6B - A Rough Start

It's 7:30 AM on July 28th: the first day of the Cheep Cheep Falls Open. Mario and Luigi have just arrived at Peach's castle where a breakfast banquet is being held. Also attending the banquet were Peach herself, her sisters Daisy and Aqua, Toadsworth, and Toad.

"You're just in time, guys," Peach said as Mario and Luigi walked into the dining room. "They're about to serve our breakfast."

"What are they cooking?" Mario asked.

"They've got omelets, pancakes, waffles, bacon, everything you'd like," Toadsworth replied. Mario and Luigi proceeded to take their seats; Luigi sat between Toadsworth and Daisy while Mario sat between Aqua and Toad. Peach sat on the end closest to the back wall.

Within five minutes, the chefs walked in with special orders for each of the attendants; Mario and Luigi each got a ham-and-cheese omelet, Peach and Daisy each got a bowl of oatmeal with small servings of brown sugar and cinnamon to mix in, Aqua got a Belgian waffle with whipped cream and syrup, Toadsworth got two fried eggs with a small steak and buttered toast, and Toad got a breakfast patty melt. The drinks to choose from were iced water, orange juice, and coffee. There was no need to say grace because the breakfast banquet wasn't too formal.

"Mamma mia. Your waffle's really big," Mario remarked, having looked at Aqua's waffle.

"I know. Peach told the chefs to make it as big as my plate," Aqua responded.

"Do you want some of my omelet, Aqua?" Mario offered.

"No, thanks. I'm gonna be full after I finish my waffle."

Meanwhile, Luigi and Daisy had their own conversation.

"What are you predicting your score will be, sweetie?" Daisy asked Luigi.

"I really don't know. I'm just gonna play the way I trained myself to and see where I end up after today," Luigi responded.

"I think I'm gonna end up with 60 just because."

"Good luck with that. Toadsworth, how's your steak?"

"They did it medium like I asked them to. Perfect quality," Toadsworth said after cutting into his steak.

After 31 minutes, everyone was ready for the ride to the Cheep Cheep Falls golf course, which is 50 minutes away from the castle with no traffic. However, Mario took a detour to his pad because he asked Rocco to come and watch the tournament, which means that Mario had to use the Faraway Warp Zone to help Rocco into the Mushroom World. After arriving at Mario's Pad, Rocco appeared to be in his live-action form with his surroundings completely animated.

"Wow. Nice house you've got," Rocco said while looking around the inside of Mario's Pad.

"Thank you. But I don't have time to give you a full tour. We got to get to Cheep Cheep Falls now," Mario responded as both walked out the front door to his kart. Mario then drove his kart straight to Cheep Cheep Falls. At the golf course, there were about 39,000 spectators that surrounded most of the 18 holes. By the time Rocco and Mario found a good parking spot, it was 9:10 AM.

"When's your tee time, Mario?" Rocco asked.

"10:10. I've got some time to practice on the range," Mario responded. On his way to the driving range, Mario glanced at the forested areas that bordered each of the holes as well as a wide river that flowed through the middle of the whole course and a waterfall located on the northern end.

Mario chose to not hit his personalized balls on the range for sentimental reasons and the fact that he wouldn't be able to use the balls again during the open. For the next 45 minutes, Mario drove an average of 230 yards while practicing his pitching shots on the closest green to his tee box.

After checking his phone clock which read 9:55 AM, Mario said to himself, "Well, this is it. This is what I've been waiting for all these weeks." He picked up his golfing set and made his way to one of the course's golf carts to drive to Hole 1; Rocco was standing within the audience, which meant that Mario was on his own.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now on the tee is Mario Aristide Mario," an unseen announcer called out to the spectators. Everyone started applauding for Mario as he approached the tee box and set his ball down on the tee.

As Mario gripped his club and took his stance, he thought to himself, "Okay. Think happy thoughts. They're all cheering for you. No one wants you to do badly."

He was so nervous since his heart was pounding fast and his hands were shaking a little bit. Mario managed to force himself to stop shaking and glanced down the fairway. Everyone suddenly quieted down to allow Mario to concentrate. After Mario looked at the ball again, he took a deep breath and began his swing. His initial drive appeared to be a dead straight line about 213 yards out, relieving Mario from worrying about messing up on the very first shot.

One factor to keep in mind about the tournament is that of the 30 players competing against each other, three of them play one hole similar to a stroke play before the next three go ahead. This allows the tournament to proceed at a steady pace without having to wait for each of the 30 complete one hole before moving on. Another factor is that with the exception of driving up to Hole 1 and away from Hole 18, each player has to walk the entire course while playing; even between holes.

Playing alongside Mario were Peach and Yoshi; both of which have nearly the same average drive distance (205 yards). After all three made their tee shots, Peach and Mario stepped aside to allow Yoshi to hit his second shot.

"Good luck, Yoshi," Mario whispered under his breath. To everyone's surprise, Yoshi's ball hit the pin and stopped only a couple feet from the hole. While everyone was impressed at the pin shot, Mario could only groan with irritation because he knew it would throw him off.

During his second shot, Mario chose to cancel out all the noise around him, but it turned out to not work because he imagined them cheering for Yoshi only. Because of that, Mario's ball hooked and buried itself in the bunker to the left of the hole; only half the ball was stuck inside. By the end, Peach and Yoshi each got a birdie while Mario got a bogey.

"Don't sweat it," Mario said to himself. "It's only the first hole." On Hole 2, Mario again hit 213 yards on the tee shot. He intended to use his second strategy and picture himself as the only one on the golf course; however, he inadvertently fantasied himself on the cloud deck, making him unable to focus on the hole. As a result, his ball sunk in the right-side water hazard.

"Oh God..." Mario muttered. "I didn't mean to use the fantasy method..." His score stood at 10 prior to Hole 3. By the ninth hole, Mario had a score of 41, Peach had a 30, and Yoshi had a 29.

"I know it's Day 1, Mario, but you need to try harder," Rocco said to Mario during the hour-long break.

"I AM trying, Rocco," Mario replied. "I didn't expect to use the fantasy strategy. It probably happened because Yoshi made the pin shot."

"Just because someone made a pin shot doesn't mean it should ruin your chances of doing well," Rocco stated. Both took a look at the scoreboard before Mario resumed on Hole 10; he was in 7th place with Donkey Kong on top with 26.

"Remember that I can't be there on your side while you're playing," Rocco reminded Mario.

"I know. I'm aware of that."

At the end of the first day, Mario's stood at 10th place with a score of 80; Donkey Kong's nephew Diddy Kong took the lead at 59. Mario, Peach, and Yoshi walked up to Diddy Kong several minutes afterward to congratulate him.

"You did good, Diddy Kong, but I want you to understand that I'm not the pro you think I am," Mario said. Diddy Kong wasn't capable of human speech; he made chimpanzee noises that comprised his lingo. Luckily, Yoshi was able to translate everything Diddy Kong said.

"Diddy says, 'It's all cool. I know you have no intention of bad-mouthing me for being in first place,'" Yoshi told Mario.

"I would never recommend playing catch-up, but that's your only option, Mario," Peach noted.

"But I didn't mean to get sidetracked back there," Mario protested.

"That's your problem, Mario," Yoshi responded. "But don't take it as an offense."

"I get it. That's been one of my problems during my training."

After wrapping up his conversation with Peach, Yoshi, and Diddy Kong; Mario approached Rocco, who was standing by the scoreboard.

"Can I give you a tip?" Rocco asked.

"Sure."

"If any of the players hits an excellent shot such as a pin shot or a double eagle, don't let it influence you in a way that you're going to do worse than them. It's up to you to do just as good as the top five."

"Thanks," Mario said with a sigh. "I'm not sighing to get your attention. It's just a small habit."

"It doesn't bother me. Almost everyone sighs when irritated." Rocco replied.

And so, Mario drove Rocco back to his pad in order to take him back to the Real-Life Earth; at that point, the time was 3:15 PM. For the next three days, the tournament would utilize the same 18 holes with the difference being the pins and holes being shifted randomly at different points on the greens. How will Mario do on Day 2?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: As you saw while Mario made his first shot of the day, that's where the intro took place before we rewound one month prior. I hope you're enjoying the story so far.