The recently-turned 18-year-old finished three shots clear of an elite field in the Port Phillip Amateur and earned automatic entry to play against the professionals in February’s Victorian Open.

Droop finished at six-under and as the only player under par in each of the four rounds at the demanding Kingston Heath and Commonwealth layouts.

The Year 11 student started the final round three shots adrift of The Australian’s Kevin Yuan, but a one-under 72 with four birdies on the outward nine and three bogeys coming home was enough to reel in the leader.

Yesterday his father, Yarrawonga professional Evan, said it was his son’s first major win.

“In the past few months he has been pretty solid but not outstanding,” he said.

“But this is among the top three tournaments in Victoria and carries a significant amount of prestige and history across the country.

“It was a quality field of amateurs and the fact great golfing prospects like Curtis Luck and Zach Murray couldn’t make the cut shows you the depth.

“It was a real test for Frazer to be top or around the top of the leaderboard for all four days — clearly the four rounds, including 36 holes on Sunday, is physically demanding but it is also mentally draining.

“But the experience is invaluable and the more times you get to deal with that pressure the better you handle it.”

Droop adds his name to a rich list of former winners, including Mike Clayton (1977, 1980), Brad Hughes (1987-88), Craig Spence (1994), Stephen Allan (1995) and Scott Gardiner (1999).

The 72-hole stroke championship serves as qualifying for the Men’s Victorian Amateur Championship, won by Murray last year, which started yesterday.

But Droop stumbled at the first hurdle, losing 4/2 to the final qualifier in the 32-man field.

“He was just flat this morning, struggling to get out of his own shadow,” Evan Droop said.

“Matchplay is very different and Frazer just couldn’t get into the match against a player he beat by 20 shots over the four rounds.

“But he knows that — two years ago as a 16-year-old he was the last qualifier into the field and beat the then world No. 1 amateur Brady Watt in the same tournament.”

Droop will now target the Master of the Amateurs at Royal Melbourne in January and the Australian Amateur and NSW titles before the Victorian Open at 13th Beach in February.