Francesco Laporta returns to the place were his golfing journey began at this week's South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg.
The Italian spent much of his young life in South Africa visiting family and it was here where he first swung a golf club.
He carried that love for the country into the professional ranks, playing three seasons on the Sunshine Tour before earning a rookie European Tour campaign in 2016 via the Qualifying School.
A trio of seasons on the European Challenge Tour followed, culminating in two wins en route to winning the Road to Mallorca and coming back onto the European Tour.
And Laporta - who has a South African twang in his accent when speaking in English - is delighted to be back in the place where he learned his trade.
"It's my second home," he said. "I still have some family here, my uncle, my auntie and some cousins.
"I spend a lot of time here, I spent a lot of time here when I was an amateur and played three years on the Sunshine Tour.
"It was nice, it's a lovely place, good people. The Sunshine Tour is nice, hard too, so it gave me a lot of experience to bring on the Challenge Tour and the European Tour."
It has been an incredible three months for Laporta who claimed a maiden professional win at the Hainan Open and just three weeks later won the Challenge Tour Grand Final.
Now the dream has come true again and I'm looking forward to another good year. I'll just try to keep my card as soon as possible and try to have a win.
His 2016 season has given him a taste of life on the European Tour and he is delighted to get another bite of the cherry.
"It's going to be completely different," he said.
"The level of the the Challenge Tour is very high so it was a great season last year, the last three months was an unbelievable three months for me.
"Now the dream has come true again and I'm looking forward to another good year. I'll just try to keep my card as soon as possible and try to have a win."
