Matty Lamb put together two days of superb golf, winning three points from four matches for GB&I in The Walker Cup as the visitors fell agonisingly short of victory.
The USA team, playing on home soil at Seminole Golf Club in Florida, edged GB&I by two points, retaining the trophy with a 14-12 victory. Hexham Golf Club-based Matty was one of the stars of the visiting team, picking up a win in Saturday’s singles before winning his foursomes and singles matches on Sunday.
Matty Lamb and Jack Nicklaus“Playing The Walker Cup has been a dream of mine for a long time and the two days of matches lived up to my expectations. Seminole was incredibly tough, but our preparation at the course was always going to put us in a good position to challenge the USA, unfortunately we came up just short this time.
“I’ve signed off my amateur career the way I wanted to, and now I’m looking forward to stepping up to the next level as a professional. It’s going to be a busy year with some great opportunities – I can’t wait to get going.”
On Saturday morning, Matty teamed up with Jack Dyer as the GB&I pair lost 2down to Mac Meissner and Ricky Castillo. In the afternoon singles, Matty was called up to replace Joe Long – one of the 15 players suffering gastrointestinal issues in the days before the event – and put together a 2&1 win over Quade Cummins. He then teamed up with Jack again on Sunday morning, picking up a 6&5 victory over Stewart Hagestad and Tyler Strafaci. With the match still in the balance, Matty delivered a crucial point for GB&I in the final round of singles matches, beating Davis Thompson in a close match sealed with an excellent finish on the demanding 17th and 18th holes at Seminole.
Following the event, Matty has chosen to turn professional and will compete on this season’s EuroPro Tour having secured a full card through last season’s qualifying school. He is also hoping to secure invitations to Challenge and European Tour events in the coming months, though he plans to focus his time on the EuroPro Tour, from which the leading five players in the season-long order of merit secure Challenge Tour cards for 2022.
