Last year's Manoa Cup made grown men scratch their gray whiskers. Next year's will be a centennial celebration. This year's 99th Manoa Cup begins with qualifying tomorrow at Oahu Country Club.

Defending champion Jonathan Ota will be seeded first, with his 63 challengers coming from the 100 teeing off at 7 a.m. The state amateur match-play championship field includes four-time champion Brandan Kop, two-time champion Travis Toyama and former champions Kellen-Floyd Asao, Dick Sieradzki and Ryan Perez.

Matches begin at 7 a.m. each day, with Saturday's 36-hole championship going off the first tee at 7 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Last year was a match for the aged in a tournament that requires players to walk OCC's brutally steep fairways every day. After seven straight years of youthful exuberance — to say nothing of young legs — trumping mature experience, the 2006 finalists were Gary Kong (53) and Ota (44).

"Once in a while a more experienced player makes his way through," said Ota, general manager of Kaua'i's Tip Top Cafe. "It just so happened two made it through."

It made for a final as good as fine wine. Kong fell behind early, but his short game kept the longtime OCC member in the match. He caught Ota by winning the final two holes in the morning and took his first advantage on the 26th. Ota evened it again four holes later, went 1-up four holes after that, then clinched it when he nearly drove the next hole (344-yard par-4 17th) and his eagle chip stopped inches away.

OCC's unique layout, while lethal on the legs, is actually made for players who have learned to cope with its idiosyncrasies and exhibit grace under intense pressure —like when they putt the ball off the 13th green and into the bunker, a not-so-rare OCC quirk.

"When people play the course for the first time you could never expect what the course is," Ota said. "It comes down to putting and hitting it straight.

"It's a very different course than what we are normally used to. Part of the fun of Manoa Cup is you play on a course that doesn't suit the long-ball hitter. You've got to play a lot of different shots at OCC. The greens will be very fast and it will be a lot of fun, but a big part of that course is maneuvering the ball in the right places, not just blasting it as far as you want."

All that makes Toyama's victory as a 15-year-old in 2002 even more remarkable. Now, as a two-time champion (he won again in 2005), Toyama has to be considered one of the favorites.

"The field has a lot of talent and a lot of past champions," said Ota, the 1979 state high school champion. "Past champions have a little advantage because they've been through the whole week and know what to expect. You've just got to play your heart out every match regardless of whether its the first round, second round or whatever. With the talent these days, anybody can win."

In other words, don't count out 13-year-old Lorens Chan, or the now 54-year-old Kong. In fact, don't count on anything until the last golf ball goes in the hole — or not — Saturday afternoon.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.