 In his first match as a professional, he beat Maurice Parkin 10–8, but he lost in the second round of qualifying 3–10 to Wayne Jones.Despite only winning one match, Grace began the next season ranked 63rd of the 118 players on the main tour; he entered five tournaments during that season, including the 1986 UK Championship, where he recorded the best performance of his career.There, he beat Pat Houlihan 9–6, Paul Medati 9–6 and Murdo MacLeod 9–6 to reach the last 32, but he was eliminated at this stage 9–1 by Willie Thorne.