Lampert embarks on his maiden European Challenge Tour campaign hoping to make a swift return to The European Tour, and the German prospect is looking to his friend and two-time winner last year, Daan Huizing, for inspiration.
An extremely promising amateur who twice played for Europe in the Junior Ryder Cup, Lampert showed glimpses of fulfilling that potential as he earned a card to The European Tour having made it through 2012 Qualifying School as an amateur.
Big things were expected of the former German Amateur champion but he struggled to adapt to professional life on The Race to Dubai and is this year eyeing a way back to the top table via the Challenge Tour.
While things did not go to plan in 2013, the affable Lampert has been inspired by the calm and composed determination of his Dutch counter-part Huizing, who burst on to the scene midway through last year before winning back to back Challenge Tour titles on the way to graduation to The European Tour.
“I just want to get some opportunities this year and make the most of them,” said Lampert, who is attached to European Tour Destination Golf Club St Leon Rot. “Like Daan proved last year, things can happen so fast. I feel like I'm playing well again but I couldn’t really manage to get the scores at the Barclays Kenya Open.
“I think I'm playing well enough to win out here and get back to The European Tour so I want to do that as soon as possible.
“Daan and I played foursomes together in the Bonallack Trophy in 2012 and we still stay in touch. He’s a good guy and what he did last year and the way he handles himself is great.
“Having missed out at Q-School after a stellar amateur career, he just thought, ‘I have to start somewhere but I have to make a plan’. He just went after that plan and didn’t rush anything. I can learn a lot from him.”
Lampert also has plenty of close friends to aspire to and his compatriot Max Kieffer is the most recent German to come through the Challenge Tour before experiencing success on The European Tour.
Kieffer played a big part in one of the most dramatic finales of The 2013 Race to Dubai when he was beaten in a nine-hole play-off with Rafaël Jacquelin at the Open de España. Lampert thinks it is only a matter of time before the Dusseldorf man claims a maiden win and thinks the Challenge Tour has been the making of Kieffer.
“To see what Max Kieffer did last year was amazing and I spent a lot of time with him,” said the 21 year old, whose sister Karolina is a professional on the Ladies European Tour. “We’ve talked a lot and he said he had two years of hard training on the Challenge Tour.
“It means so much to play on a competitive level with so many good players. They say the Challenge Tour is the second level but there are so many good players out here who can win – ex-Ryder cup players, European Tour winners – you still have to play so well to win out here.
“Max just said he felt confident coming from the Challenge Tour on to The European Tour and that’s what his attitude was and that’s how he played. He’s too good not to win a tournament in the next couple of years.”
Lampert also thinks he is capable himself of earning a breakthrough victory this year, having already earned his maiden professional title on the Satellite Pro Golf Tour in February.
“I played a few tournaments on the Pro Golf Tour earlier this year and I finally got my first win so that was a real confidence-booster,” he said. “I won by seven shots and I just thought, ‘if I can do it there why should I not be able to do it out here’. That’s what I feel like now.
“If I had scored a little better in Kenya I think I might have been in contention. I didn’t play my best but I still feel like I'm close to being able to win.”
