He’s one ahead of Kent’s Jensen Hull, who gave himself an excellent 18th birthday present with his 68, and Northamptonshire’s Callum Farr.
Hull, from Hever Castle, will celebrate his birthday this evening with dinner with his dad, but he cautions: “I won’t be drinking!” Instead, like Lamb, he’ll be planning for tomorrow’s second round at Hesketh Golf Club.
“I holed a good putt to birdie the first and that gets you in a good frame of mind for the rest of the day. I gave myself good chances and holed a few putts,” he said.
He slowed down a bit on the back nine but balanced a bogey with a birdie to come home in level par and sign for his 67.
Hull was also pleased with his day’s work.
“It’s been a good day,” he said. “I was a little bit more consistent than I have been, hit the ball better, holed a few putts and stayed patient.”
He had five birdies, including one at the 13th, where he got up and down from 195 yards away on the 14th fairway. He also had an eagle on the long 17th which he reached with a 6-iron.
Farr, meanwhile, played his first round at Hesketh, where he started with a birdie. Four more followed, together with a string of pars until he dropped his only shot of the day on the 18th.
Lamb, Hull and Farr are among a field of 288 competitors who are all aiming to be inside the top 64 and ties after tomorrow’s second round. That’s the number of players who will qualify for the match play knockout at Formby, ending with the 36-hole final on Sunday.
The cut looks to be a low one after 49 players finished with par or better on Tuesday.
Among the others who made a good start were Brabazon Trophy winner Nick Poppleton, who is just back from GB&I duty at the St Andrews Trophy. He’s at 3-under, alongside another England international, Jake Burnage, Sam Bairstow and George Raitt.