Happy New Year♥!　5

【A message for golf and baseball lovers!】

Act 12 [Rematch] Gantan and Hapi are now in the sixth grade."Hey, Hapi, join the team, just once!"Since then, Gantan has been persistently trying to recruit him."You'll get arrested for soliciting, seriously.""Hey, isn't it okay? I want to beat Suguru no matter what!""Okay, just once!" "Really? Yay!""Dad, Hapi's going to join the team.""Hapi, really?"Gen-san has registered as a player.This is their first match since last year's forfeited game.The umpire is the same old guy."Let's make sure it doesn't happen again!"He made sure to make sure.The managers shook hands and the game started."Play ball!"The pitcher is Kyuji, and with his usual forkball, the team is in a pinch with no outs and the bases loaded."Don't worry, don't worry!"The batter is number 4 Suguru, swinging his bat wildly.Gen announces that the pitcher is being replaced."Pitcher Ayu!"Ayu goes to the mound."Hey, here comes a woman.""Hahaha, this isn't really softball!"Hapi receives the ball from the baseball player.He throws it at Gantan's mitt. (Smack♪) The fastball lands in Gantan's mitt."What's that? He looks like a man." Gantan is grinning.Hapi throws three practice balls."Play ball!"Suguru is on his guard.The first pitch is a ball that goes just wide to the left. The second pitch is a low straight pitch, Suguru swings his bat but barely hits it, and it's a foul.The third pitch is a high straight pitch, Suguru strikes out and misses.Gantan, he sends out signs.Rock is a straight pitch, scissors is a curveball, and paper is a slow pitch. We had a meeting about this yesterday."Scissors, that's a curveball!"Suguru had only seen the straight pitch, so he thought the next one would be a straight pitch as well.The ball that Hapi threw curved outside, throwing off his timing, and Suguru struck out.He slammed his bat on the ground in anger."Waah, don-don♪ Hapi! Don-don♪"The Tea-Picking Bunny Girls began to cheer noisily, beating on the drums. Number 5, the powerful hitter Nagashima Sadaharu.He's a left-handed batter.Hapi's curveball threw him off his timing, and he grounded out to first base.Tetchan calmly stepped on first base and threw the ball back to home base.Gantan caught the ball and tagged the sliding runner.The timing was close.The umpire's right hand went up."Out!" "Waah, bang bang ♪ bang bang ♪"The Tea Picking Bunny Girls were in a frenzy."It's a get, a double play. No runs."Everyone came back to the bench."Hapi-chan, when did you get to pitch like that?""I was playing catch with Gantan and he taught me how to curve." "Yeesss, everyone can do it,"said the pitcher.The opposing team, Suguru, was not about to lose, so he threw a fastball.The Pyokkon batter from Ujitawara Hapi New Year's was still struggling to hit Suguru's pitch.It was 0-0 until the third inning, and as Gen-san said, baseball is all about the pitcher.In the top of the fourth inning, Hapi was a little tired of pitching.He couldn't control his swing, and after two walk-offs, there was one out and runners on first and second.The batter was Suguru, who was swinging his bat wildly, determined to get the ball.The ball Suguru hit on the first pitch fell in front of center field.The runner on second base homered, scoring a run.Hapi somehow managed to hold off the next batter.The bottom of the seventh inning was the final attack for Ujitawara Hapi New Years.The 3-0 batter was number 9, Hapi,"Waah, Don Don♪ Hapi! Go Don Don♪"The Tea Picking Bunny Girls began their loud cheering with drums.The count was two strikes and three balls.Suguru's sixth pitch, which he barely managed to hit, was a foul, and the seventh pitch was a foul ball that went wide.No outs, 1st base."Waah, Don Don♪ Yay, go Don Don♪"Number 1, Makoto, bunted to send Hapi to second base."Waah, Don Don♪ Nice bunt, go Don Don♪"Number 2, Takeshi, batted slow, sending Hapi to third base for two outs. Rintaro, number 3, picks up a first ball from Suguru and gets 1st and 3rd. "Wow, Don Don♪ Go, Gantan, Don Don♪"Gen-san"Go for it, Gantan!"Number 4, Gantan, takes a full swing at Suguru's ball, which has lost its power.It passes sharply past the second baseman and Hapi scores a home run. "Wow, Don Don♪ Yay, Gantan, Don Don♪"Rintaro makes it to third base.Two outs, 1st and 3rd base, 3-1. Number 5, Tetchan, hits Suguru's ball toward right field."This is interesting."Both runners have started to run.The ball drops in front of the right fielder, and the right fielder bends it back.Rintaro scores a home run, 3-2."Wow, Don Don♪ Yay, Don Don♪"Gantan goes from first base to third base in one go and slides at home base.He throws the ball from right field to second base and back to the catcher. The timing is tricky."Yes, it's a tie!"I thought the umpire would spread his hands, but instead he raised his right hand."Out!" "Wow, bang bang♪ bang bang♪ Oh no....""Game over, Joyo Alplazas wins, 3-2!"Gantan and the others lost.Hapi was also disappointed. Gen-san said,"Everyone did well, it was a close call, it was a really good game." Gen-san missed his first win, but he felt good.The competitive Hapi was not Hapi that his pitching power had decreased due to a lack of stamina,"Gantan, I thought it would be just one more time, but I'm not quitting!" Gantan said,"Really? Yay!"That evening, as usual, there was a barbecue party with a large group of people, including the Tea Picking Bunny Girls.Gen-san was sipping shochu and soda while looking back on the close game and giving a live report to Ken-san and Jin-san.


Act 13 [Caddy]Natsu-san used to be a part-time caddy.Nowadays, most golf courses have fired their caddies and switched to self-riding carts, which do not require labor costs.One day, the manager of the golf course where Natsu-san worked part-time called her and said,"Thank you very much for all your hard work up until now.This evil country club will have no choice but to introduce self-carts as the times change, so I am very sorry, but starting next month, I would like you all to quit...""What! You've got to be kidding me! I still have a mortgage on my house left..."We caddies were fired unilaterally, and we had to say goodbye to our good friend Kaku Kikuko-san, the slightly mean senior Aoshima Yukie-san, the timid newcomer Haga Yui-chan, the Osaka auntie who speaks Kansai dialect Doronuma Emiko-san, and the kind Saki Ikuyo-san who taught us the basics of caddying.A few days after the manager's appointment, today is my last round on the course! The weather is nice, perfect for golf.The morning sun is refreshing, shining through the trees and grass, and the baby birds are chirping away."Good morning, customers.I will be the last caddy for today.My name is Ayu.I look forward to working with you." "What?! I'm quitting! That's a shame! I see, so this place will also become a self-service cart. I'm going to be sad.""I guess I won't be able to have fun conversations with the caddy anymore. All right! Let's do our best and be cheerful for the last time! Thank you!""Nice shot!""Wow! Please come forward, customers."The teeing ground for the 18th and final hole."The view of the final hole from the teeing ground, overlooking the clubhouse, is a familiar sight that I've seen dozens of times, but it feels like I'm playing the course for the first time...." Only for today's round, the day seemed to pass by so quickly.At dusk, the image in front of my eyes became blurry, like a poorly-lit CRT TV that has been around for over 20 years.The past two years came back to me, and they flashed around in my head, like a slideshow, and tears started to flow.I can't see the ball, I can't work."No good! I have to get it together! Good shot! You're in the center of the fairway. It's flying well."The second shot was a sharp iron shot."Nice par! Let's aim for a birdie.""Oh, let's aim for a double birdie, a double bogey! Wow.""Hehehe."I'm really glad that the last customer was a fun person."Caddie, which way do you think it will cut?""If I hit it weakly, it will slice a little, but if I hit it hard, it will be almost straight, so that's fine!""Got it! Just a little harder..."(Bang!...Clang!)"Nice birdie!""Yes, thank you, it's all thanks to the caddy.""Thank you, good work.""Thank you very much for today. Please check your clubs."After he signed, I handed over the key to the bag, and took better care of the electric cart that had been with me for so many years."I'm done..."After reporting to the caddy master, I returned to the caddy waiting room, where my friends were waiting quietly.The waiting room is usually lively with customers gossiping and chatting, but today it was strangely quiet.As I sat down after getting changed, the assistant manager came in. "Thank you to all the caddies for your hard work over the years. We'll be having a farewell party in the restaurant later today, so please come along..."When I went up to the second floor and entered the restaurant, hors d'oeuvres, beer, and juice were laid out on the table, and the manager and other people involved with the golf course were already seated.I sat next to Kaku Kikuko, and after a brief greeting from the manager, we all toasted! The beer in my mouth tasted bitter.My fellow caddies and I started to chatter away, but before long, we were drinking ourselves to drown our sorrows.To me, two years seems short, but it felt longer than I expected.I had originally thought it would be good if it lasted only a few months, but the four seasons I experienced at the golf course showed me a slightly different face every year.The dazzling spring with its fresh green leaves that made me feel Happy and restarted my life.The irritating rainy season that made me sweat slowly, and the harsh midsummer with its scorching sun and UV rays that were unpleasant and were the enemy of my skin, giving me a nuisance and a gift.The slightly chilly autumn with the falling leaves in the comfortable breeze and the silhouette of the long pin flag shining on the green as the sun set earlier.The intensely cold winter with the flurry of snow, freezing my hands and cheeks, and making me need to go to the bathroom more often, which was a real problem for the caddy.It was only two years, but I never thought I would spend all the seasons on this course. After drinking a little too much, it was completely dark, so I went home on my mamachari bicycle on the dark night road.During the day, it was a bustling cafe in a student town, and at the intersection, the traffic lights were casting yellow light on the road and the street lamps were shining lonely lights.I married Ken-san at the age of 25, and the following year, our eldest daughter, Tomomi, was born, and two years later, we had a son, Hidetaka. We were an ordinary family of four, with one daughter and two sons.When my children were small, I was busy raising them and being a full-time housewife, but when my oldest daughter started middle school, I had a little more free time and wanted to exercise my sluggish body, so I was looking for a part-time job.I was casually looking at a job flyer inserted in the morning paper, and it caught my eye.(Atrocious Country Club, looking for new caddies! No experience necessary, you can play half a round of golf anytime after the course!) This is it! I thought.The daily wage was about 6,000 yen for a round, but I liked the headline that said you could play golf anytime after the course, and the fact that it was close to home."I can commute to work by bicycle here."I got my driver's license before I got married, and I've had no accidents or violations for over 15 years, so I'm a gold license holder, but I'm a paper driver.My gold license is just a talisman that I keep in my wallet.I leave the driving to my husband, and I'm a terrible navigator who has no sense of direction and sometimes falls asleep in the passenger seat! Up until now, I've only driven on the Nagisa Driveway in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture (where tourist buses and passenger cars can drive along the kilometers-long beach, where the sand is fine and hard, kicking up waves).My favorite car is a mamachari No. 3 with a front basket and no self-propelled assist (I've worn out No. 1, and No. 2 was stolen).It costs 12,800 yen at Al Plaza.At that time, before the bubble burst, golf memberships were skyrocketing, and a visitor's membership cost 15,000 to 20,000 yen on weekdays.The cost of playing was high, so my husband only took me to the golf course once or twice a year.I wanted to improve my golf game, so I went to a driving range.I kept a locker at the range for the whole year and stored my bag there. I went there on my mamachari bicycle, so I was a regular.The front desk lady gave me a complimentary shoulder massage voucher, or rather, a black coffee with a drink voucher, to warm me up during breaks in practice! My own time that made me forget about all the bad things."I'm in good form today! The ball I hit with my driver flies so straight it feels great!"I'm not good with irons, so I only practice with my driver, and when I'm in good form, I want to go round the course right away, so I drink coffee and indulge in a fantasy round.I wanted to see more and more actual courses, so I immediately applied with my resume in hand..."Ayu-san, you have no experience as a caddy, right? You'll be walking nearly 10km a day and serving customers, but will that be okay?""I like that suspicious look in the assistant manager's eyes! No, I'm confident in my physical strength. Walking doesn't bother me at all. I don't mind carrying heavy luggage. I take my two children to nursery school every day by bike. Thank you.""Hahaha! Well, I'll put my bag in the cart, so I'll be working as an apprentice for about a month under a veteran caddy, and I'll be counting on you!"Yay! I was hired.I'm glad my first day as a part-time caddy was sunny.Yes, my husband and I are the invincible couple, no, the most peaceful couple in the world. Even in the middle of the rainy season, when the chance of rain is over 80%, my husband just gets by with a cloudy sky and a light drizzle.My sister's husband, Makoto, has a friendly relationship with the rain, and he always enjoys playing golf in the rain with rain clouds behind him. That's why he always wants to play with my wife.I'm also a sunny girl, and even when we go on trips, I hardly ever need an umbrella. My senior caddy, Saki Ikuyo, accompanied us."It's good that it's sunny on the first day. If it rains, we have to wear raincoats and other heavy gear, and we have to wipe our grips and other things many times, so it's really hard.""Today's customers are a group of four older doctors, so please take good care of them!""Yes! Thank you!"I loaded my golf bag into the cart, fastened my belt tightly, put on a big hat that doesn't suit me at all, and finally the training began. Pushing an electric cart, I walked slowly to the first hole."Good morning, today I will be working with an apprentice caddy.My name is Saki, and my name is Ayu, the apprentice.Thank you for your help.""Good morning! Two caddies? That's nice, nice to meet you.""Mr. Taiho, you have three woods, 1, 3, and 4, three irons, three to nine, a sand wedge, a pitching wedge, and a putter, for a total of 13 clubs! Only the three woods have covers!"I checked each customer's clubs and whether they had head covers, etc. This was necessary to prevent any trouble later, such as the covers going missing.The doctors were deciding the order with iron lottery sticks.Even though I wasn't going to play,"I don't want to be first! I want to be last.""Oh, I'm the owner!""The owner? Hehe."I thought to myself that it was good that they were such nice gentlemen, like doctors.As the group in front of me started to walk away after hitting their second shot, Saki Ikuyo said."Yes! The owner, that's good! Let's go!""Yeah, let's go!""As expected of Saki-senpai, you didn't even say 'honor'!"After teeing up, the teacher was nervous, so he took a few practice swings and didn't hit the ball. The tee on the teeing ground was a long one like Jumbo Ozaki's, and I was a little worried about the height of the driver head passing under the ball.The driver head angle of the owner teacher's tee shot was displayed as 14 degrees, but as expected, it was a Daruma Otoshi shot and the ball flew up high.Everyone who was watching, including Saki Ikuyo-senpai, myself, the other teachers, and the gallery in the group behind us, all looked up at the sky at about 60 degrees on a protractor, turned their heads to the left, and nodded.Unfortunately, the ball that everyone was looking at went a little to the left, missed its launch, and bounced twice, diving into the pond.To the disappointed owner-sensei, Saki-san said,"Sorry about that, sir, but I'll play 3 from the special tee, please."Jump! The second player, Taiho-sensei, was practicing with a grin on his face, but something was strange!He couldn't finish it perfectly, and it was flipping backwards!This was what is commonly known as Meiji's cannon shot.Every time he took a practice swing, his left foot, which should have been in front, went backwards, and he stepped back about 0.5 yards. Meiji-sensei's ball was a magnificent swallow-gaeshi that crawled along the ground.It was a short liner, a donkey shot that even a mole would be surprised by! But the ball flew straight and stopped in the rough, just short of the center of the fairway.The distance was about 80 yards.But it was a nice shot."You two, you have to show the gallery behind you something good! Today I'm going to try out this driver with the super jumbo head I just bought!"The third doctor was a surgeon-like old man with a rather cool white beard.He must have been playing golf for a long time because he had the most beautiful swing and a nice shot, but he sliced ​​it a little and it ended up in the fairway bunker on the right. Unfortunately, it didn't work out like a scalpel, and the doctor said,"It's no good doing it well.I can't move my body first thing in the morning."He looked a little disappointed, muttering to himself."Wah ha ha! Well, with such a big head, you can't miss! Did you get to try it out? It's not a test shot, it's a fake Hida beef! Wah ha ha."While my friends were heckling and the gallery behind me was laughing and watching, I was worried about what would happen next,"Teachers, it's just getting started, it's just getting started!"I felt like I was playing, and prayed in my heart.The fourth teacher was the youngest, and probably the best, with a high-end driver, nice shot! Saki Ikuyo-senpai said,"You go first! Ayu-san, please give this club to the teacher!"I was handed three or four clubs by Saki-senpai, and rushed over to the nice shot teacher.Even though the ball was in the rough and sunk in the grass, the teacher took a few practice swings with the No. 3 wood (spoon) that he already had in his hands!Once again, he duffed the ball in front of him, and the wood topped, or rather chipped, the head of the ball after one bounce.The ball rolled out of the rough and landed on the fairway.This time, with the spoon, it flew beautifully close to the green.This teacher, like me, seems to be able to play golf with just a wood and putter!The teacher who got into the bunker couldn't get out on the first try, but on the second try, he finally made a nice recovery and got on the fairway!The teacher playing No. 3 seemed to have made some friends and suddenly became more energetic, as he cheerfully hit the ball again from the special tee ground, and the ball landed on the flower path in front of the green.The best teacher chipped his second shot in front of the green, and made a simple approach shot to get on the green in four! Everyone took turns going in to the cup, and at the end of the first hole, everyone had a double bogey.Well, even professionals get nervous on the first hole.Failure is common for amateurs, including me! When it's crowded, there are two or three groups of spectators behind me, and I'm struggling with my recent lack of exercise, so I try to make up for my monthly handicap with practice swings and stretching exercises in just five minutes before the start, but I can see the results.My last wish is, of course, to pray to God,"Please hit it! Fly it straight!"When I first started playing golf, I was excited the night before like a child on a school trip, and I would do about two rounds of image training in my dreams. When I finally fell asleep and woke up to my alarm clock, my eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, my head was fuzzy like I had a hangover, and my tee shot went straight out of bounds. I topped the ball on my approach shot, and woke up with a perfect 10 with a three-putt on the green!My dream of breaking 100 was shattered early on the first hole. Everyone, please arrive at the course about an hour before the start, relax with a cup of coffee, and enjoy your day."But these teachers are amazing! They don't care about the score at all, they laugh at each other, they criticize each other, and they laugh out loud at the mistakes of their companions."When Meiji's cannon teacher hits the ball,"Even if you fall backwards and die, I'll put your club and ball in your coffin! Ha ha ha!"When Slice teacher curves the ball again and puts it in the pond,"Yo, Yujiro! I'm a drummer♪ A gangster drummer♪ First, a jab, a hook, a slice! Oh no, I'm going to hit the pond. Ugh, it's annoying, let's hole out here!"They say bad things about each other."It must be so much fun to play with such a group of people, I'm so jealous!"After playing a few holes, there was a little gap between us and the group in front of us, so Saki Ikuyo told me to hurry up and use a rake to clean up the footprints from the guard bunkers and the disturbed sand around the green.Normally, it's the players' responsibility to do this themselves, but recently, some customers who have seen professional tournaments on TV have mistakenly thought that it was the caddy's job to maintain the bunkers and other areas, because the professional caddies are the ones who do it. However, we are only in a supporting role, so we only help out as the play progresses.I smoothed it out with the rake and hurried up to the green.The teacher said."Caddy, I'm going to make a long putt, so please put the pin flag in!"I hurriedly stuck the pin flag in the cup and stood on the edge of the cup. The teacher didn't hit the ball for a while, just looking down."Why aren't you singing? What's wrong?"The teacher finally burst out laughing, clutching his stomach."Hahaha! Caddy, don't make me laugh!"The other teachers, even Saki, were laughing.I was blank-faced, and when I noticed that the pin flag I was holding in my left hand had somehow transformed into a bunker leveler, I was completely red in the face! This story was brought up whenever something happened, and I became a legend.I was even told that at the farewell party!"Ayu-san! You're a genius caddy who instantly relieved the tension of the medical team on the first day!"That's terrible! It was the first day, so I was nervous.



Act 14 [Golf Competition]After the apprenticeship period ended and I was getting used to it, I graduated from being accompanied by a senior caddy and finally became a free-standing caddy. The first day of my single debut! It was sunny again today, and it seems that there was a competition for a construction company today, so the clubhouse was already lively with a rowdy crowd. "I'm nervous, I wonder if I'll be okay doing it alone!" Dressed in knickerbockers, with a towel tucked into his back pocket, and with his darkly tanned, muscular body, the golfer looked like a construction worker no matter how you look at him, so I couldn't help but laugh. His white Dunlop gloves looked like work gloves. I burst out laughing when I saw that the putter he held looked like a crowbar and the driver he was carrying on his shoulder looked like a large demolition hammer, and I felt like my tension had eased a little. I loaded my bag into the cart, wrote down the number of clubs on the checklist, and finally pressed the button on the electric cart to start. As I passed by the putting practice range, I saw some contractors with red faces as if they had had a drink in the morning, and some boss-like golfers, all shouting and having fun. They looked like they were betting on putting! I was surprised by one of the words of an older golfer who looked like a plasterer. "Yay! I've won! That's 200,000 yen including the one from before! It's cash, it's cash! No bills or checks! Sorry about the bounced checks!" Everyone was betting like bosses, 50,000 or 100,000 yen per stroke, and the amount was incredible. I had some hope when I heard that a senior caddy had also received a lot of tips during the height of the bubble economy. Aoshima Yukie, a senior caddy, was a bit mean. "You're on your own from today onwards! You're in front of me, so hurry up and get going! If I make you wait, people will complain!" When I was an apprentice, this senior made me carry heavy bags and hid my shoes in the locker, so I didn't like him very much. "You, what's your blood type? Type B! I don't like Type B people! There are a lot of selfish people there." (No one wants to be liked by you! There are only four types in the world, so how many Type Bs do you think there are? What a weird thing to say.) "New recruits quit soon, so we get in trouble because they don't wear it permanently, so hurry up and take this away!" "You're opening your front too much, so hurry up and get going." "It was coming at you from behind, so where are you looking? "Hey, I'm doing it, caddie!" "Have you seen my sneakers?" "There's no way he would know! You should take care of your own things!" "Ayu-san, I saw Aoshima-san putting your shoes in the trash just now, but I can't stand it." I wonder if he thinks his status is threatened by a newbie like this, but there are people like that everywhere, aren't there? That's Aoshima-san, but at Haga Yui-chan's welcome party, once he had some drinks, he started singing cheerfully, and although he has a bad mouth, I've come to forgive him a little. (Well, he's like the owner of this golf course, so I'll just say yeah, yeah, and don't cause any trouble!) The caddy in the group before me was Kaku Kikuko, a part-time caddy who was in the same year as me and is a good friend of mine. She made her solo debut as a caddy earlier than me. "Let's both take it easy and do our best so that we don't get too far behind the group in front of us! Just do what we always do!" He said, and I felt a little relieved. "Good morning. I'll be your caddy today. My name is Ayu. I'm still inexperienced, but I'll do my best, so please take care of me." "Thank you for taking care of us! We're inexperienced too, so we'll be fine. This guy especially has little life experience, so don't worry, hahaha!" (It's a problem for me when people don't have much experience playing though...) I muttered to myself. The players were a construction worker-like boss, a fat old man with a drumstick belly. An electrician, a tall, bearded boss. A wallpaperer, a little younger than me. A group of four self-proclaimed designers who work at the same job as my husband, and work at an architectural firm around the same age as me. The groups in front and behind us were all in the same competition, a total of 12 groups, 45 people, and it seemed to be a relatively large competition. (It must be hard for the organizer to look after such a large number of people!) Once again, I muttered to myself. In the group two before, there was a lot of fun heckling and teasing, and then during the real thing, there were some strikeouts and practice swings, so it was a really lively start. The construction and real estate industries are booming these days, and every Wednesday people would come in their luxury cars like Celsiors or Crown Majestas. Apparently, it's a day when contracts don't go away, so real estate workers have Wednesdays off, which I heard from my senior colleagues and thought, "That makes sense." Come to think of it, there are a lot of hair and beauty customers on Mondays and Tuesdays, supermarket and boutique owners around Thursday, and during the summer holidays, we get teaching customers even on weekdays, so depending on the day of the week you can tell a lot about different professions. Our group is finally starting! The construction worker said he didn't have much experience, but it seems he's been playing for a long time and is very good! However, when he addressed the ball, his beer belly seemed to hit the grip, so he looked cramped, but he still took a nice shot! (The overweight man with the Super Dry is doing it!) The tall golfer from the electrical shop also hit the ball so hard! I was a bit worried that he might hit the ball into the group in front of me. When he hits the ball, it's better to ask him to wait a bit and then say, "Here you go!" Saki Ikuyo said that there are many different types of golfers among her customers, so it's important to know how to identify their habits as quickly as possible after starting!There are all kinds of people, such as those who can't stop slicing, those who bend the ball to the right and left, those who always keep their head up and top the ball, those who often hit the ball lightly or roughly, those who are impatient, those who are perverted, those who like dirty jokes, those who are lone wolves who don't talk at all and play silently, and those who cheat on their scores! Some people who have a lot of OBs, even a half-Japanese player, can say "Hwaaa!" over and over again and change their voice! "I see, so your temperament is reflected in your play." The younger wallpaperer and the uncle who is the architect are not very good, but they both like horse racing and get along well, so they joke around a lot while playing. They do stand-up comedy routines together. "Hey, I want you to change the name of the horse in this competition." "Really, really! I'm not too bad at putting." "I'm on a putting fever! I'm a terrible putter, so I always three-putt..." "Oh really? I thought you were a gambler who also plays pachinko!) "Why is your horse's name such a bad name?" "At first it was Canary Rouge! Everyone bet on me, but I didn't live up to their expectations. He was castrated and renamed, and given the name Rakuba no Tenshi!" "Hahaha! He went from a stallion to a gelding, Rakuba no Tenshi! It would have been so cool if he'd been called Hakuba, hahaha!" "Even so, it didn't live up to expectations, and in the end he was a Kitai no Mistake! It would have been better if he'd at least been a Taiki no Mistake." "Hahaha! It's true, Taiki Farm has a lot of great horses!" "Everyone, you're involved in the horse competitions, right? Right! What's the winning prize?" "In the last competition, I think we did a five-day golf tour of Hawaii." "Apparently, the winning president of the construction company, Hatta Toshi, went there with just his wife and kids because he was busy!" "Apparently, he had an affair with a young bar hostess during that time and got divorced." "I won the Nearest to the Pin award by chance, and received a prize of 4 kilos of live pufferfish from the owner of a live fish restaurant (Dokusanmai) that I designed, but I was too busy to go and the president of my client ate it, so what a shame!" "Wow, that's an amazing prize! Speaking of which, there were a lot of competition prizes on display in front of the front desk today, like color TVs and bicycles. That's right! Now, it's the first near pin hole! Good luck with the live pufferfish!" On the green, someone from the group that had gone around earlier had a small near pin flag stuck about 5 meters from the cup. The Super Dry golfer got caught in the guard bunker, and the Electronic Golfer got on the green but unfortunately it was about 8 meters from the cup. The Designer Golfer got into the rough in front of the green, and finally the wallpapering craftsman golfer made a nice shot with craftsmanship like that of professional golfer Sugihara! The ball landed beautifully on about 2 meters in front of the cup. I was so happy as if it were my own achievement, I immediately changed the name on the flag and picked it up on the green. The craftsman golfer unfortunately missed the birdie, but looked really happy with his beautiful par! I was happy too, and realized that this is what it all comes down to when a caddy makes a name for himself. Somehow, I finished the half course, and during the lunch break, I confirmed the afternoon start time with the caddy master, "Thank you for your hard work. Please check your clubs. The wait is 1 hour and 30 minutes, so it's a little long, but please try not to drink too much. Also, the caddy will change from lunch, so please be patient." Yes, the lunch wait time in those days was often 2 hours, and for us caddies, it was a matter of life and death if our break time was also 2 hours. Also, unlike now, drunk driving wasn't so strict, and everyone would drink 2 or 3 medium mugs of beer from lunchtime, so many people were crazy about their scores from lunchtime. Of course, if you drink too much beer, you'll need to use the toilet, and some won't last until the toilet break at the tea shop... At the tee ground of each hole, one by one, golfers would disappear and relieve themselves in the grass patch. I pretend not to see them, (Everyone, please be careful of snakes and vipers! But there is no place to wash your hands, so I feel a little reluctant to use them to wipe my clubs or balls on the green after hitting the ball...) At the tea shop, I received a can of beer and some snacks as souvenirs, and said "Thank you." At the tea shop, the Super Dry man, who had run out of fuel, refilled his beer again, and the zenzai at the tea shop is also popular and seems to sell well. Even if there is a gap between us and the previous group and we don't have time to stop by the tea shop, a thoughtful customer will stop by and say "I'd like something for the caddy!" The tea shop owner, Okoshi Yasuko, also understands the heat and cold outside, and offers me a cold can of coffee in midsummer, and a hot can of coffee in the cold of midwinter, which is really nice. Even if you don't drink it as a souvenir, just holding a can of coffee in both hands or holding it against your cheek will help to ease the freezing cold, and you will be much more popular with customers. However, at some point, the bubble burst and the winds of recession blew by, and it became more common for tea shops to not even pop in, and even if they did, the customers would just drink and not give you a souvenir, which was a bit disappointing. At noon, the members changed and the afternoon started! Even for people in sales, it's rare to get to know and talk to so many new people in just a few hours in a day. It's tiring to be with four customers in a day, but if you go out with eight customers, you feel like you've used up two or even three times as much energy as usual. At that moment, I realized that hostesses at bars and mamas at clubs and snack bars must have a really tough job. Not all customers are gentlemen, and they have to deal with drunk people too! But it seems that there are fewer hostesses at snack bars with a professional attitude these days. Unlike the hostesses of the past who completely ignored customers who were not their type and read newspapers and magazines to keep all topics such as sports, politics, and entertainment in their heads, the hostesses of today who are pretty or cute will attract customers. They watch too many variety shows and are extremely knowledgeable about entertainment news such as who has gotten married, divorced, or is dating, but they can't keep up with other topics and when there is silence, they immediately ask, "How about a song?" and offer a book of lyrics. My husband, who told me this, said that he prefers old-fashioned bar-style snack bars with only a counter rather than going to snack bars or karaoke houses with many hostesses, and that because the bartenders and talkative hostesses are professional, the interactions between the staff and customers are full of stories and are very interesting. Even if the conversation doesn't progress, if the bar owner senses that the customer wants to quietly sip their drink, she won't engage in any unnecessary conversation, but she is always considerate and pays attention to the ice and alcohol in the glasses, just like the other customers around her. However, she never just pursues profits for the bar, and if she thinks that the customer has drunk too much, she will recommend oolong tea or subtly dilute the water. Even such customers know the bar owner a little, so they know her special songs better than she sings them, and request songs like Yozakura Oshichi. The bar owner is so good at songs that she can remember them without even looking at the lyrics when she sees them on TV, but she never shows off her skill and sings them modestly and well. The customer who made the request quietly listens to the bar owner's song and puts the glass to her mouth. When the bar owner finishes singing, she always remembers the customer's special songs, even if they are bad at them, and casually asks, "Shall I put in a Kawashima Eigo song?" A customer said, "Kawashima Eigo, that's great," and the hostess replied, "Oh, you know, that song..." It was annoying that she made the customer say it even though she already knew the song, but when the customer muttered, "Then it's outdated," she replied, "Yeah! This song is good, I love it," and she got the customer going with the song really well. Even customers who don't usually sing much had no choice but to sing when they were so into it, and it made them feel really good. They said that the time passed slowly, and the more fleeting the fun the moment, the more quickly the party ended. In a way, the job of a caddy is the same as that of a customer service worker, and although they don't provide songs or drinks, they are expected to be considerate and make sure customers are playing in a good mood and enjoying their day, and if they can meet that demand and get the customers going, it's a job that allows both parties to spend a smoother and more meaningful time together. After all, we'd be spending six long hours together, almost meeting for the first time... While reminiscing about such things, I somehow managed to finish the afternoon half without incident, and said, "Thank you very much for today. Please check your clubs." Having made my debut as a single caddie, I was exhausted both physically and mentally! When I returned to the waiting room, "Good work! You did a great job!" Both Saki Ikuyo and Kaku Kikuko called out to me. "I think I'll be able to sleep soundly tonight!"