Owen Edwards was within touching distance of a breakthrough in his career and a moment to savour for Welsh golf.
With six holes remaining in final qualifying for last month's Open Championship, Edwards had a healthy lead over the best field he has ever competed against.
But a place at Royal Birkdale slipped from Edwards' grasp in agonising fashion, as seven dropped shots down the stretch saw the 34-year-old miss the chance to make a major championship debut.
"It was brutal," Edwards says.
"There was a lot of pain afterwards. You think 'how has this happened?'."
Edwards' dispiriting finish denied him a landmark moment in a career spent trying to establish himself in professional golf.
For Wales, meanwhile, it meant a third successive year without so much as one player in the Open field.
The nation's recent record at Britain's men's major championship is dreadful, while the world rankings make for miserable reading too.
As it stands, Edwards' friend Jack Davidson is the highest-placed Welshman, in 989th.
Edwards, meanwhile, is ranked 1,511th.
Gareth Jenkins, performance director at Wales Golf since 2024, told BBC Sport last month that the governing body is attempting to produce more players capable of thriving in the professional game – but that it may take five years for work being done now to deliver results.
Edwards, who came through the amateur ranks with Wales Golf before turning professional in 2018, believes there are changes which, if made, would make a difference for Welsh players attempting to reach the top echelons of the sport.
"When you turn pro, there just isn't support," Edwards says.
"I do want it to be clear that I am very grateful for what I got from Wales Golf and the support they provided for me.
"There's a lot of good work going on. I think the problem is a resource issue in Wales, whether it's enough money or reach."
'It's not helping Welsh players get better'Born in Cambridge, Edwards has spent much of his life in the Netherlands.
But this son of parents from Carmarthen – who moved around due to work – is a passionate Welshman.
Edwards really began to focus on golf after going to university in Birmingham, first in the Wales Golf squads and then as a professional.
He has spent time on the now defunct PGA EuroPro Tour, the Pro Golf Tour and the MENA Golf Tour, and played Hotel Planner Tour events in his attempts to reach the DP World Tour.
He has encountered golfers from numerous countries along the way – and believes that for various reasons, some are given a better chance of making the grade than players from Wales.
"We meet guys from many different nations," Edwards said.
"I don't know too many others who haven't heard from their national union since they turned pro. I haven't had contact with Wales Golf, so I don't know if they're trying to help or if it's impossible due to lack of resources."
Edwards points to the "incredible pipeline of successful golfers" coming from Denmark despite the fact that like Wales, it is a relatively small country.
"I know they have quite a lot of exposure between amateurs, youngsters, training with pros - all helping each other and using that resource a little bit," he said.
"[In Wales] you turn pro and that's it, you don't get any more support and it's all on you, which is sport in some ways, but it's tough. It's not helping Welsh players get better."
Owen Edwards intends to play in a number of qualifying schools this year as he attempts to land a card for a major tour [Getty Images]Edwards says Wales' professionals of the future would benefit from guidance from those who have gone before.
Bradley Dredge, a former world top-50 player, told the Golf Cymru podcast last month that he offered his time to Wales Golf "a few years ago" but that they had not been in touch.
Edwards says that aside from one session with ex-Ryder Cup player Phil Price, his generation "weren't give much preparation" for the pro game.
"Being an amateur golfer in the Wales Golf set-up and a professional golfer are like different disciplines," he says.
"I'd absolutely be more than happy to go and speak to the guys thinking of turning pro and be like, 'hey, this is my experience - this is what I didn't do, which I wish I did'. They're not using those resources."
Edwards believes Wales' current professionals would also benefit from more communication.
He suggests a Welsh "pro squad", who could meet up during the winter months to share experiences or simply "a weekend where we have a game against each other".
"There doesn't seem to be any plan in place to just provide a support system," Edwards said.
"This is a really lonely sort of pursuit. I just think that there are some untapped areas where we could help each other, where we could support each other a bit more."
Edwards is aware that funding is an issue and that Wales Golf will not suddenly be able to spend big on a new project.
But he argues progress can be made without any great outlay.
"Maybe they just promote us a bit on social media, let people know what's going on with our scores, because the reality is we've just become completely disconnected from Wales Golf now," he added.
"Letting people know, and maybe providing some links to scoring and stuff, helps the players in small ways."
Wales has not hosted a DP World Tour event since the 2022 Cazoo Open, which was won by Callum Shinkwin [Getty Images]Edwards' other plea is for Wales to host an event on the Hotel Planner Tour, which is the stepping stone to the top-level DP World Tour.
Assuming Wales Golf was involved in staging the tournament, it would be able to offer invites to Welsh players.
Not only that, but the way the system works – with various nations exchanging their own invites with others – would mean Welsh players should then get chances to play other Hotel Planner events.
"It feels a little bit like you're asking for a handout, but the guys we're playing against are getting those opportunities," Edwards said.
"It would help the [Welsh] guys see that we are good enough to compete at that level, because I think a lot of people coming out of Wales maybe don't think that."
Wales Golf 'would love to do more'Having been created to manage amateur golf, Wales Golf says its focus has to be the non-professional game.
The organisation says that while federations in some other countries are responsible for both amateur and professional golf, they are funded differently, with more government money available and greater income from golf club memberships.
In a statement issued to BBC Sport, Jenkins said Edwards "makes many good points" - but stresses that Wales Golf "celebrates the success of all Welsh players who progress into the professional game".
"As Wales Golf is the governing body for the amateur game in Wales, we have to concentrate our resources on developing the game, increasing participation, providing competitions and pathways, helping clubs and their members and developing and supporting our elite amateur players," Jenkins added.
"We are working hard to develop as many elite players we can and strongly focus on giving elite amateurs the best possible platform from which to launch professional careers.
"We do keep in touch with our former top amateurs as and when opportunities allow, both formally and informally. We also follow their progress closely and like to promote good results."
Jenkins says that in the past Elite Cymru funding - provided by Sport Wales - meant Wales Golf could offer limited support to players who were turning professional, but that the "funding route is no longer available".
"Therefore, we do not have the funding to support players once they turn professional, or to host professional championships," he added.
"We would love to do more, but that would require major changes to both our role and our funding.
"We would certainly welcome discussions with partners, government, Sport Wales and other organisations about how that gap might be addressed in the future. A stronger bridge between elite amateur and professional golf would benefit Welsh players and Welsh golf as a whole."
Darcey Harry has made a mark in the professional game having been developed as an amateur with Wales Golf [Getty Images]Darcey Harry, who won as a rookie on the Ladies European Tour last year having come through the Wales Golf ranks, spent time talking to, and playing with, some of the nation's best young players at Royal Porthcawl last month.
Jenkins, who worked at England Golf before switching to Wales, says the plan is to arrange "a lot more" events where Welsh professionals mix with promising amateurs.
"We are well aware that successful professionals are role models that can inspire the next generation of players," he said.
"Thanks to a great response from the likes of Darcey, Phil Price, Bradley Dredge, Jamie Donaldson and others, we are looking to get these players together with our squads more often.
"We would also like to include some of those who have turned professional more recently and we are delighted to see Owen Edwards would like to play a part in such a scheme – he would be very welcome."
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