Roadtrip; Aboyne

Yesterday was the 6 month anniversary since I last drank any alcohol, so to celebrate I went out last night and drank lots of alcohol. 3 hours sleep and a stinking hangover wasn't the best preparation for an 18 hole Open.
First of all, the condition of the course at Aboyne was absolutely fantastic. The greens were in great shape, the fairways lush, and the tees well prepared.
The first 9 holes were fairly straightforward, I had one birdie and one bogey and was out in level par. The second 9 holes are just unbelievably difficult. I was level par on the twelfth tee, a par 3 of 170 yards. My tee shot was about 15ft right of my target, one bounce, disappeared into a bush. I didn't help myself by shanking my provisional ball miles right, and my 2nd provisional found the green. Despite being so close to safety, I could not find my first ball, so I eventually holed out for a 7.
The next 3 were all parred, but the sixteenth was where I waved a white flag are surrundered to Aboyne. One tee shot went right, the provisional went left, both lost and that was that. I actually managed to still get 34 stableford points so my handicap will probably not go up.
As good as the course was, the rough was unbelievably thick. We're talking Carnoustie 1999 thickness. Hit a ball offline and it was likely to be lost. Someone managed to shoot 66 in this competition, which is an unbelievable score considering the difficulty of the second 9 holes.
Another 36 holes planned for tomorrow, so it's an early night tonight to recharge the batteries.
The photo is from the 11th tee looking back down the 10th.