In true amateur style, Whangarei's Kadin Neho stepped off an 11-hour bus ride to yahoos and claps from friends, family, and Northland golf supporters after he was crowned New Zealand's top amateur golfer.
Looking a little worse for wear, after Neho went from winning premier title in men's amateur golfstraight into a bus trip from Manawatu, he said he was pleased to be supported on his return home.
Neho's dad, Wiremu, was the more emotional of the two, saying the extent of his son's achievement on Sunday had not set in just yet.
"We're stoked mate, it's just hard to believe," Wiremu said. "I think it just sunk in this morning [Monday] ... had a few tears this morning reading a few of the articles that were on websites. Yesterday was all the old 'yay, yay' but when it came to feeling what it was like, it was hard to find words.
"I think the thing we're so surprised about it was his goal was to only make the top 32 because he's been to it [the New Zealand Amateur Matchplay Championships] before but was knocked out in the first round. [This year] he was going to go try progress a bit further than last time."
Wiremu reinforced that the magnitude of what Neho has done is huge, becoming the first Northland golfer to win the title in the event's 120-year history.
"There're so many players that are very good out there and to come all this way, from Northland, and achieve something like that is amazing."
If Neho thought the weekend's win would be a nice trophy to sit back on, he's wrong. Northland Golf coach Quenton Diment said this is just the beginning for the 17-year-old Whangarei Boys' High School student.
"He's got to be aiming for representing New Zealand and aiming for the representative squads," Diment said. "He's got to be aiming to make the senior sides, and definitely, if nothing else, then the colts [New Zealand under-19s, which he has one more year of availability].
While Diment wasn't able to be with Neho over the weekend, the pair had been exchanging numerous text messages around how to progress through the tournament - each with a similar theme, keep calm and carry on.
"I pretty much sent through the same text every time, 'if you play you can beat them'. If he plays well then the other guy has to beat him, it was a pretty simple game plan.
"Neho is one of those players who doesn't appear to be flustered, I'm sure he is a little flustered at times, but he's got great composure and nothing seems to faze him," Diment said.
