From the title of this article, you may have guessed that I didn’t play well. Spoiler alert: You are correct.

But golf is a funny game in that sometimes it truly doesn’t matter what numbers are on the scorecard. In most cases, I feel like I care about my score more than the average golfer, though I’m certainly not a psycho about it. I don’t go out there to drink with my buddies. I’m out there to improve and enjoy the game I love.

In this case, however, I had an absolute blast while playing like rubbish. For the second time this month, I met up with old friends Jason and Adam at Vineyards Golf Course in Fredonia. This time, we were joined by Jim, who I’ve actually known my entire life. Our dads grew up as next-door neighbors and best friends. Jim, Jason and my older brother actually all graduated high school together, if I’m not mistaken. So it was awesome catching up with him a bit.

First the good news: the weather warmed up quickly after a brisk morning and it turned into a perfect Fall day. The course (especially the front nine) was in very nice condition given the time of year. Scott was even out the mowing in front of us so we were playing on freshly mowed fairway, which was nice.

The less-than-ideal part of the day was that seemingly everyone in the Dunkirk-Fredonia area had the same idea that we did – tee off at 10 a.m. in order to get home for the start of the Bills game. So as we waited for the entire foursome to arrive, the parking lot filled up quickly and the first tee box became something of a traffic jam. In retrospect, it was pretty awesome that so many people were playing golf this late into the year. You have to love the dedication of golfers.

The round actually started out relatively well. Starting on the back nine to avoid the congestion, Jim and I both hit the green off the tee on No. 10. Jason was just short and Adam was just off to the left. It was as good as a collective group of tee shots as I’ve seen on the hole. Naturally I three-putted my way to a bogey, but I was still (temporarily) feeling good about myself.

On No. 11, I hooked my drive badly into No. 8’s fairway. Sadly, this isn’t unusual. My first few drives of every round seem to be hooks lately. It’s a frustrating turn of events because I don’t truly know what I’m doing wrong. To their credit, Adam and Jason both hit beautiful drives down the middle of the fairway. Unfortunately, Adam went on to teach a lesson in “How To Ruin A Great Drive 101.” We’ve all been there.

Fast-forward to No. 16, which might just be the most difficult hole on the back nine, if not the entire course. Not only is there a pond directly in front of the green, but the green itself is raised up with an extremely steep drop-off on the back side. Danger in the front. Danger in the back. So it goes without saying that it was my best hole of the day, even after a lousy drive that went short and left. A wonderful pitching wedge right into the middle of the green set me up for an easy two-putt for par.

Unfortunately, the momentum was not to last. I hit my worst drive of the season on No. 17. It hit the heel of the club and rolled up to the women’s tees. I was more than a little frustrated and embarrassed, so I decided to take my one mulligan for the round. Wouldn’t you know it, I did the exact same thing. Both balls were within an arm span from each other. So if you’re keeping score at home, I just hit my two worst drives of the season on one hole. Lovely.

After a par on No. 18, we decided to play the front nine, too, since the weather was so nice and the course had cleared out a bit (again, the Bills game was kicking off shortly).

Sadly, I couldn’t stay for long as my wife made plans (I did tell her I’d be home by one, so I can’t blame her), but there was at least one really nice highlight from the few holes I played. I wish I could say it was my highlight, but it wasn’t.

On the par 5, No. 2, Adam crushed his yellow ball right down the middle of the fairway. Then he bombed his second shot up to the trees on the left. I wouldn’t call his third shot pretty by any means, but he did exactly what he was trying to do and rolled his ball right up into the shadow of the pin before burying his birdie putt. It was the only birdie any of us had all day, so kudos to Adam.

I’m afraid to look at the weather report for this week, but I’m really hoping the weather cooperates enough for another round. It feels more and more like the season is coming to a close.

But until then, golf is great. Go get some.

Stefan Gestwicki is an OBSERVER contributing writer. Comments on this article can be sent to golfersdiary@gmail.com