On the course or in the clubhouse, Lambert can talk his way around any golf subject. These days, he's a little cocky. And who can blame him?

This weekend, Lambert and Valleybrook buddy Don Gregory will try to win the CDGA Four-Ball Match Play event for the third straight year. Lambert and Gregory are undefeated in the two-year event.

"Why are we such a good team? We're a good team because of big Don,'' Lambert said Monday. "I'm a par-maker and Don makes a lot of birdies. And wherever he hits it, he will say 'I've got that shot, bud.' He has so much confidence that it keeps me upbeat.

"And we brother-in-law. That's what it takes to win in match play. And we've been a little lucky. Doug Stein had a hole-in-one on us last year and we still survived.''

Lambert is always talking during a round of golf, and that can be bothersome to some opponents.

"If my talking works to our advantage, that's good,'' Lambert said. "I like to be around people who will talk. But I admit that my talking does help us to stay loose.''

The cocky part? Well, Lambert believes he and Gregory should get a bye into the quarterfinals.

"The qualifier is stroke play and I don't like that,'' Lambert said. "We should get a bye. It is the CDGA Match Play event, so the qualifier should be match play. We've won this both years. I'd hate not to make the quarterfinals because of making 16 pars, a birdie and a bogey in the qualifier.

"Regardless, we'll try to compete. Don is aggressive and tries to knock it in the back of the hole with every putt. We'll have a good time. If you can't have fun playing golf, you shouldn't be playing.''

The other teams in the 10-team field are Brainerd's Richard Keene and Jimmy Watkins; Moccasin Bend's Wes Brown and Bret Douglas; Brainerd's Tom and Jim Schreiner; Council Fire's Chris Gilliland and Tyson Elliott; Council Fire's Randy Yoder and Jim Elliott; Valleybrook's David McKenna and Bill Harris; Council Fire's Larry McGill and Bryce Ledford; Chattanooga Golf and Country Club's Mike Jenkins and Joey Warwick; and Valleybrook's Mike Craig and Philip Guess.

An 18-hole stroke-play qualifier will begin Friday at 2 p.m. at Valleybrook with two teams being eliminated.

On Saturday, the eight quarterfinalists will begin play at 2:30 at the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club. The quarterfinal pairings will be determined by the Friday qualifier with the No. 1 team meeting No. 8 on Saturday, etc.

The semifinals will be Sunday morning at 9 at Council Fire with the final to follow at the same club after a CDGA luncheon.

"We are a little disappointed to have only 10 teams,'' CDGA officer Mike Jenkins said. "We're still trying to figure out why entries are down. We believe it's because we're up against so many other tournaments this time of year.  At our annual CDGA meeting next February Richard and I will probably recommend moving this tournament to the spring."

CHATTANOOGA TPC FIELD: Twenty-five golfers have qualified to compete in the season-ending Chattanooga TPC event Sept. 25-28 at the Council Fire Golf Club.

Kevin Law headlines the field with 15 stars earned this summer. Richard Keene is second with 13 stars while Larry McGill, Ricky Honeycutt and Tom Schreiner have 12 each. Any golfer with four or more stars qualifies for the TPC event.

Also in the field are Andrew Black (10), Chris Gilliland (10), Patrick Williams (10), Josh Nelms (9), Bryce Ledford (8), Chris Treadway (8), Matt Brock (8), Taylor Lewis (8), Jay Potter, Jr. (7), Matt Mathis (6), Pat Corey (6), Philip Guess (6), Tyson Elliott (6), Clay Smith 5, Neil Spitalny (5), Brian Kopet (4), Chase Deck (4), Jerod Baldwin (4), Sung Back (4) and Tim Townsend (4).

"The tournament format will be the same as in previous years except we will have a small $25 entry fee,'' Chattanooga TPC tournament director Mike Jenkins said. "The USGA requires an entry fee if players receive prizes. We don't want to jeopardize anyone's amateur status.

"I will announce (on chattanoogatpc.com) within the next week the at-large invitees.  I expect there to be 10 or so at-large invitations issued.''

YODER QUALIFIES: Hats off to Randy Yoder, who qualified last week for the British Mid-Amateur at The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (Jubilee Course). Yoder shot 154 (79-75) and qualified for match play. Randy was then defeated in the first round of match play by Thomas Offutt of the USA.

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)