by Lea Andrews

Jordan Grubb battled first-time finals jitters and a persistent Mark Patterson to end his weekend with a first-place finish at the July 10-11 Great Southern Billiard Tour Stop. Grubb and Patterson were among the field of 39 that arrived at Corner Pocket Sports Bar in Albemarle, NC, for the $1,500-added event, which was sponsored by Nick Varner Cues and Cases.

A-ranked Grubb breezed past B-ranked Jeff Bean 9-2 to meet up with Patterson for the first time in the hot seat match. B-ranked Patterson, who’d just edged out A-ranked Younger Chapman hill-hill 7-8, came out on the other side of a hill-hill match against Grubb, who earned the hot seat 9-6.

On the left side of the bracket, AA-ranked Sam Monday blew through B-ranked Brian Simpson 10-1 to face fellow AA-player Brian White, who was coming off a shutout win over B-ranked Bobby Farmer. Against Monday, though, White managed just three games, landing in seventh. Meanwhile, an early victim of Patterson’s, A-ranked Jeff Pruitt, was making his way through B-ranked Kent Lacy 9-3 and A-ranked Tony Morrison 9-7 to meet up with Chapman. Pruitt’s 9-5 victory over Chapman pushed him into the quarterfinal match against Bean, who’d held Monday to 7 games, and a 9-4 victory over Bean gave him another crack at Patterson in the semifinals. But he came up one rack shy of revenge, finishing in third 7-8 and allowing Patterson his own chance at revenge against Grubb.

Patterson got off to a good start in the true double-elimination final match, claiming the first set 7-5 to put the two on equal footing. In the second set, though, Grubb got his nerves under control to allow his game to reach its potential, and he closed out his first GSBT victory very decisively 9-2.

Jordan Grubb battled first-time finals jitters and a persistent Mark Patterson to end his weekend with a first-place finish at the July 10-11 Great Southern Billiard Tour Stop.

Results:
1st Jordan Grubb $1,000
2nd Mark Patterson $500
3rd Jeff Pruitt $250
4th Jeff Bean $150
5th Younger Chapman $90
Sam Monday
7th Tony Morrison $40
Brian White

Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Raleigh, NC

by Lea Andrews

After a couple of disappointing showings on the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour earlier this season, Earl Strickland is back in top form. “The Pearl” showed off his stuff by plowing undefeated through a strong field of 15 at the $1,000-added June 26-27 stop, which was held at Brown’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC.

To reach the hot seat match, Strickland first had to get past BJ Ussery, who was looking for his fourth Jacoby win in a row — fifth total this season — but Strickland managed to mark up the last game in their hill-hill match to meet up with Keith Bennett, who’d just sent Delton Howard west 7-4. No strangers, the hot seat match, the finals, or each other, Bennett and Strickland both fought hard to become the last man standing on the winners’ side, but it was Strickland who earned it 7-5.

On the one-loss side, Sam Monday, who was there thanks to a second-round 7-4 loss to Howard, swept past WPBA pro Belinda Calhoun 7-2 and Brian Simpson 7-2 to meet up with Ussery. Meanwhile, Tony Morrison notched his own 7-2 victory over Jeff Pruitt and a strong 7-1 win over Chris Vollmar to face Howard, but a 7-4 loss planted him in fifth. Howard moved on to the quarterfinals against Monday, who’d ended Ussery’s hopes of four in a row 7-2, but Howard’s second go at Monday didn’t end as well for him as the first — Monday exacted his revenge 7-4 to advance to the semifinals against Bennett. Bennett was ready to get back to Strickland, though, and he blew past Monday 7-1 to get there.

But Strickland was ready for him, and the first six games of the single race-to-11 final match were over in 18 minutes — Strickland was up 6-0. His scratch on the break in the next rack, though, gave control to Bennett, who ran to a 4-9 combination to mark up his first game, and he marked up his second after Strickland hung the 2 ball. Strickland took the next two to make it 8-2, and though Bennett rebounded a bit to get it to 8-5 and 9-7, that was as close as he got. Strickland took the last two racks to close out his first win this season 11-7.

After a couple of disappointing showings on the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour earlier this season, Strickland is back in top form.

Results:

1st Earl Strickland $1,000
2nd Keith Bennett $475
3rd Sam Monday $200
4th Delton Howard $75

by Lea Andrews

A big obstacle—Southern superstar Sam Monday—stood in Mike Basha’s way at the February 27-28 Great Southern Billiard Tour stop, but Basha stood his ground to earn his spot in the winner’s circle. Basha and Monday were among the field of 51 that gathered at Fast Eddie’s Sports Bar in Goldsboro, NC, for the $1,500-added A/B amateur event.

B-ranked Basha got past fellow B-player Justin Ward to reach the hot seat match against B-ranked Tony Williams, who’d managed to fend off Monday, who was racing to 11, 7-9. Taking care of Williams 7-2, Basha claimed the hot seat, while Williams took his spot in the semifinals.

On the left side of the bracket, B-ranked Rick Royster made his way past B-ranked Bobby Hicks 7-6 to face recent winner Tony Morrison, who’d ousted A-player Zach Wilson 9-6. After easing past Morrison 7-7, Royster moved on to Ward. Meanwhile, AA-ranked Sparky Ferrell blew through A-ranked “Pokey” 11-1 to meet up with Larry Faulk, who’d breezed by fellow A-player Montez Lloyd 9-3. Ferrell edged out Faulk hill-hill 11-8, but that score got flipped on him by Monday, and he landed in fifth. Monday advanced to the quarterfinals against Royster, who’d squeaked past Ward 7-6, and looking for the rematch with Williams in the semifinals, Monday put Royster in fourth 11-5. Against Williams, Monday more than made up for the last match, earning his spot in the finals 11-2.

In the first set of the true double-elimination final match, Basha reached the hill first, but Monday took the next two racks to make it hill-hill 10-6. His break and run in the final rack pushed the second set, which he opened with another break and run. Allowing Basha few chances at the table, Monday stretched his lead to 5-0, but after topping a safety battle, Basha got on the board, and he took advantage of some unlikely opportunities in the next racks to keep it close at 7-3. He made it 7-4 with a 3-9 carom and 7-5 with a 4-9 combination, but Monday took three in a row to reach the hill. In the alternate-break format, Basha broke open the next rack, putting more into his final break than he’d put into others in the set, but his reward was a cue ball on the floor and what looked like no more chances at the table. The ultimate reward came late, though, as Monday missed what was, for him, a routine shot on the 6 ball, allowing Basha back at the table to make it hill-hill. It was Monday’s turn to break, and after making a delicate cut on the 1 ball, he found himself bridging behind the 8 ball for a shot on the 2. He overcut it and Basha pocketed it instead, and though he was faced with tough position on the 4, a thin cut all the way down the rail put the 4 in the pocket and the cue ball in position for the 5. Basha’s win was just a matter of staying in line, and he pocketed the rest of the balls to notch his first GSBT victory 7-10.

The next $1,500-added stop will be at Raising Cain’s in Inman, SC, March 6-7.

Basha and Monday were among the field of 51 that gathered at Fast Eddie’s Sports Bar in Goldsboro, NC, for the $1,500-added A/B amateur event.

1st Mike Basha $1,000
2nd Sam Monday $500
3rd Tony Williams $300
4th Rick Royster $200
5th Justin Ward $100
Sparky Ferrell
7th Tony Morrison $70
Larry Faulk
9th Bobby Hicks $40
Zach Wilson
Montez Lloyd
“Pokey”

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.

Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Burlington, NC

by Lea Andrews

Is there a better way to spend an icy, snowy, wintry weekend than in the heat of competition? The four men who braved conditions hazardous enough to push North Carolina into a state of emergency didn’t think so, and BJ Ussery went undefeated at Family Billiards in Burlington, NC, the weekend of January 30-31 to get a huge chunk of the guaranteed $1,000-added prize fund: the guaranteed $1,000 for first place.

After getting past recent winner Tony Morrison 7-4, Ussery was in the hot seat match against Derek Davis, who’d breezed past Jason Carter 7-2. But Davis came out on the wrong end of his 7-2 match against Ussery, and he moved west. On the other side of the bracket, Morrison shut out Carter to reach the semifinals against Davis, whom he held to three games to get his rematch with Ussery.

In the single race-to-11 finals, Ussery got out to a 2-0 lead, and a break and run put him at 3-0. Morrison rallied a bit, taking the next rack and breaking and running the one after to make it 3-2, but Ussery took five straight to make it 7-2. The two went back and forth a bit to get the score to 9-6, but from there, Ussery took charge, finishing up his weekend of undefeated play with a break and run and earning his first Jacoby win this season 11-6.

After getting past recent winner Tony Morrison 7-4, Ussery was in the hot seat match against Derek Davis, who’d breezed past Jason Carter 7-2.

In the early bird tournament Friday night, Morrison took care of Chris Turner 7-5 in the finals, and on Saturday, Devon Gibson topped the juniors’ division, while Gladys Ratliff topped the ladies’, and as a bonus, had her ticket drawn in the raffle for the Jacoby cue. The second chance event on Sunday went to Derek Davis, and the break and run contest will be at $75 per ball at the next event.

Results:

1st BJ Ussery $1,000
2nd Tony Morrison $200

by Lea Andrews

Tony Morrison had more to be thankful for on the weekend after Thanksgiving than leftover turkey and stuffing—a win on the Great Southern Billiard Tour is the perfect birthday gift for any player, and that’s exactly what Morrison got. Morrison, who celebrated his birthday November 29, joined 54 other players at G-Jay’s in Inman, SC, for the $1,500-added A/B amateur event November 28-29.

A-ranked Morrison got into the hot seat match following a shutout win over Jeff Baumgarner, and it was there that Morrison was dealt his only loss. Having just won 7-6 over AA-ranked Brian White, who was racing to 10, Justin Price sent Morrison west hill-hill 7-8.

On the left side of the bracket, Josh Newman got by Mike Basha 9-4 to face Zack Robbins, who’d won hill-hill 7-6 over Chase Smith. Holding Robbins to three games, Newman moved on to Baumgarner. Meanwhile, Eddie Adams edged out fellow A-player Harold McAbee 9-8 to face Brian Davis, who’d gotten past Ken Hitchcock 7-3. After breezing past Davis 9-1, Adams met up with a challenge: White. White advanced 10-5 into the quarterfinals against Baumgarner, who’d reached his goal of seven games while Newman was one game shy of his goal of 9. A strong 7-5 victory pitted Baumgarner against Morrison once again, but unfortunately for Baumgarner, the result was nearly the same as the earlier shutout. Managing to hit the string just once in the semifinal match, Baumgarner landed in third while Morrison got his rematch with Price.

Morrison pushed the second set of the true double-elimination final match by winning the first set hill-hill 9-6. Accustomed to the pressures of higher-level competition, seasoned player Morrison handled the stress of the final set a bit better than the less-experienced Price, who made it to the hill but couldn’t mark up the final game—Morrison clinched his birthday victory hill-hill 9-6.

Tony Morrison had more to be thankful for on the weekend after Thanksgiving than leftover turkey and stuffing—a win on the Great Southern Billiard Tour is the perfect birthday gift for any player, and that’s exactly what Morrison got.

Results:
1st Tony Morrison $1,000
2nd Justin Price $500
3rd Jeff Baumgarner $300
4th Brian White $150
5th Eddie Adams $100
Josh Newman
7th Brian Davis $60
Zack Robbins
9th Harold McAbee $30
Ken Hitchcock
Chase Smith
Mike Basha

by Lea Andrews

Earl Strickland was the man to beat at the Jacoby Carolina Tour the weekend of June 13-14, but nobody was up to the daunting task. Strickland made an undefeated run through the field of 20 in the $1,000-added event, which was hosted by Family Billiards in Burlington, NC.

Strickland finished off Saturday’s play with a shut-out win over Bill Duggan, putting him in Sunday’s match for the hot seat, while Keith Bennett earned his spot with a 7-2 win over Tony Morrison. On the one-loss side, Saturday’s play concluded with two hill-hill matches: Arnold Hamlett over Cary Dunn and Scott Lewis over Steve Moore, who’d earlier fallen to Jeff Pruitt.

On Sunday, Lewis brought his A game, putting Morrison in fifth 7-4 to meet up with Duggan, who’d edged out Hamlett 7-6. With a 7-3 win over Duggan, Lewis was into the one-loss semifinal.

Meanwhile, in the match for the hot seat, Strickland was exacting his revenge on Bennett, who’d come out on top of Strickland in the match for the hot seat at the last Jacoby event. Up 3-0, Strickland scratched on the break for the third time in a row, and Bennett ran to the 7 ball and played a strong safety. Strickland, with the knowledge and perfect speed of a five-time U.S. Open champion, played a three-rail kick that clipped the 7 and sent the cue ball one rail behind the 9. That shot, giving Strickland ball in hand, made it 4-0, and though Bennett rallied, putting together a couple racks at a time, Strickland closed it out 7-5.

The semifinal match didn’t go Bennett’s way either, as Lewis marked up the first game and kept his lead through the match, putting Bennett in third with a score of 7-4.

Against Strickland in the single race-to-9 final set, Lewis came back from a 2-0 deficit to get up 4-2 and then 5-3, but Strickland couldn’t hide his true world-champion colors, winning six games straight to capture first.

Besides the main event, there were, as usual, four smaller tournaments. Cary Dunn took the early-bird event Friday night with a 7-3 win over Lay Thammavong, while Anthony Arney finished in third. On Sunday, Melissa Goss bested Rachel Eliazar 7-5 in the finals of the ladies’ event, while DJ Graves earned his spot in Junior Nationals with his win in the junior event. The finals of the second-chance tournament featured David Brown with a 7-4 win over Tony Morrison, while Cary Dunn and Chris Baker finished in third.

Strickland was the man to beat at the Jacoby Carolina Tour the weekend of June 13-14, but nobody was up to the daunting task.

Results:
1st Earl Strickland $1,000
2nd Scott Lewis $500
3rd Keith Bennett $225
4th Bill Duggan $125
5th Arnold Hamlett $75
Tony Morrison

by Lea Andrews

On May 16-17, Sharks-n-Shooters in Rocky Mount, NC, hosted the guaranteed $1,000-added ninth stop of the Jacoby Carolina Tour, and the field of 40 was a solid spectrum of players, from juniors Jackson “Smoky” Jeffreys and Patrick Pipkin to local bigwigs Sam Monday, Mike Fuller, and B.J. Ussery and even seasoned pro Earl Strickland. Out of many came one Keith Bennett, who played an undefeated weekend to earn his third win on the tour this season.

Bennett began his path to the finals with 7-1 wins over Stephen Skuarka and Willie Simpson and made it to the final four with a 7-3 win over Mike Fuller. Joining Bennett in the final four of the winners’ side on Sunday were Eddie Little, Steven Page, and unsurprisingly, Earl Strickland. Strickland and Bennett sent Page and Little to the one-loss side with matching 7-5 scores, and it was time for the match for the hot seat.

Strickland, with both earplugs and oversized headphones blocking out the sound of a few chattering railbirds in an otherwise spellbound crowd, jumped to an early 3-0 lead, but Bennett took advantage of a few unlikely opportunities to tie it up at 3. After trading games for a few racks, Strickland was up 5-4 and a break-and-run in rack ten put him on the hill. A dry break in rack eleven, though, cost Strickland the match as Bennett ran out the rack and broke and ran the next to earn his spot in the finals.

Waiting for his second chance at Strickland was Page, who’d followed up his earlier loss to Strickland with a strong 7-5 win over Monday. Page started the match by getting up 3-1, but Strickland tied it at 4 and at 5. Page reached the hill first, and when Strickland got to the table in the final rack, it looked like he’d make it hill-hill even after getting out of line on the 8. The speedy 9 ball barely missed the pocket, though, and before he could even see where it would end up, he conceded the match by spearing it straight into a pocket with his tennis-racket-grip cue. Page moved on to the finals with a score of 7-5.

In the race-to-9 final set, Bennett took an early 3-0 lead and increased it to 7-2. Page managed to come back on a few games, but it wasn’t enough to keep Bennett from the win, and Bennett closed out the match with a strong 9-5 victory.

In addition to the main event were the ladies’ and junior divisions and the second-chance tournament Sunday. Karen Webb had a solid 9-2 win over Lea Andrews in the finals of the ladies’ event, while Jackson Jeffreys bested Patrick Pipkin 9-5 in the finals of the junior division. As the high finishers of the division, Jeffreys and Pipkin both earned spots into the Junior Nationals. In the finals of the second-chance tournament, Bill Duggan won 7-2 over Mac Harrell.

On May 16-17, Sharks-n-Shooters in Rocky Mount, NC, hosted the guaranteed $1,000-added ninth stop of the Jacoby Carolina Tour, and the field of 40 was a solid spectrum of players, from juniors Jackson “Smoky” Jeffreys and Patrick Pipkin to local bigwigs Sam Monday, Mike Fuller, and B.J. Ussery and even seasoned pro Earl "The Pearl" Strickland.

Results:
1st Keith Bennett $1,000
2nd Steven Page $500
3rd Earl Strickland $350
4th Eddie Little $250
5th Sam Monday $175
Qi Liu
7th B.J. Ussery $125
D.J. Outlaw
9th Mike Fuller $75
Mac Harrell
Chip Klein
Tony Morrison

Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Raleigh, NC

by Skip Maloney

Jeff Abernathy came back from a three-match visit to the one-loss side of the bracket to defeat B.J. Ussery in the finals of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour stop February 14-15. The $1,000-added event drew 27 entrants to All Star Billiards in Raleigh, NC.

With three wins under his belt moving among the winners’ side final four, Abernathy faced Ussery for the first time as Sam Monday met Tony Morrison to decide who would battle for the hot seat. Monday sent Morrison west 7-5. Ussery moved Abernathy over in a hurry 7-2 and gained the hot seat with a hill-hill win over Monday.

Over on the one loss side, Sidney Champion and Robert Ray, who together had just dropped husband and wife Jay and Belinda Calhoun into the tie for seventh place, were there to meet Morrison and Abernathy. Morrison defeated Champion 7-4, as Abernathy got by Ray 7-3. In the quarterfinal match that followed, Morrison got within two racks before Abernathy finished it 7-5. Monday and Abernathy then fought to double-hill in the semifinals with Abernathy holding on to earn a second chance against Ussery.

Ussery got out in front 4-1 in the early going of the race-to-9 finals, but Abernathy caught him and moved ahead, first 7-5 and then 8-6 to reach the hill. Ussery battled back to knot it at 8-8 and then, in the deciding rack, missed while shooting at the 8 ball. Abernathy sunk the final two balls and took top honors.

Robert Ray took first place in an eight-player early bird event Friday, and Cassandra Locke defeated Gladys Rapliff 7-3 in a single match ladies’ event. Palmer Richardson won the seven-entrant juniors event. Chris Baker emerged from a 15-entrant field to take first in a second chance tournament Sunday, defeating Clint Clark in the finals. 

Jeff Abernathy came back from the one-loss side of the bracket to defeat B.J. Ussery in the finals of the Jacoby Custom Cues Tour.

Results:

1st Jeff Abernathy $1,000

2nd B.J. Ussery $500

3rd Sam Monday $300

4th Tony Morrison $200

5th Sidney Champion $100

Robert Ray

7th Belinda Calhoun $75

Jay Calhoun

9th Terry Champion

Willie Simpson

Chris Vollmar

Nigel Francis

by Skip Maloney

Sam Monday defeated Mike "Iron Mike" Davis twice to capture the Jacoby Custom Cues Tour title at Family Billiards in Burlington, NC.

Sam Monday double-dipped Mike Davis to take first place in the Jacoby Custom Cue Carolina Tour stop the weekend of December 6-7. The $1,000-added event drew 19 entrants to Family Billiards in Burlington, NC.

Monday and Davis first met in the hot seat match after Monday had dispatched Arnold Hamlett to the one-loss side 7-5 and Davis had survived a hill-hill struggle against Michael Fuller. Monday’s first victory over Davis was a 7-2 affair that left him in the hot seat.

On the one-loss side, Scott Lewis and Tony Morrison emerged from the event’s final 12 to meet Hamlett and Fuller. Lewis had dropped Leroy Bryant into the tie for seventh place 7-3, as Morrison was busy doing the same to Cary Dunn 7-4. It was Lewis and Fuller advancing to the quarterfinals in a pair of tightly contested matches; Fuller outlasting Morrison in a double-hill struggle, as Lewis got by Hamlett 7-5.

Fuller then dropped Lewis into fourth place 7-4 and faced Davis in the semifinals. Davis advanced for a second chance at Monday with a 7-3 victory over Fuller. In the race to 9 finals, Monday took command early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead, but Davis kept his head in the game and eventually tied it 4-4. Monday won the next five, running three of the five racks, playing strong safety positions in the other two, and opening the final game by sinking three balls on the break to capture the first-place prize.

Results:
1st Sam Monday $1,000
2nd Mike Davis $500
3rd Michael Fuller $200
4th Scott Lewis $100
5th Arnold Hamlett $75
Tony Morrison
7th Leroy Bryant
Cary Dunn
9th James Backburn
Derek Leonard
Chris Vollmar
Johnny Walker