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Future is bright for Jackson golfer after tournament win
The future is bright for this rising senior
Ian Lambert won the Missouri Junior Golf Amateur Championships at Crown Point Golf Club in Farmington on Wednesday, July 10. The tournament featured some of the best high school-aged golfers in Missouri.
“That’s probably one of the bigger tournaments, so it’s a good feeling,” Lambert said.
Lambert won the event finishing nine-under-par. He credited his success at the green for his victory.
“I putted really good on the first day,” Lambert said. “When the putter’s hot, it leads to a lot of confidence on the course. So I knew once I made the putt on the first hole it was going to be a good day.”
Lambert said his putting was an area of great improvement throughout this year.
“I’ve never been the best putter,” Lambert said. “But I practiced a lot on putting and it made a big difference.”
The tournament was originally scheduled to be a 54-hole event. The impact of Hurricane Beryl forced it to be condensed to 36 holes.
Lambert led Jackson to its highest finish since winning the state championships in 2019. Although he barely missed the all-state cut, he was still named a finalist at the Semoball Awards.
Between his Semoball Awards nomination and performance this past week, Lambert feels primed for a big senior year.
“It makes you feel really confident that I still got one more year left and I can still come back and have a good senior year,” Lambert said.
Right behind Lambert was Dexter’s rising senior Ben Christian, who finished in second place at eight-under-par. Lambert and Christian have spent all spring playing against each other at various country clubs.
Such as much of the local competition in the high school circuit, it’s a friendship born out of a rivalry.
“They’re my buddies and all but when it comes down to competition, it’s always fun to come out one ahead of them,” Lambert said.
Fellow Indian Marshall Earnheart-Clements also finished in the top 10. Jackson will have an experienced group going into 2025, with Lambert leading the way.
“We’ll have four seniors next year including me,” Lambert said. “We’re all going to be leaders and we all get to be leaders in our own ways, help everybody improve to get better so we can make it back to state.”