Stuart Manley battled strong winds on moving day to jump into a two stroke lead after posting an impressive four under par round of 68 in the British Challenge presented by Modest! Golf Management at St. Mellion.
The Welshman, who started the day one behind overnight leader Josh Hilleard, chipped in on the opening hole for birdie before adding three more birdies on the front nine and just one bogey to move into the outright lead.
The 44-year-old then birdied the 12th and despite a second dropped shot of the day on hole 17, he responded with a brilliant approach on the last hole to set up a closing birdie that saw him reach 11 under par for the week.
Manley leads by two ahead of Englishman Hilleard who posted a one under par round of 71 to get to nine under par, with the Welshman delighted with how his game held together under testing conditions on the south coast.
“I’m very pleased to be honest,” he said. “I kept the ball in play and my distance control was good. I didn’t really feel like I had my best game but it was enough, and my control, particularly on the greens, was good.
“It was disappointing to bogey the 17th as it would’ve been nice to go bogey-free on the back nine, but I’m really happy.
“The wind was brutal down the 18th but I hit a great drive. I just tried to hook a drive to hold on the wind and hit it down the middle. I hit a lovely nine iron and holed the putt so I was delighted.”
Manley will go in search of a second win on the 2023 Road to Mallorca and a fifth triumph on the Challenge Tour when he tees it up on Sunday, and he’s confident his game is in good shape with the weather set to improve overnight.
“I’m managing my game really well at the moment,” he added. “I’m feeling confident that even if things don’t quite go my way, I can get it done.”
Englishman Alex Fitzpatrick shares third place on eight under par with Frenchman Tom Vaillant who birdied four of his last five holes to post a round-of-the-day 67.
Scotsman Euan Walker, who triumphed at St. Mellion in 2023, is one shot further back in fifth on seven under par with English duo Alfie Plant and Brandon Robinson Thompson in sixth on six under par.
The final round gets underway at 8:30am local time with Manley teeing off alongside 10:20am alongside Hilleard and Vaillant.
