BRANXTON young gun Corey Lamb was confident he had the game to match it with the professionals.
Now he has the results to prove it.
Six weeks after obtaining an Australasian Tour card, Lamb has three wins in the Adidas Pro-am series to his name.
The 20-year-old fired a four-under 66 to breakthrough for a maiden win at the $12,000 Gunnedah Pro-am on August 5.
He backed that up with victory in the 36-hole $22,000 Port Macquarie Pro-am, carding a pair of 67s to be at 10 under and win by three strokes, on August 23-24.
The next day, he completed a hat-trick at Kew, shooting three-under 67 to be in a three-way tie for first alongside Andrew Brennan and Brett Rankin.
"I know I can compete with them now, which is good," Lamb said. "I hit the driver well and putted really good. With the pro-ams, it's a shotgun start so you don't really know where you are on the leader board. I just tried to make birdies. The key was getting in good practice and being confident in my game. "
A top ranked amateur, Lamb turned pro in March before the TPS Hunter Valley at Cypress Lakes. However, he didn't have tour status until finishing in the top 15 at Q School in July.
"I didn't have any status so I really couldn't play anything before Q-school," Lamb said. "I worked with my coach Nev Bell and did a lot of practice."
Lamb's hot streak ended in the $50,000 36-hole Hawks Nest pro-am last weekend.
He was second after opening with four-under 68, but struggled with the onset of the flu and carded a 75 to finish tied for 23rd.
Gold Coast-based Peter Martin fired rounds of 69,63 to win at 12 under.
Lamb's next event is the $50,000 Tweed Coast Open before the start of the higher-tier tournaments.
"With my category from Q-School I should get into all of the bigger events," he said.
"I'll head to West Australia for the WA PGA and WA Open, then it's the Vic Open and Vic Pga and Qld PGA.
"I won a fair bit as an amateur. I know it is there. It is just about getting it done."
** Macquarie College duo Ella Scaysbrook and Harry Atkinson returned from the national schools championships with medals and went within a whisker of earning a place in the Australian All Schools merit team.
Scaysbrook won three matches, drew one and had one loss as the NSW girls' team won silver medals in both the strokeplay and matchplay events.
Atkinson was tied for third in the 36-hole strokeplay. In matchplay, he won three of five matches, finishing under par in four of them. The NSW boys' team won gold in the strokeplay event and collected silver in the matchplay, going down to Queenlsand on the final day.
** Chris Jardine has extended his lead in the Newcastle District order of merit. Jardine finished ninth in the WE Alexander to move to 910 points. Fellow Waratah club member Greg McMillan is second on 700 points, 60 ahead of David Fahey. Mick Wade (490) and Rod Moran (390) round out the top five.
