The result was particularly pleasing for the 27-year-old who went into Tuesday’s tournament coming off the back of his worst year on the pro circuit.

 “I’ve been playing crap over the past 12 months to be honest, very poorly,” Brown said. “I had a really bad 2012 but over the past month or so things have started to turn around.

“I think it just comes down to confidence. When you’re going badly you start searching for things to fix and in the end you don’t even know what you’re doing.

“I just stopped worrying about a lot of stuff and since then I’ve started to play well.”

After birdieing three of his first six holes, Brown’s accuracy off the tee proved the different on a tight Queanbeyan course.

The Bankstown-based golfer eventually finished with a four-under 66 before being forced to watch and wait as the tournament’s big names attempted to reel him in over the course of the afternoon.

“I was playing with the assistant pro at Queanbeyan and he told me two or three under normally wins it so I was confident I’d be up there in the hunt,” he said.

“I got off to a good start which gave me a lot of confidence and I managed to drive well off the tee onto the fairway which created a lot of opportunities for me.” 

Queanbeyan Golf Club head pro Jake Nagle meanwhile, finished in an 11-way tie for 15th after shooting a two-over 72.

Tuesday’s event attracted 60 professionals and well over 100 amateur players to the Parkhill Course.