly 40 years — and played Manoa Cup about half of those — kept chipping away. Literally.

"I've never said 'good' more in my life," Ota said. "Every putt and chip he hit was good. His chipping and putting was unbelievable."

Kong won the last two holes of the morning round and the match remained even until he took his first lead of the day with par at the 26th hole. One hole was all that would separate them until the 35th, where Ota clinched with the only birdie of the afternoon.

In between they would give and take, with just one bogey the first 10 holes of the afternoon. Ota left four birdie putts a centimeter short and his slam dunk at the 23rd hole dropped in, then spun out as he looked on incredulously. Kong missed four short putts — three for birdie — that would have won holes.

The match almost imperceptibly turned at the 29th and 30th.

Ota missed the green and his par putt on the par-3 11th (No. 29), but Kong three-putted to halve the hole.

They started up the steepest part of the course and Ota squared the match with par on the 12th (No. 30).

"I kind of let the putt get away (at 11) and bogeyed the 12th and gave him life up the hill," Kong said. "That's what I didn't want to do — give an old guy life."

Ota was grateful. "I was 1-down and on the last nine holes if you get any further down it would have been very difficult to come back," he said. "When I won the 12th fighting back to even that gave me life."

Both parred the next three holes, both missing birdie putts inside 5 feet at No. 15.

"We both hit great chip shots," Kong said. "I don't know what happened, maybe fatigue or a little gust of wind and we just hit two really bad putts. I can't explain it."

He also couldn't explain what happened on the next hole, when the wind grabbed his drive and pushed it right. Kong bogeyed and Ota seized the lead by two-putting from 30 feet.

When his 5-footer for par dropped, Ota raised his arms in joy, and relief after ending a 15-hole drought. His joy multiplied minutes later when he nearly drove the 17th (344-yard par-4) and chipped to inches of the pin.

"Seventeen has been good to me this week," said Ota, who had never advanced beyond the semifinals in seven previous Manoa Cups. "Luckily I hit a good drive close to the green and ... right there, already, I had to have birdie. It wasn't a case of being cautious. It was, 'Now is the time.' I didn't want to go to 18. Luckily, I hit a perfect chip."

Kong's second shot stopped at the front of the green and his long birdie putt sailed several feet by. He walked toward Ota's ball, looked hard at it, then stuck his hand out and conceded the kick-in birdie and the match.

"It was such a great week, great matches with great guys," Ota said. "And at the end for Gary, it would have been nice for him to have the distinction of being the oldest. But at the end we just love to battle each other.

"The matches were so tight, there was so much stress and yet that's part of the reason we play — to get into those situations and see how we react. That's what it's all about. It looks like hard work. It is, but you cannot believe the total satisfaction."

That apparently extended to Kong, though his satisfaction was not quite complete. He lost in his only other final appearance in 1979 and promised to play on "until I get tired of it" and at least until the Cup's centennial celebration in two years "just to let the young guys know I'm around."

"I enjoyed every moment of it to the end of the championship match. It was very special," Kong said. "The best part is hitting a great shot when the chips are down and winning a close match. I won six matches and lost one. Not bad for an old guy."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.