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Englishman Matty Lamb heads across the Atlantic this week hoping to end his successful amateur career on another high note.
The 23-year-old from Hexham will tee up alongside fellow England international Ben Jones in the Terra Cotta Invitational at Naples National Golf Club in Florida. After a few days of rest and recuperation, he will head across the state to Seminole Golf Club for his amateur swan song: representing Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup.
“It’s going to be fun,” he said. “In golf you don’t get much chance to play in a team environment but when you do, they are often among the best weeks you have.”
Lamb was the top points scorer in England’s victorious team at the 2019 Men’s Home Internationals at Lahinch, Ireland. He followed up with victories in the Hampshire Hog and North of England Championship in 2020 before COVID-19 brought the domestic season to an abrupt end. He has made just one competitive amateur appearance since then, finishing tied 22nd in February’s Jones Cup Invitational at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Georgia.
“It’s exciting to be back on the course and to be playing tournament golf again,” Lamb said.
“I got the news on the 29th so it was a great late birthday present. It made it a really good weekend.”
Matty Lamb
Like many of the initial GB&I Walker Cup squad, he had been left on tenterhooks waiting to see if he had done enough to earn a place on the team.
“It was a bit of a relief when I got the news because I felt I’d been playing well without ever getting the chance to show the selectors what I could do,” Lamb said. “It was a bit frustrating, but I told myself I had to be patient, there were a lot of people in a much worse position than me.”
Lamb found out he had made the team the day after his birthday on 28 March, but only after a mix-up in communications.
“I think the idea was that (captain) Stuart (Wilson) would ring us, but I must have given him the wrong number because he couldn’t get through to me and he had to e-mail me instead,” he said. “I got the news on the 29th so it was a great late birthday present. It made it a really good weekend.”
The Northumbrian is aware his preparations for the biennial match have not been ideal, but doesn’t believe the pandemic has been as disruptive as some suggest.
“It’s a strange one,” he said. “I thought it would be a disadvantage not playing much competitive golf but, once I got back into it at the Jones Cup, it didn’t really feel like I’d been away for a long time.
“It (lockdown) has also given me a lot of time to work on things I needed to work on. It gave me the chance to improve my skills rather than just manage them. It also meant I could work with my coach Andy Paisley (the brother of Chris Paisley, a European Tour player) much more than I wouldn’t have done had I been playing competitively, so that was a bonus as well.”
The Terra Cotta will give Lamb a late chance to regain his competitive edge ahead of what promises to be a tough challenge against an American team that features five of the top 10 players on the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
“It will be good to get some competitive golf under our belts,” he said. “I think the team arrives on the 30th so we’re going to hang around for a few days, try to play some golf in the area and wait for them.”
Lamb should have no problem acclimatising to golf in the United States. He spent three semesters at the University of Charlotte before electing to return home.
“College golf wasn’t really for me,” he admitted. “I don’t know if it was homesickness or what, but I decided I was better off at home. It just didn’t work out for me.
“The coaching style is very different to what I was used to in England, and I decided coming home would be better for my development. But I have no regrets whatsoever. I’m glad I went there. I learnt a lot; it just wasn’t really for me at the time.”
He also managed to fit in a visit to Seminole after the Jones Cup, so he knows what to expect from one of America’s top-ranked courses.
“It’s good,” Lamb said. “It’s right by the beach so it’s quite windy most of the time. When I was there, the course was in great condition and I’m sure it will be even better for the Walker Cup.
“I think it’s one of those courses the more you play, the more you appreciate it,” he added.
“It’s very open off the tee but there are a lot of run offs and things around the greens, so hitting good approach shots will be the key. The greens were fast when I played it, and everybody has been telling me they will be even faster during the Walker Cup.”
“I think we all know what to expect.”
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