by Lea Andrews

Tommy Kennedy juggled both tournament director and player duties at the March 6-7 installment of the Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, getting past last stop’s winner John “Mr. 403” Schmidt to top the open division, while Jason Moran topped Sunday’s amateur division. The $1,000-added open event drew 29 players to Skeeters Billiards in Gulfport, MS, while the $500-added amateur event drew 25.

Kennedy edged out Cliff Joyner 9-8 to meet Schmidt for the first time in the hot seat match. Schmidt, who was coming off a 9-4 win over Johnny Armstrong, notched up another one against Kennedy, who went west to fight for a rematch. On the left side of the bracket, Jay Bird took care of Jason Moran and Neil Alexander before coming up on Joyner, whom he held to seven games to reach the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Greg Hagin notched wins over Josh Charbonnet and Luc Detierne to face Armstrong. Allowing Armstrong just three games, Hagin advanced to the quarterfinals, but the four games he marked up there against Bird put him in fourth.

In the semifinals, Kennedy was ready for his rematch with Schmidt, and he dropped Bird into third 9-6 to earn his chance at revenge. In the single race-to 11 final match, the two veterans stayed close, trading games until Kennedy reached the hill 10-9. Schmidt was on his way to tying it up, but an unlikely miss on the 6 ball brought Kennedy back to the table, and he took care of what was left to earn his victory 11-9. Other open event winners were Neil Alexander, who earned $50 as the highest-finishing senior; Jessica Penick, who pocketed $25 as highest-placing lady; and Johnny Armstrong, who took home an extra $25 as the top junior.

On Sunday, Moran’s 5-2 win over Jim Sterling put him into the hot seat match against Tracy Guernsey, who’d shut out Luc Detierne. Against Moran, though, he managed just one game, and he moved over to the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, Steve Kuhnau, who’d suffered an earlier loss to Sterling, was making his way through the field, getting past Steve Neil Alexander and Mike Trawick for another crack at Sterling. Meanwhile, Ken Black pushed his way past Brandon Goudreau and James Faison to reach Detierne, whom he put in fifth 4-1 to reach the quarterfinals. There he faced Kuhnau, who’d exacted his revenge on Sterling 4-3. Another 4-3 victory put Kuhnau up against Guernsey in the semifinals, and a 5-3 win put him into the single race-to-7 final match, but that was where his run ended. Moran took control early and kept it, finishing up his undefeated event 7-2.

Kennedy juggled both tournament director and player duties at the March 6-7 installment of the Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour

Open Results:
1st Tommy Kennedy $700
2nd John Schmidt $475
3rd Jay Bird $350
4th Greg Hagin $250
5th Johnny Armstrong $150
Cliff Joyner

Amateur Results:
1st Jason Moran $470
2nd Steve Kuhnau $300
3rd Tracy Guernsey $200
4th Ken Black $100
5th Luke Detierne $45
Jim Sterling

by Lea Andrews

John “Mr. 403” Schmidt spent a little time over the weekend of February 20-21 to show that the South still belongs to him. As proof, he took down Shawn “Big Bubba” Putnam twice at the $1,000-added Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, which drew 42 players to Pockets Billiards in Dothan, AL.

Schmidt breezed past Billy “Cecil” Paye 9-3 to meet up with Putnam for the first time in the hot seat match. Putnam, who’d just sent Stoney Stone west 9-6, found himself on the wrong end of another 9-6 match, and he moved over to the semifinals to vie for his rematch.

On the left side of the bracket, Scotty Townsend was plowing a steady path through the field after taking an early loss to Putnam. Ousting WPBA pro Tracie Hines 9-2, he moved on to Denny Singletary, who’d advanced 9-5 over Eugene Browning. Meanwhile, JR Rossman won 9-5 over Clay Medlock to meet up with Tracy Guernsey, who’d had his own 9-5 victory over Mark Shimmelman. In the hill-hill match that ensued, Rossman marked up the final game to face Stone and another hill-hill match. This time, though, it was his opponent who took the final rack, and Rossman landed in fifth while Stone advanced to the quarterfinals against Townsend, who’d edged out Paye 9-8. Both Stone and Townsend were looking for the rematch against Putnam in the semifinals, but Townsend earned it with a strong 9-6 victory. The rematch was the same story as the original, though, and Townsend finished in third 9-7, sending Putnam on to his own rematch with Schmidt.

The single race-to-11 final match erased Putnam’s earlier loss, and though he and Schmidt stayed tight through the first part of the set, Schmidt started to pull away after they tied up at five apiece. Hardly allowing Putnam any chances at the table, Schmidt dominated the rest of the match to earn his second consecutive Southeast Open win 11-5.

Other winners over the weekend were Vicky Rybik, who earned $50 as highest-finishing amateur lady; Joe Davis, who took home $50 as highest-finishing senior; and Scotty Townsend’s son, Mike, who pocketed $25 as highest-finishing junior.

Schmidt spent a little time over the weekend of February 20-21 to show that the South still belongs to him.

John Schmidt double-dipped Matt Bulfin to take first place in the J. Pechauer Southeast Open Tour stop the weekend of February 21-22. The $1,000-added event drew 36 entrants to Pockets Billiards in Dothan, AL. 

From among the winners’ side final four, Schmidt sent T.F. Whittington west 9-4 to face Bulfin in the hot seat match. Bulfin, in the meantime, after watching Tommy Kennedy reach the hill first, came back to win 9-8. Schmidt gained the hot seat with a 9-6 win.

Stoney Stone and Scott Townsend were on the one-loss side, waiting for Whittington and Kennedy. Stone moved to the quarterfinals with a 9-5 win over Whittington. Townsend joined him with a 9-3 victory over Kennedy. It was Townsend moving into the semifinals against Bulfin with a 9-7 win over Stone. 
 

Bulfin got his second chance at Schmidt with a tough 9-6 win over Townsend. He found, though, that Schmidt was more determined than he’d been in the hot seat match. Schmidt opened up a lead that he never relinquished. Bulfin pieced together a couple of small rallies and even as late as the final rack stayed in the contest, but it wasn’t enough to stave off Schmidt’s final charge. Schmidt closed it out at 11-6 and took home the first-place prize.
 

John Schmidt double-dipped Matt Bulfin to take first place in the J. Pechauer Southeast Open Tour stop the weekend of February 21-22.

Results:

1st John Schmidt $770

2nd Matt Bulfin $450

3rd Scott Townsend $350

4th Stoney Stone $250

5th T.F. Whittington $160

Tommy Kennedy

7th Josh Hilliard $100

Kevin Duffy

9th Joe Davis

Tracy Guernsey

Michael Townsend

J.R. Rossman