by Lea Andrews

Though Ron Park tried twice, he couldn’t take down Brian White, who went undefeated to top the March 13-14 stop of the Great Southern Billiard Tour. White and Park were among the field of 43 that arrived at Kylie’s Sports Bar and Grill in Cornelius, NC, for the $1,500-added event.

AA-ranked White took care of A-ranked Matt Reed, who was racing to 9, 11-6 to face Park for the first time in the hot seat match. Park, who’d just blown through B-ranked JR Poste 9-2, moved over to the semifinals after notching just one game against White.

On the one-loss side, Mark Patterson got past fellow B-player Doug Bartlett 7-5 to face Jeff Peele, who’d ousted Bartlett’s brother Tim 9-3. But Peele, who owns the room named after his five-year old daughter, Kylie, with his wife, Amy, managed just three games himself against Patterson, landing in seventh. Meanwhile, last stop’s winner Josh Newman took care of B-ranked Paul Mullins 9-4 to meet up with Marty Free, who’d shut out B-ranked Robert Ash.

Newman’s bid for two in a row ended there, though, and he finished in seventh 7-5. Free moved on to Poste, who held him to four games to advance to the quarterfinals against Reed, who’d put Patterson in fifth 9-3. But against Poste, Patterson came up two games shy of his goal of nine games, and Poste advanced to the semifinals against Park. Their match-up went a little better for Poste this time around, but still not well enough. Park earned the rematch with White hill-hill 9-6.

Though Ron Park tried twice, he couldn’t take down Brian White, who went undefeated to top the March 13-14 stop of the Great Southern Billiard Tour. Pictured left to right is Brian White, Daulton, and Ron Park.

Results:
1st Brian White $1,000
2nd Ron Park $500
3rd JR Poste $300
4th Matt Reed $200
5th Mark Patterson $125
Marty Free
7th Jeff Peele $55
Josh Newman

by Lea Andrews

While head coach Sean Payton was leading the New Orleans Saints to their first Super Bowl victory at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, another Payton—Roy—was finishing up an undefeated weekend at Zoo City Saloon in Asheboro, NC. He did so at the expense of the field of 30 who gathered February 6-7 for the $1,500-added Great Southern Billiards Tour event.

B-ranked Payton got past fellow B-player Jeff Baumgarner 7-2 to reach the hot seat match against A-ranked Tony Morrison, who’d gotten by A-ranked Kevin Boggs 9-7. In the weighted race for the hot seat, though Payton notched one less game, he scored the win 7-8.

On the one-loss side, B-ranked Charles “Cotton” Trivett eased by B-ranked Robert Ash 7-3 to meet up with Paul Mullins, who’d ousted fellow A-player Sidney Champion 9-7. After taking care of Mullins 7-4, Trivett moved on to Baumgarner. Meanwhile, B-ranked James Blackburn held B-ranked Joe Edmonds to three games to face Mike Basha, who’d held fellow B-player Tony Williams to four games. Edging out Basha 7-6, Blackburn advanced to Boggs, but landed in fifth after managing just two games. In the quarterfinals, Boggs met Baumgarner, who’d put Trivett in fifth 7-5, and though Boggs managed to reach his hill of 8 games, Baumgarner marked up the final rack, earning his spot in the semifinals 7-8. There he found himself in another tight hill-hill match with an A-player, which, fortunately for Baumgarner, yielded the same result—he put Morrison in third 7-8 to get his rematch with Payton in the finals.

In the true double-elimination final match, Payton could afford to get behind or even lose the first set, but he hadn’t lost a set all weekend, and he wasn’t about to start. After jumping out to a two-game lead, Payton stayed in front, and when Baumgarner missed his chance to tie it up by scratching on the 5 ball at 6-5, Payton took ball in hand and the final rack to earn his win 7-5.

While head coach Sean Payton was leading the New Orleans Saints to their first Super Bowl victory at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, another Payton—Roy—was finishing up an undefeated weekend at Zoo City Saloon in Asheboro, NC.

After eight hours of matches, play has come to a close with sixteen players of the original 42 moving on to Sunday matches. Along the way, some of the stronger shooters have encountered some troubles, but are still battling on the left side of the brackets. Brian White, one of the AA classed players needing to go to 11 games, lost his first match to B player Mike Basha.

Both Josh Roberts and Norris Brady lost their third round matches to Lay Thammavong and Steve Cox. Other players still progressing through the winner’s side are Josh Newman, Jeff Abernathy, Paul Mullins, Zeek Gomez, Wade Mascia, and Dusty Norris. Joining Roberts, White and Brady on the 1-loss side are Clay Branham, Rory Dover, Dale Phillips, Chris Steele, and Robert Ash.

After eight hours of matches, play has come to a close with sixteen players of the original 42 moving on to Sunday matches.

With the restructured format of the amateur events on the GSBT, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will walk away with the $1000 first prize. Sunday play begins at 1:00pm EST with both winners and 1-loss bracket matches. Also Sunday, there will be a second chance tournament for those players who did not cash in the main event starting at 4:00pm EST.

The Great Southern Billiard Tour would like to thank the owner of the Breakers Sports Bar, Jeff Peele, for hosting the event as well as its sponsors: Nick Varner Cues and Cases, Tiger Products, Delta-13 Rack, Masters Chalk, Inside POOL, AZ Billiards, Professor Q-BALL, Stroke Magazine and Billiards Digest. This event is being streamed live at the following link:

Watch LIVE Streaming Video Now

View the Great Southern Billiard Tournament Brackets for Rockhill, SC