I should add I know the ref is stored in the object database from running this:
$ git ls-tree master MySubModule 160000 commit 7927d2d87c46687e1e1952f40df8d1d2af0a7bd6 MySubModule -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Git for human beings" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to git-users+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.