Stuart Manley

Background

Manley was born in Mountain Ash in the historic county of Glamorgan.

Education

However, he chose to concentrate on golf, taking a four-year scholarship to the University of West Florida.

Career

He showed sporting promise at an early age, and at age 16 had trials with the football clubs Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Luton Town. The pinnacle of his amateur career was playing in the 2003 Walker Cup. Manley turned professional in later 2003, and immediately joined the Challenge Tour, finishing 90th in his first season.

At the end of that year he came through the qualifying school to earn a place on the European Tour for the first time.

However, Manley has consistently failed to establish himself at the highest level He is yet to retain his card by finishing in the top 115 at season"s end, and has only regained it via the Challenge Tour in 2007 and qualifying school in 2008, 2010 and 2013.

He narrowly missed out on winning a European Tour card, finishing 19th on the Challenge Tour rankings. However, he came 10th in European Tour Qualifying School to earn a 2014 European Tour category.

Manley hit the headlines in 2013 when, during the third round of the World Cup of Golf in Melbourne, he hit a hole-in-one followed by an 11 at the next hole.

He attributed the following score of 11 to his shock and disappointment at not winning the car, but still eventually ended with an even-par round of 72. Challenge Tour wins (1)

EuroPro Tour wins (1)

Amateur

Palmer Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2002

Walker Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2003 (winners)

Professional

World Cup (representing Wales): 2013.

Achievements

• Manley graduated from the Professional Golf Association EuroPro Tour in 2012, returning to the Challenge Tour in 2013 where he won the Finnish Challenge. Manley had originally believed the hole-in-one had won him a Mercedes-Benz car, only to find out afterwards that the prize only applied to the final round of the tournament.