Well, this episode represented a pretty big test both for Ooi! Tonbo and its title character. The latter is obvious enough – her first tournament. For the series, it was the first official post-Igaiga episode (I don’t count that cameo with a weepy Gon-jii). The show is obviously going to have to be able to carry that off as there’s no logical way for him to be a major part of the current arc. I certainly missed his presence (and Touchi Hiroki’s seriously good performance). But overall the test was passed, I’d say. Everything worked pretty well and the story didn’t run aground.

Having made her debut on the course last week, the next phase in Tonbo’s journey is to play her first tournament. The Kyuushuu Women’s Open is coming up, and while I might have said it’s a bit soon, Hajime is clearly dying to see what his new freak of nature can do under pressure. But in order to do that, she needs to complete five rounds on an approved course and get an official handicap. That’s a bit of a challenge given the time constraints, as she finishes school at four and Chuo Country Club – where Yashiro has a membership he can extend her – is almost an hour away. That means she has to complete her rounds in 90 minutes before it gets dark (not an easy ask, especially given that it’s not like you get the course to yourself).

It’s also not an easy ask to come in under the 13 handicap limit for the tournament given that Tonbo only has five clubs. The other students – including Hinoki – take turns as markers for her rounds. And Hinoki sets a challenge for herself of trying to play a round with five clubs herself – and Tonbo unsurprisingly smashes her. Tonbo manages to get her rounds in, and registers a handicap of eleven. She also gets a little boost when the Udo’s daughter, an aspiring pro (in whose bedroom Tonbo is staying) herself, returns home after missing the cut in Q-school. She has a few tricks to teach Tonbo – tricks her older brother taught her. Those two seem to have an interesting sibling dynamic.

I imagine some of this stuff with hitting ground balls and the rubber pencil trick is of minimal interest to non-golfers (I ate it up). But golf is a weird game and knowledge is never acquired in straight lines. Neither is a full set of clubs in Tonbo’s case. I’m not sure why Igaiga or her island friends didn’t just buy her one – what else is there to do with money on Hinoshima? But part of Tonbo’s origin story is the ad hoc acquisition of her clubs from those supporting her (starting with her Dad, of course). From Hinoki she inherits a caddy bag after her father (unasked) buys her a new one. Hajime slips a used six-iron into it, and the country club superintendent gives her a nine-iron he can’t master (that bit about the center of the clubface being pristine was a cruel dig, if innocently delivered).

I’m not crazy about Hinoki’s pop, and not in the sense that he’s a massive dick. He’s just a bit of a stock villain but then, there are indeed a lot of awful sports parents out there. Hinoki is at the Kyuushuu Women’s Open of course, as is a woman named Shima-san – much older than the mostly teen field. And an old friend, Tsubura-san (one of the favorites). While the other players titter at Tonbo having only a half-set of clubs, Tsubura marvels that her old pal is all the way up to seven. And notes that this makes Tonbo a real threat. Tonbo has never betrayed nerves where golf is concerned, but this is going to be her most demanding test yet. I just wish Igaiga were there to see it.