The talented youngster has qualified for his first tournament after turning professional this week.

Waters will tee off in the Queensland Open being played at the Brisbane Golf Club from Thursday.

At the Wynnum Golf Club on Monday, he overcame a weather delay due to lightning at the bayside course, which was bludgeoned by a morning storm resulting in a two-hour interruption to play.

At three under par – after 10 holes at the time of the break – he regrouped to finish at four under, three shots behind the leader and easily good enough to qualify for the Open.

The ground staff did a sterling job after the deluge, working feverishly to scrape surface water from the course to enable a resumption of play.

Waters said he was pretty excited to be playing in his first tournament as a professional and thanked his sponsors for their support.

A company in Forster Tuncurry, where he is now stationed, MCR Building has also supplied him with a car, accommodation and expenses for the event.