Free De La Hoya: Hunters of the Forgotten (Book 1) [Completed]

Ep 19: New and Old Friends!

The next morning Free came to the golf course even earlier than Michael. He was determined to get better. At this point in the morning it was a little cloudy but it wasn't anything too worrisome.

Just as Free was paying for the golf balls he soon realized he didn't have any clubs to practice with. He walked around the clubhouse looking at colored balls or golf attire until he found the solution.

In the back of the clubhouse Free found some older sets of clubs. Above them was a sign saying something about renting them. Since nobody else was around Free tried swinging with the clubs until he found the perfect set.

The bag was mostly black but the gold helped balance it out. Little hints of blue were also on there as well. The clubs also matched the bag with highlights of yellow on them too.

After paying for the clubs too Free made his way outside where he bumped into Michael.

"Oh hey Free, I was wondering where you were. You ready to play today?"

"Ready as I'll ever be but first let me warm up."

Free went over to the driving range. Not many people were there but that's exactly the way Free liked it.

Using what Michael taught him Free started off with the clubs he's never used and then he moved up to the more powerful ones.

At this point Free had started to grasp a basic idea of golf. But golf and Beyblade are like an onion; they both have many layers to them.

Free did like golf, he didn't love it enough to keep going but he did like it enough to maybe play here and there.

Eventually Free got into the zone, doing the same thing over and over. His mind became a blank slate and tiredness wasn't even a thing at the moment. Everything else just seemed to fade away and hitting the ball became the only thing on his mind.

In a way this process reminded Free of going to sleep. When waking up from slumber everything slowly comes back to your mind after sleeping. And that's how it felt after finishing the bucket of balls.

When Free was done he bumped into Michael.

"Hey Free. Are you ready for today?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Free followed Michael to the tee box. It was a small square of short grass full of tees and mostly broken tees.

"I almost forgot to tell you, when I was booking a tee time for us they paired us up with another twosome. So be on the lookout for them."

Just then a younger gentleman and a little girl pulled up in a cart right in front of Free and Michael.

The gentlemen were wearing red golf shirt with black accents and his pants were dark brown. He curly hair was covered up by a pebble beach cap.

In this heat, Trad's going to get hot..

"Free? What are you doing out here? I would expect you to blade but not golf."

"I dunno, I guess I'm just trying something new. What are you doing out here."

"Well, after all the drama from a couple years back with Requiem and the Tournament. I decided to take a break from it and try something new."

"Who's the girl?"

"This is my niece, Isabel. I would have came by myself but my sister insisted that she needed a break."

"You know I can hear you, I only came out here because my mom said so."

"Aww you're kinda cute." Michael bent down to Isabel's level to look at her.

Isabel was wearing a plain grey top and with green shorts and purple shoes. Her black hair was up in a ponytail and she wore an unhappy expression.

"I'M NOT CUTE!!"

Michael backed away putting his hands up in defense.

"Remind me not to get on her bad side." Free mumbled.

And so they were off, after a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors Michael was up first.

Walking onto the men's white tee box. He held his driver with pride, and took a couple of practice swings. As he was getting into the zone. Trad moved his cart next to Michaels.

"Hey Trad?"

"Yes Free?"

"What does each tee box color mean?"

"Well that depends on the course but for this one the red is for the ladies, gold is for seniors, white is the men's regular tee box, but the blue and the black are special. Blue means you're better than the average man and black is the championship tee but only professionals use it."

"Ah."

Trad quieted down as Michael began to swing. At first it was slow but then SMACK! The ball was sent flying through the air. It landed perfectly in the middle of the fairway.

"Alright. Who's next?"

Up next was Trad, unlike Michael he seemed less powerful but confident. Instead of playing from the white tees he hit from the gold. Before hitting the ball Trad did some practice swings and then he looked at the hole mumbling to himself. Then he smacked it but it didn't go that far. Instead Trad got so nervous the ball came off the tee box by about five feet.

Isabel facepalmed and Michael leaned over to Free.

"You see when a golfer focuses on anger or doubt or even fear that will make him choke. That's why you have to stay out of your own way. Instead of focusing on what you can't do focus on what you can. By staying in the present and focusing on the shot you can have great success. See?"

Free looked over at Trad to see a beautiful shot. It wasn't as impressive as Michael's but it definitely measured up.

Then it was Free, stepping up to the red Free felt kinda out of place but Michael insisted earlier that new golfers should start out at the ladies. Taking the largest club out of his bag Free thought of it as a weapon. And in a way it kinda was if you hurt someone with it.

Standing up to the plate Free held the driver steadily. Looking at the pin in the distance he then looked down at the black and white stick in the middle of the fairway. He stared at it for a couple of minutes and then he looked back down. Then he did it. The ball sent flying through the sky. Over on the side Michael looked impressed and so was Trad. Even Isabel was watching dumbfounded.

But Free he just smiled, because the greatest part about the shot was not everyone's reaction or how far it went. It was that he didn't even feel it in the moment when he was hitting the ball.