I Suddenly Became Rich, But I Have No Idea How to Spend the Money

The long-awaited golf tournament had finally arrived.

After countless practice rounds, I had prepared myself thoroughly.

Since the tournament was set to start at 10 AM, I arrived at the golf course by 7:30 AM.

I loosened up my body and practiced as usual at the driving range.

Once I found the right balance, I wrapped up and attended the opening ceremony.

It was during this ceremony that I learned the tournament was called the Kobe Amateur Golf Championship.

According to Hitomi, it was a long-established amateur competition.

With the ceremony over, it was finally time for my group to start.

In golf, players are typically grouped into sets of three to four, and all participants are divided accordingly to play.

When there are many participants, some groups start from the 1st hole, while others start from the 10th hole.

Since this tournament had a large number of participants, players were split into 1st-hole and 10th-hole starts.

I was assigned to start from the 1st hole.

Since the opening ceremony, I had noticed that none of the other participants had brought a foreign caddy with them. People whispered, commenting that it was arrogant for an amateur like me to do so.

Reaching the 1st hole, it was finally time for my first shot.

“Kirishima-san, relax.

People are whispering, but all the pros I’ve worked with had the same experience.

Honestly, it feels just like a professional tournament. It’s exciting!”

Blackbetter said with a cheerful smile.

His lack of tension left me momentarily speechless, but then again, he was a former PGA professional, a true pro who had trained multiple world-class players.

With personal lessons from such a professional, there was no way I could lose. Instead, I reminded myself that I should enjoy this moment.

“You’re right. I’m starting to feel like I can win!”

If anyone around had understood my words, they probably would’ve been furious, but since I said it quickly in English, I figured I was safe.

Due to the draw results, I was the first among my group of four to take the shot.

The distance to the pin on the 1st hole was approximately 400 yards.

Since it was the first shot, I put my full strength into swinging the driver.

A crisp yet solid impact sound echoed, followed by the sharp swish of my swing slicing through the air.

My powerful swing left my fellow group members stunned.

“Eyeballing it, that’s just over 300 yards. You’re in good form today, huh?”

“Yeah, that felt really good. I just hope I can keep this up.”

I overheard murmurs questioning whether such a massive drive was even possible in an amateur tournament, but I ignored them. Instead, I let them feel the pressure.

The 1st hole had a par of four, but I finished it in three strokes—a birdie. On my scorecard, it was marked as -1. A great start.

Among the front nine holes, the 3rd hole was a short-distance one. It had a “nearest to the pin” prize, which was awarded to the player whose first shot landed closest to the cup.

And so, we arrived at the 3rd hole.

The distance was approximately 190 yards—just within the average range of my 6-iron.

For reference, the smaller the number on an iron, the farther it hits, but also the more difficult it is to control.

Most golfers carry irons up to the 5-iron in their bag. The 4-iron and lower are generally too difficult to use, so players often substitute them with other clubs.

I was no exception, carrying irons up to the 5-iron while using fairway woods for lower-numbered replacements.

For this hole, I was set to hit last in my group of four.

Shot order in golf is determined by the previous hole’s performance, with the best scorer going first.

Unfortunately, on the 2nd hole, my putting had been off, and I had taken six shots on a par-four hole, marking a +2 on my scorecard.

Combining it with my birdie from the 1st hole, my total score was now +1.

With a headwind blowing, the other three in my group opted for fairway woods instead of irons for extra distance.

Of the three shots, two landed on the green, and one rolled to within a meter of the cup.

Even Blackbetter praised the shot with a “Nice shot!” and I had to admit, it was impressive.

But I wasn’t about to let that performance go unchallenged.

If there was one thing I was more confident in than my driver, it was my iron play.

Even before training under Blackbetter, I had faith in my iron skills, but under his guidance, I had developed precision to the level of a machine, able to control distances by mere yards.

My turn arrived, and I casually picked up my 6-iron.

The others reacted with murmurs of surprise.

After checking the wind conditions and precise distance with Blackbetter, I honed my focus to the extreme.

My mind became crystal clear, processing all the necessary information.

I swung my iron with full force.

Given the headwind, I deliberately launched a low-trajectory shot to minimize wind interference.

The ball skimmed just above the ground, landed with a dull thud at the edge of the green, and rolled straight toward the pin.

It bounced twice and crept even closer.

The other members held their breath, shouting, “Go in!”

But the ball stopped just centimeters short of the cup.

It didn’t go in, but everyone erupted with an excited “Whoa!” at the miracle shot.

That shot seemed to ease the tension, allowing everyone to finally start enjoying themselves.

I found myself appreciating how wonderful it was to connect with strangers through golf.

Despite some struggles—hitting a double bogey (+2) and securing consecutive birdies—I finished the front nine with the best score in my group.

A 32, at 4-under.

After finishing the front nine, we returned to the clubhouse to submit our scorecards and have lunch.

As expected, we headed to the dining area.

When the scores were tallied, I found myself tied for first place.

Even though 4-under was an incredible score, the fact that there were multiple first-place players caused a stir in the clubhouse.

Unbothered, I sat in the clubhouse eating curry with Blackbetter when a young man approached us.