Aaron Townsend will take a one-shot lead into the second round of the Oates Vic Open on a day when wet and windy conditions made their best attempt to dampen the spirits of even the most seasoned Professional.

With strong wind gusts of up to 45km/h plaguing the course, both the Professionals and Amateurs alike struggled to control their golf ball.

Conditions were reflected on the leaderboard with only 13 players finishing under par for the day.

However coming off the back of two top-ten finishes at the Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship and the Lexus of Blackburn Victorian PGA Championship, Townsend found a way to persevere.

"That’s one of the windiest days I can remember, it was fun but I’m glad it’s over," said Townsend who managed to achieve a bogey-free back nine.

"I got a couple of nice breaks which helped, you need them on days like this. But in general I hit the ball exactly where I had to."

A two-time PGA Tour of Australasia winner, Townsend spent 2013 plying his trade on the Japan Tour but said he felt a long year away from home took its toll on his game.

"I was really upset with how poorly I played at the end of last year, so in the six or seven weeks we had off I worked really hard trying to change a few things and get on top of what I thought were bad habits which I think I got out of a long year in Japan being on the road for a long time. But I’m really happy with how I’ve been playing in the last couple of weeks."

Townsend will tee off early in round two with a single stroke buffer over Victorians David Bransdon, Terry Pilkadaris, Leigh Deagan and Andrew Kelly while a further eight players round out the top 10 tied at 1-under par.

However regardless of their under-par scores, all the players felt today’s conditions were some of the toughest they’d experienced, Pilkadaris labelling it as a day where you just had to "roll with the punches".

"We had a squall go through on the 18th and I hit my driver 200 metres," he laughed.

"You just have to hang on to your hat… literally! Funky things are going to happen and things aren’t going to go your way and you’ve just got to take it on the chin."

"You didn’t feel comfortable out there, it was a hard day at the office," added Bransdon who was pleased with making only two bogeys through his 18 holes.

"My game’s in good shape. Hopefully we get a bit of a let up with the breeze tomorrow and we might be able to control our ball a bit better."

Round 2 of the Oates Vic Open will get underway from 7.30am tomorrow, Friday morning.