Oct. 28 (UPI) — A Florida man who lost his U.S. Naval Academy class ring on a Pennsylvania golf course was reunited with the prized item by a fellow golfer 54 years later.

David Lorenzo, 82, said he lost his Class of 1964 ring while golfing with his father at Uniontown Country Club, near Pittsburgh.

“It survived combat, but it couldn’t survive my golf game,” Lorenzo told the Pensacola News Journal.

Michael Zenert, 70, was golfing at the same club recently when he spotted a shiny object in the clay that had been exposed by recent rains near the fourth green.

“I saw this shiny thing and I thought it was a beer can tab,” Zenert said. “I dug it out so no one would step on it and I saw it was a ring.”

Zenert searched for the ring’s owner online, and found a podcast episode in which Lorenzo talked about his experiences in the military.

He traveled to Florida to present Lorenzo with the ring at the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, where Lorenzo is a volunteer.

“I just knew I couldn’t send this in the mail,” Zenert said. “I knew it had to be personally delivered.”

The museum celebrated Lorenzo’s returned ring on social media.

“Christmas came early this year for long-time museum volunteer Dave Lorenzo,” the post said.