You could say Marc Warren is flying the flag for Scotland in more ways than one on the global golfing beat these days.

Not content with engraving the Scot’s name onto the Made in Denmark Championship trophy last year, the organisers of this season’s contest have taken things a bit further and scribbled it on to all 18 flag poles. It will certainly be something for Warren to aim for when he sizes up an attack on the pins with his approach shots.

“I’ve never seen that before, but it’s a really nice touch seeing my name and the saltire on the flags and hopefully I’ll be able to take a few of them away with me,” he said ahead of his title defence at the Himmerland resort this week.

The 34-year-old, who is now Scotland’s highest-ranked male professional on the world order at No 50, is relishing this opportunity to return to his happy hunting ground.

Last season’s championship, which was the first European Tour event to be held in Denmark since 2003, was something of a step into the unknown but Warren prospered in this relatively new environment. The locals lapped it up too. In one of the biggest Danish invasions since the days of the Viking longships, over 80,000 spectators descended on Himmerland for the four-day contest. The natural amphitheatre around the par-3 16th became known as ‘Himmerland Hill’ and swiftly gained cult status among players and onlookers alike. "Walking up to the green it was like the ground was shaking with the noise and I could feel the goosebumps all over me; it was a career highlight,” said Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen, who has been grouped with Warren in the opening two rounds this week.

By the end of the 72-hole skirmish 12 months ago, it was the marauding Warren who had plundered the bounty as he brought to an end a European Tour title drought that had stretched for seven years.

The last time Warren defended a title was on home soil, in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in 2008. He missed the cut that year, after slithering to a second round 80, and the former World Cup winner is determined to make a better fist of it this time on Danish turf. “As professional golfers, you don’t often get the chance to defend a title as winning doesn’t happen as often as in other sports," he said. "There was never any doubt I’d be coming back here. I don’t want anyone else’s name on that trophy.”

It’s been a busy old spell for Warren on both sides of the Atlantic recently. Following a fourth place finish in the Scottish Open, a share of 40th in the Open and a run to the semi-finals of the inaugural Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie MatchPlay Championship during a jam-packed July, Warren ventured over the pond and produced solid showings in both the WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone and last week’s US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. By the time he arrived back in Glasgow on Monday, there was barely time to get the semmits and socks washed and dried before the hop over to Denmark. “I got about 20 hours at home but not a lot of sleep in that time,” added Warren, who is currently sitting in 14th spot on the Race to Dubai rankings. “It’s been a bit of a mad rush and I’m pretty tired. There’s been a lot of golf recently but my form has been good so I don’t need to practice that much. If you’re a bit rusty you may feel the need to work more on the range. For me, it’s just about resting up. The last two events in America were on really tough courses, so it’s a slightly more gentle test this week. I think the scoring will be a lot better this year because it looks like it’s going to be nice and warm with not much wind. I think the winning score could be 15 to 18 under. It’s great to be back and out on the course again, reminiscing about some of the shots I hit last year.”

With qualifying for the 2016 European Ryder Cup team beginning at the Russian Open in a fortnight, Warren is eager to continue the solid, steady showings that have aided his rise up the golfing order. “Now I've added consistency to my game, I'm playing the best golf of my career by quite a long way,” he stated.