In a delightfully peaceful setting, far removed from the scene of battle, Michael Hoey tenderly fingered his glittering prize. Less than 24 hours previously, he had become only the fifth Irishman to capture the British Amateur Championship - and here was the medal to prove it.
The trophy was delivered to his club, Shandon Park, on Saturday night when the captain, Billy Bell, accepted it on behalf of the members. "It's nice to be able to give something back, after all the help I've received at Shandon over the years," he said.
We were in the garden of the Hoey residence in east Belfast, with sunshine filtering through the trees of the Stormont Estate. Michael's brother Edward, a 24year-old doctor, was there. So were his proud parents, Brian and Pearl.
They had travelled to Prestwick GC on Saturday morning with Billy Black, president of the GUI, who had been invited to join in the 150th birthday celebrations of a club which had given birth to the British Open. And they were rewarded with the sight of Michael completing a remarkable week's play by gaining a one-hole victory over Ian Campbell of Wales in the 36-hole final.
Not wishing to deflect from the achievement of his son, Brian had to be reminded that it was only a short distance down the Ayrshire coast at Royal Troon that he, as a 50-year-old, had won three matches out of three at number one for Ireland, including a 4 and 3 victory over England's David Gilford, in the Home Internationals of 1984.
And Prestwick will be remembered for the triumph of Christy O'Connor Snr in the Dunlop Masters of 1956, when he carded a final round of 67 to beat Eric Brown by a stroke. And how the defending champion, Harry Bradshaw, had extended a congratulatory hand, before his compatriot had reached the recorder's hut.
Prestwick was also the scene of Irish celebration in 1992, when the Men's Home Internationals were won for an unprecedented third successive year.
Now, its ancient turf had delivered the highest individual prize in the amateur game. It is a prize which was captured by Jimmy Bruen at Royal Birkdale in 1946, by Ulster's Max McCreadie at Portmarnock in 1949, by Joe Carr at Hoylake (1953), St Andrews (1958) and Royal Portrush (1960) and by another Ulsterman, Garth McGimpsey, at Royal Dornoch in 1985.
"I felt greatly honoured when I looked at the names on the trophy," said the latest recipient. "And there are so many bonuses. I thought about going to the Tour School this autumn but that's all changed, given that I'm in the Open at Royal Lytham next month and in the US Masters at Augusta National next year.
"I played Augusta in May 1999 when I was a student at Clemson. And though we were off the back tees and I shot something in the mid 70s, it was only a bit of fun. This will be different. I wonder if I'll get to play with Tiger Woods, like Miko Ilonen (last year's Amateur champion) did this year. They'd never put Tiger with the Amateur champion two years in a row, would they?"
During the week at Prestwick, Hoey's thoughts were dominated by what he felt he needed to do so as to maintain his prospects of making this year's Walker Cup team. "That's been my main focus and I felt I had to reach the quarterfinals," he said. By the time this was accomplished, he and his father both suspected it might be Michael's week.
"When you're as long around golf as I am, you tend to look out for certain signs," said Hoey senior. "And I felt we had one on the 19th hole of Michael's first round match with Nicklas Bruzelius." His son agreed. "I holed a 35-foot putt to stay in the match," he said. "That was a key moment."
As it happened, he went on to win that match on the 24th. Then, in last Friday's semi-finals, when he was two down against Simon Mackenzie with four to play, he holed a 25-footer for a half on the 15th. Another key moment. Incidentally, that match went to the 25th, by way of strengthening the suspicion that Shandon Park players relish golfing marathons. It will be recalled that Hoey's clubmate, David Long, was taken to the 26th before beating Arthur Pierse in the final of the 1979 West of Ireland.
"When I played Prestwick in practice, I knew I would need to be patient and determined," he went on. "And I really drew on lessons learned from Dr Bob Rotella's (a leading American sports psychologist) books.
"There was also a big pay-off from Bobby Browne's (professional at Laytown and Bettystown) coaching. My competitive breakthrough came when I won the Irish Strokeplay at Royal Dublin in 1998, but my game seemed to stagnate the following year.
"That was when I went to Bobby. He has been a terrific help, especially where alignment, posture and course management were concerned."
In Saturday's final, Campbell had a five-foot, left-to-right downhill putt on the 36th green to keep the match alive, but it slipped past the target on the right. It was all over. Hoey brought home a rather special gift from the host club - a limited edition print of a painting by Elizabeth McCrindle of Prestwick's two finishing holes, which he handled rather well.
