Josh Hilleard will take a one stroke lead into the weekend of the British Challenge presented by Modest! Golf Management after birdieing the last hole on a low scoring day at St. Mellion.
The Englishman carded a four under par round of 68 for the second consecutive day to reach eight under par for the week and lead by one ahead of Welshman Stuart Manley who matched Hilleard’s four under par 68 to move to seven under par.
The 28-year-old, playing his first full season on the Challenge Tour having graduated from the EuroPro Tour in 2022, reached the turn two under par before adding three birdies and just one bogey on the way home to take the outright lead on a course that he knows well.
“I didn’t make too many mistakes and when I did I got over them quite well,” he said. “That’s really the aim of the game, especially on a golf course like this. You’re going to be out of position a few times but it’s all about how well you recover.
“Having played here before, I think course knowledge is vital. I really enjoy the golf course too. It’s one of those tactical courses where you’ve got to play proper golf and even then it can be difficult. I’ve been fortunate enough to play it before and it’s a great challenge.
Hilleard, whose best finish of the season to date came with a tied ninth at the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship back in February, is expecting St. Mellion to bare its teeth on moving day with storms set to arrive on the south coast.
“The weather forecast is meant to be brutal,” he added. “That’ll actually be more like the conditions I’ve played here before. I’ve played in high winds it makes it very tough. Hopefully it’s not too difficult but we’ll see.
“Managing your way around is the key here. It’s not necessarily how you hit it, it’s more where you hit it and the scores that you can extract.”
Third place is shared by five players on six under par including Lucas Bjerregaard from Denmark, Englishman Alex Fitzpatrick, Irishman Stuart Grehan, South African JJ Senekal and Italian Andrea Pavan.
Nine players share eighth place, including Italian Matteo Manassero, Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Caldwell and South African Wilco Nienaber.
Day three gets under way at 6:45am local time with Hilleard teeing it up at 8:35am alongside Manley and Bjerregaard.
