Dean Robertson on how he came 'crashing down' after GB&I's Walker Cup win

“I came crashing down big time - it was incredible,” he admitted, speaking to The Scotsman before eventually heading home on Wednesday. “I spoke to Naga Munchetty on Radio 5 Live on Monday and I was meant to do a BBC zoom call as well, but I fell asleep, can you believe that?”

The likes of Catriona Matthew, Paul McGinley and Luke Donald will probably relate to that after their respective Curtis Cup, Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup experiences after a long and exhausting week at the end of a journey that probably feels as though it is never going to end.

As a player, Robertson was part of a Great Britain & Ireland team - it also included Padraig Harrington - that suffered a 19-5 hammering at the hands of the United States in the 1993 Walker Cup at Interlachen Country Club in Minnesota. In his first stint as a captain, GB&I lost 17-9 just over a year ago at Cypress Point in California.

In fairness, the scoreline in the latter didn’t do GB&I justice. Put simply, they were just battered in the concluding singles session by a strong American side. Robertson deserved his second bite at the cherry and duly got it. He knew that getting revenge wouldn’t be easy at all and so it proved.

GB&I lost the penultimate foursomes session 4-0 to fall three points behind. His players simply had to come up with something big in the concluding ten singles. Four wins at the top order was just what the doctor ordered. Even then, the odds of a first GB&I win in the transatlantic tussle since 2015 seemed slim.

‘I still can’t believe it - it was absolutely amazing’

In the end, it took Connor Graham winning the last two holes with birdies to secure a half point in his match then Josh Hill producing what was arguably shot of the year in golf from a greenside bunker to win the par-5 18th in the final game and clinch a sensational 13.5-12.5 victory.

“I still can’t believe it - it was just absolutely amazing,” admitted Robertson, the University of Stirling’s head of golf, of an incredible finale. “We never stopped believing. We were really good on day one, really strong, and we matched them in the singles, which was a big focus for us going into the match.

“On the second morning, my goodness me, did the Americans show they can play golf! They were 16 under par when the wind was up and it left you thinking ‘this standard of golf is off the charts’. Fortunately, one of my requests this year was submitting the singles line up one hour before the first tee time, which was for a number of reasons. Before, I think it had always been submitted the night before and, if that had been the case, we would have lost on Sunday. I was able to respond to the situation and front load the team and everyone had their job to do.”

The former Scottish Amateur champion could have talked all day about how his players fulfilled their tasks and understandably so, especially Stuart Grehan as the lone Irish player in the team came from being down early on for the second day running to topple the world No 1, Preston Stout, and Hill, who vindicated being a somewhat controversial captain's pick.

But what about how he celebrated creating history as the first Scot to captain a Walker Cup team, achieving a feat proved out of reach for the likes of Charlie Green, George Macgregor, Colin Dalgleish and, most recently, Stuart Wilson?

“After going back to the team room with the trophy and a load of people being there, we then went to Lahinch Golf Club, which, to say it was bouncing, would be an understatement. We went into the lounge and, my god, it was mental. They had a band playing and I not only thanked everybody but also ended up singing a song. Can you believe that? (laughing). I just did a bit of Frank Sinatra ‘That’s Life’. Listen, it was great in there and we went back to the team room before heading up into the town, which was bouncing.

“We were in the pubs with the Walker Cup and it was getting filled with all sorts of stuff. Thankfully, Euan Mordaunt (the GB&I team manager for The R&A) was there, so it was in safe hands. The Walker Cup had a wee celebration itself and I don’t honestly know if it’s been used that way as extensively in the past. We ended up back in the club and the town on Monday. Oh my god, it was mental. The people here are so invested in their sport and love golf. The place has got a buzz like you can’t believe.”

Robertson, who heaped praise on every single member of his support team, which included long-time friends Raymond Russell and John Mathers, stayed on in Lahinch for a few days to give himself a chance to recharge the batteries before overseeing the start of the new University of Stirling semester starting on Monday before an autumn training camp gets underway on campus the following day.

Like lots of others before them, the current Stirling golf scholars are very lucky indeed to have someone like Robertson working with them, with a question that now needs to be answered being: Will he be staying on as GB&I captain for the 2028 match at Bandon Dunes in Oregon? “If asked, I would go again - 100 per cent,” he declared, smiling.