The talented 20-year-old told the Newcastle Herald the time felt right to enter the professional ranks after planning the move for some time.

"I've got a few starts in a few pro events coming up, so I thought it would be a perfect time to turn pro and try to win some money," Lamb said.

"I've been thinking about turning pro for the past six months and have just been waiting for the right time. I'm playing good enough to compete with the pros."

The TPS Hunter Valley was scheduled to start Thursday at Oaks Cypress Lakes Golf and Country Club but is now going ahead as a three-round event from Friday due to the recent heavy rainfall.

The event has been added to The Players Series and is the first appearance of a major tour golf event in the Hunter in more than 10 years.

The mixed-gender event has a $200,000 prize pool and is part of the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia.

Lamb is among several Hunter products listed in the TPS Hunter Valley field along with Nick Flanagan, Andrew Dodt, Jake Higginbottom, Brendan Smith, Jye Pickin and Aaron Townsend.

"I'm trying to just approach it as I would any other event but, obviously, it's going to be tougher with all of the pros there," Lamb said.

"All the names will be there, all the top players, which is good. I played a few pro events before, the NSW Open and Queensland Open last year, so I've sort of played against them all.

"You've just got to take everything in your stride and not worry how you're hitting it too much, just play what's in front of you and not let anything get to you."

After his local event, Lamb will line up in the NSW Open for a third consecutive year after securing a spot in the March 17-20 event at Concord when he added the Concord Cup to his long list of amateur achievements last month.

"I'll play the NSW Open then I'd say I'll go to WA and try to qualify for a few events over there, and go to Q school if worse comes to worst," he said.

"It's pretty much just whatever I can get into now because I've got no status.

"It's all just play as I go, what I can get into at the moment. But, definitely in the next couple of years the goal is to have a full status and be able to play in everything."

Tour organisers announced on Tuesday that the start of the Hunter Valley event would be pushed back a day to allow the course superintendent and his staff more time to prepare the playing surfaces.

The tournament has been reduced from 72 holes to 54 holes.

IN THE NEWS:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: