Danish great Thomas Bjørn will be looking forward as well as back when he tees it up in his 500th European Tour event at the Made In Denmark this week.
The 46 year old has come a long way since winning his first European Tour title at the Loch Lomond World Invitational, a victory that made him the first Danish winner on the European Tour and helped make him the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year.
A further 14 wins and three victorious Ryder Cup appearances have followed and next year he will lead Europe in the biennial contest against the United States at Le Golf National.
This week, however, it is all about Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort, where Bjørn will celebrate his career so far on home soil with one of the best crowds on the calendar.
"It's quite special to be honest," he said. "When you started adding up the numbers where we was in April and May it looked like it was going to be around here that 500 was going to come along so we took the opportunity to make it happen.
"I'm excited about the week but it's also a reminder of what's gone in the past. 500 events is a lot, there's been a lot of happiness and a lot of tears along the way but it's been much more than I could ever have dreamt of.
"When you set out as a young pro you don't know what's ahead of you and to achieve the things that I have and played this amount of events on Tour is something that I never would have dreamt of.
"I'm proud of it, yes, and I'm just happy that I'm still around to experience this."
The Great Dane has been a flagbearer for Danish golf since he burst onto the Challenge Tour and is delighted to see it going from strength to strength at all levels.
Søren Kjeldsen and Thorbjørn Olesen are both in the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking while Lasse Jensen, Lucas Bjerregaard, Jeff Winther and a host of others are all making great strides in the professional game.
500 events is a lot, there's been a lot of happiness and a lot of tears along the way but it's been much more than I could ever have dreamt of - Thomas Bjørn
The Made in Denmark has played a great part in enhancing the profile of Danish golf and Bjørn is eager to see both the event and the game continue to grow.
"It's always special," he said. "We waited with great anticipation the first time it came around and it's just grown and it sits very well with the players on Tour but it also sits very well in this country. It's one thing that people in this country look forward to, it becomes a bit of a celebration of golf and Danish golf and I think that's a really good place for it.
"It's not so much about the players it's more about the game and where people want to take this game. It just sits very well and kind of lives a life that is good fun to be part of.
"On Tour it's good, we've got a lot of good players, we've got young players as well, a good presence on the Challenge Tour, a great, great presence in women's golf. There's so much going on in Danish golf. The Federation is doing a great job bringing youngsters through, they just won the European Boys Team Championship. There's a good bunch coming through there, there's a couple of them playing this week.
"There's so many players coming through and for a small country to continuously keep bringing players through is very impressive and this tournament will help them along and give them something to look at and also something to be part of and prepare them better when they eventually get on Tour. It's an important part of the whole package that we have."
