With one ball in the hole, Darnell regained his nonchalant demeanor, spun around elegantly, and started singing while dancing right there.
“Just beat it. Beat it…”
Darnell’s singing was lonely and piercing. The dozens who had just mocked him were now mute, their stiff smiles awkward. This shot was a slap in the face!
The solitary singing struck at their hearts.
Jazmine and her friends also looked embarrassed. They wanted to see Darnell make a fool of himself but ended up being the joke themselves.
Areli’s beautiful eyes widened slightly, and her usually aloof face showed a hint of a smile, clearly enjoying the situation.
Elvis and Kendra were also slightly surprised, evidently not expecting Darnell to make such a shot.
Bella looked unconvinced. “It must be luck!”
She could never stand Darnell’s smugness.
After a brief silence, Jazmine forced a smile. “Mr. Halford, you’re quite lucky today, a hole-in-one.”
“That was impressive.”
David quickly responded as well, agreeing with Jazmine that it must have been luck for Darnell to make that shot. He couldn’t believe someone who threw his club away could be a golf expert. He smiled noncommittally,
“For the next round, I hope Mr. Halford continues to have good luck. There are still fifty minutes left. Keep it up.”
“Luck?”
Darnell sneered, “Why don’t you try your luck?”
Kendra watched Darnell with interest from afar, observing the situation unfold.
Hearing Darnell’s taunt, Jazmine replied with a forced smile, “We don’t need luck, because we have skill.”
“Mr. Halford, stay humble. An hour is long. I hope you continue making hole-in-ones instead of throwing your club.”
“Otherwise, your current achievement will turn into a slap in the face.”
At that moment, over ten companions of David and Jazmine laughed along with her, thinking the hole-in-one was just a fluke.
They quickly cheered for David and Jazmine. David gestured for silence and then approached his ball gracefully.
He made a perfect shot to end the first round.
Jazmine also made her shot into the hole.
Darnell gave a thumbs-up. “Not bad, but still far behind me. Keep trying.”
Jazmine almost choked with anger.
“For the second round, let me go first again.”
Taking a deep breath, David gripped his club tightly and said, “Mr. Halford, you can summon your luck again.”
This time, Darnell didn’t respond. He just held his club and closed his eyes.
David sneered but then calmed down. With a swift swing, his ball approached the hole.
One centimeter short.
“Well done, Mr. Kemp!”
“Mr. Kemp, you’re amazing!”
As his female companions clapped to boost his confidence, Jazmine regained her poise and walked to the teeing area with graceful steps.
She tucked her hair behind her ear and swung her club.
With a thud, the golf ball flew out and landed near the hole, half a centimeter closer than David’s but still short of luck.
“Miss Picton is truly talented,” David praised with a thumbs-up. “That shot was at a professional level.”
Jazmine smiled playfully, “It was pure luck, but this luck might not match Mr. Halford’s.”
She teased sarcastically, “Maybe Mr. Halford will get another hole-in-one.”
Over ten well-dressed men and women jeered again as if trying to reclaim their lost dignity from Darnell.
“If he gets another hole-in-one by luck, I’ll kneel before him.”
“I don’t believe in miracles happening twice. He won’t be so lucky!”
“Hit another ball and show us your real skill.”
Bella also scoffed, “If he gets another hole-in-one, I’ll eat the ball.”
Darnell stepped up to the teeing area and spoke to his caddie for a moment. The caddie hesitated but brought him twenty balls as instructed.
Darnell took his position but didn’t swing immediately like before. He raised and lowered his club several times as if unsure.
Bella shouted, “Why aren’t you hitting? Out of luck?”
“Can you do it or not? If not, just admit defeat.”
Amidst the laughter, Darnell turned to Areli with a frustrated look.
“Areli, I’m suddenly unsure. Can you give me some confidence?”
Areli felt uneasy but replied, “How should I give you confidence?” She sensed something mischievous in his tone.
“I was confident earlier because I kissed you seven times,” Darnell said earnestly, his eyes clear and innocent. “Kissing you unleashed my potential.”
“But now I run out of energy. Can you kiss me for encouragement? Just like how a prince awakens a sleeping princess with a kiss.”
Darnell looked pitiful as he continued, “Now that the prince faces danger, shouldn’t the princess give him courage?”
Damn!
If he wanted to take advantage of her, just say so! Areli wanted to slap Darnell away.
David’s face darkened. “Darnell, golf is about skill. What does kissing have to do with it?”
“I don’t believe someone as useless as you can become skilled just by being kissed.”
“You’re trying to steal kisses before losing. Areli won’t fall for it.”
Darnell looked surprised. “Mr. Kemp, you’re amazing! How did you figure it out?”
David nearly lashed out but gritted his teeth. “Hurry up and hit the ball. Stop stalling. Areli won’t play along…”
“No, I’m willing to give my boyfriend courage,” Areli said firmly.
Areli knew kissing wouldn’t improve golf skills but didn’t mind using this chance to upset David further.
Therefore, she quickly walked up to Darnell and wrapped her arms around his neck despite David’s protests. She planted a kiss on his forehead.
A lip print remained.
“Darnell, is that enough?”
Darnell’s eyes lit up. “Not enough!”
Areli glared at him and kissed him twice more. “Is your confidence back now?”
Darnell weakly replied, “No.”
Suppressing her urge to hit him, Areli kissed him three more times. “I think your confidence should be back now.”
If he said no again, she’d kick him directly.
“Areli, let’s make it more intense,” Darnell said as she tried to pull away. He grabbed her waist forcefully and gazed at her intently.
Areli tried to evade but Darnell overwhelmed her with an unstoppable force and pressed his lips against hers in a wild kiss.
He declared in no uncertain terms that this woman was his!
David fumed with rage.
The kiss was quick yet intense. After releasing Areli from his grasp, she stood there dazed with flushed cheeks and struggled for breath while holding her chest as if unable to breathe properly.
She glared at Darnell angrily, but he had already turned around and raised his club confidently. “Bring on the balls!”
Full of swagger.
Thud!
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he swung fiercely.
Seeing Darnell’s swing made Jazmine and David tremble slightly inside. It was calm yet fluid with an indescribable regal aura about it all while exuding dominance over everything else around them too!
From afar, Kendra watched him curiously, wondering if perhaps miracles might happen after all.
As everyone stared intently at where the golf ball would land, it flew through the air before landing straight into the hole itself!
The caddie blinked then rubbed his eyes before shouting excitedly, “Hole in one!”
Seeing the ball disappear into the hole left both David and Jazmine stunned, while Areli wore an expression filled with surprise too.
Everyone present stood there dumbfounded, staring blankly at that very same spot where the ball had gone down, their faces etched with the word “impossible”.
But their shock was only just beginning.
With a lipstick mark still visible on his face, Darnell didn’t stop swinging and hit one after another without pause.
Crack!
“Hole in one!”
Crack!
“Hole in one!”
In the eyes of the incredulous onlookers, Darnell swung his third, fourth, fifth, and sixth clubs…
The balls seemed like meteors, flying out of sight one after another, and then dropping into the holes one after another.
The caddie kept shouting, his voice growing more and more excited. “Fifteenth hole, hole in one. Sixteenth hole, hole in one…”
Jazmine and the others’ mouths gaped wider as Darnell’s swinging speed increased, and the hearts of everyone on the golf course pounded along, nearly leaping out of their chests.
The eighteenth swing…
The nineteenth swing…
Crack!
Darnell swung his club at the final hole with a fierce swing, and with a crisp sound, the last ball resolutely found its way into the hole.
Twenty holes, hole in one!
The dust settled.
Kendra unconsciously stood up, her face full of astonishment.