The 10th and 11th are two of the toughest par fours in Warwickshire, near 500 yards of obsturate par fours where anything misplaced means a 5 or a 6. The 10th was an easy birdie but on the 11th, Sullivan found his drive more than 300 yards from tee, just rolled into a bunker.

Sullivan selected an 8 iron and manufactured almost a chip of near 140 yards, an Exocet of a shot to 15ft. That went in and three in a row beckoned when he nearly drove the next - it didn't.

That error set Andy on a rampage as he birdied the 14th, 15th and then the 17th and 18th. It all added up to a 29 home, and an eighteen hole score of 65 (-4).

Just ahead, Jack Sant was also recovering from a shaky start (+3 after 5). Three birdies on the 16th 17th and the 4th and Sant was in with a 70. He was joined on that score after a brilliant rescued 6 at the par five 18th, by Jonathan Bryan, known to have been playing well by those at his home club Shirley.

Fresh to Warwickshire golf was Richard Oddy, having once been part of the most formidable County of them all, Yorkshire. Richard's 71 was good but Dale Marson's 68 was better and gave him second place at halfway, four birdies countered by three bogies.

The Championship was between these players - Bryan forged ahead first playing his third nine in three under. His challenge faltered with a four putt and two bogies and having set himself a target of top 8 to make the Matchplay, was more than happy with his third place, as was once Runner-Up in the Amateur Russell Heritage. Heritage is no mean golfer himself, but he may have found his niche in teaching, including a bit of help for the golfing mind and his input was vital for Jonathan.

Oddy hasn't played virtually any of Warwickshire's top courses (which Olton certainly is) so a second successive 71 and a Top 5 in his first Warwickshire Championship was a very good sign of the new talent that his joining Warwickshire has provided. He would lose out on 4th to 1st Team regular Rob Browning whose golf is very nearly at its best.

That left Sant to challenge Sullivan and it was close.

Having bogied the 1st, Sant replied with two birdies in a row before dropping a shot at the par five 5th. He put himself back under par quickly and only made one more error, a 6 at the 11th.

Sullivan though was always in some control, himself making a 6 at the 17th only to play an exquisite 45 yards pitch to set up his birdie reply at the 18th. That was -1 for that round and -5 overall. He still attacked and made the the odd error to counter two more birdies. It was a heart stopping over-aggressive approach to the 9th, his final hole, one which flew the green by 20 yards, just stopping short of the OOB.

That all added up to a 67 for Sant and a 69 for Sullivan, and a three shot win.

'I love it', said Sant, 'I'm still off 1 but I'm working really hard at it (a fact confirmed by a very proud Mr Sant, whose business Jack has now joined).'

'He said to me he could feel all his hard work was paying off, after shooting a 67 playing with Gareth Barry last week', said Sant Snr.

As for the rest:

'Five bogies in a row' gave Dale Marson a second round 75

'One bad 8 holes', said County Captain and Olton member Louis Meryon, 'But I hit very few fairways and greens and you can't do that round here - I should know!'

'Terrible - back to the drawing board', said last year's third and hard to beat 1st team member James Smith.

'My game wasn't good all day', said Jamie Carney whose gritty second round 69 left him just outside the Matchplay Qualifers - but Jamie and Tom Ibbertson (who didn't play well at all) have next week's Junior 6s to consider.

James Bromley, Rob Porter and Elliott Forbes all had smiles as they were announced as the final three Matchplay additions, with Adam Ferraro the first reserve for playing for the largest trophy in our County golf, a championship which will happen next weekend, at Oltom.

Once again, Olton showed itself to be a very very good test for our best. It's a favorite tough examination paper which everyone respects, and as ever, the hospitality was excellent.

Full results are available below. Over the weekend, around 75 pictures from the day will be added to the gallery in

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For full individual results from the championship, please CLICK HERE