I think Ooi! Tonbo is pretty great generally, but if you love golf it’s pure crack.
They went ahead and did it. I’ve compared Tonbo to Seve more than once, and now I know the mangaka feels the same way. Hitting a fairway wood off his knees is one of the most famous trick shots Ballesteros ever played in competition. Seve had better luck with it than she did, but then he was already a pro by then – his days learning the game as a wild colt on the windswept north coast of Spain long behind him. But Seve took Cantabria with him – his imagination never left him, and he never stopped hitting shots no one else would even try as he was winning majors.
This episode was full of wondrous moments of Tonbo being Tonbo on the golf course. The kids playing with her have no idea what to make of this freak of nature. Hell, her pro only has the barest idea of what she’s trying at any given moment. Golfers who grow up in windy places always have a sense of imagination, and the weather conditions are definitely playing to Tonbo’s advantage. No one else would think to hit a bunker shot out of the fairway with a three iron, overcoming her lack of a full set of clubs by imparting tremendous backspin on the ball through opening the clubface radically.
This is clearly having the most radical effect on Hinoki. Her dickhead father’s admonition not to lose (in a goddam practice round) ringing in her ears, she sees this wild child with four clubs matching her stroke for stroke. Only in count, mind you, not execution. The difference in approach between these two girls could hardly be more stark. Tonbo has no fear, that’s the essence of it. She literally doesn’t understand when Hinoki asks if she isn’t scared aiming for the out of bounds and hoping her ball will fade. Nothing about golf is scary to Tonbo. It’s a game – it’s fun. And playing on a real course with its own set of challenges just that much more so.
When Igaiga arrives on the course, he comes bearing a gift – his “parting gift” of the title (though he doesn’t leave just yet). It’s not a full set of clubs however, but a driver. A used one (he forgets to take the price tag off, ROFL), and not the latest model. But Igaiga knows his stuff and he knows Tonbo’s game better than anyone. He’s chosen more of an old-school club without an enormous head because he knows it will be easier for Tonbo to do what she does – manipulate the flight of the ball. Through her stance, the clubface, the height of the tee.
As Igaiga tells Hajime, Tonbo’s lack of fear is her greatest strength as a competitive golfer, but also potentially her greatest weakness. She’ll try anything regardless of risk, because she doesn’t care about blowing up her scorecard if it doesn’t come off (as happens on the final hole). Well – a competitive golfer has to care. The score is the whole point. There’s a fine line here, and different pros have different relationships to it. Risk is part of the game, and willingness to take it can work to your benefit where others would defer to caution. Seve never stopped playing that way and won five majors. Phil Mickelson had the same inclination and won six. But might they have won even more if they’d let discretion be the better part of valor more often?
It’s impossible not to take notice of Igaiga’s displeasure at seeing the way Hinoki’s father berates her for her score in windy conditions. And well he should be displeased. But one can’t help but think that was particularly painful for him because he was seeing himself and his son as he was watching. That part of the story remains very much incomplete. And generally speaking I think Igaiga is really going to be missed if indeed he drops out of the narrative. He brings a lot to the cast, his journey is unlike anyone else’s, and his relationship with Tonbo is the heart of the story. Early returns are extremely positive on the series’ ability to adapt, but it’s still going to be sad to see him go.
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