Last year a share of seventh place at the Ryder Cup Wales 2010 Welsh PGA Open Championship seemed a reasonable return for Essex assistant professional Brett Taylor.
Since then, however, the 32-year has won the Powerade PGA Assistants' Championship and finished 24th in the BMW PGA Championship - the European Tour's flagship event - at Wentworth after outscoring the likes of Ryder Cup stars Colin Montgomerie and Ian Poulter, two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal and double US Open winner Retief Goosen.
Now the Chelmsford player is starting to look for improvements as he heads to Marriott St Pierre near Chepstow for the 54-hole event, starting on Tuesday August 9.
"I'm looking forward to it. I had a good run last year so I am hoping to carry that on at this year's tournament," said Taylor.
"Last year was the first time I have played in it. There are a lot of good players there and it will be nice to play in a three-round tournament.
"My game is going all right. I have just got to keep going and get some good results and some consistency under my belt."
The field includes the likes of European Tour professionals Stephen Dodd and Sion Bebb - a former champion who tied for second last year, with professionals coming from throughout the UK to play.
Another player looking for improvement is Ian Ellis, who finished 10th last year.
The 34-year-old, who currently leads the East Region's Order of Merit, believes he will be able to do better second time around in the tournament.
"Last year was the first time I played St Pierre and I did it without even a practice round but if you finish 10th you haven't played all that badly," said Ellis, who is attached to Weston Park in Norwich.
"I'm looking forward to doing better this year and it would be nice to finish in the top five.
"It's a great golf course and it would be a great tournament to win considering all the players that are playing.
"There is a bit more pressure because you have to put three rounds together and the best player wins more often than not. It's not like a pro-am where you can have a one-off good round and win."
Rob Holt, chief executive of Ryder Cup Wales 2010, commented: "Ryder Cup Wales is delighted to partner the PGA at this event which forms part of our annual 'Summer of Golf' programme which we deliver as part of our commitments as a result of the successful Ryder Cup bid.
"The Summer of Golf tournaments have transformed the golfing calendar throughout Wales which features fantastic golf events and attracts world class players."