The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA
Unlike the tournaments that they host, which generally produce only one winner (sometimes, they split the cash and go home), improvements to existing pool rooms are always something of a win-win situation. The Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour arrived at its scheduled stop at The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA on the weekend of March 2-3 to find that owner Chris England had doubled the number of tables in the room and was preparing to open an adjacent steakhouse within the next month or so. The improved room and especially tournament conditions attract more players. More players increase business at the improved location, to include, in this case, a new, attached restaurant and then, they tell their friends. Win-win.
It was win-loss for Hank Powell and Andy Bowden over the weekend; the former, winning and the latter, having to settle for runner-up. The event drew 31 entrants to The (newly-renovated) Clubhouse.
They played their first of three matches in a winners’ side semifinal, as Trey Frank and Scott Roberts squared off in the other one. Powell sent Bowden to the loss side, double hill (7-4; Bowden racing to 5), and in the hot seat match, faced Frank, who’d sent Roberts over 7-7 (Roberts racing to 9). Powell claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited on the return of Bowden.
On the loss side, Bowden picked up Sean McGrady, who’d defeated Ron Frank (Trey’s father) 5-4 (Frank racing to 9), and junior competitor, Shane Wolford double hill 5-8 (Wolford racing to 9). Roberts drew female competitor Jordyn Worley, who, after being awarded a bye, lost her opening match to Michael Neal and embarked on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take her as far as the quarterfinals. She’d recently won two straight double hill matches against Daniel Adams and Collin Hall, both 4-6.
In a straight-up race to 5, Bowden downed McGrady 5-3. Worley joined him in the quarterfinals with a 4-5 victory over Roberts, who was racing to 9. Bowden ended Worley’s loss-side streak 5-1 in those quarterfinals and then, defeated Trey Frank 5-3 in the semifinals.
With the often-underestimated (and occasionally over-estimated) benefit of momentum, Bowden battled Powell to double hill in the opening set of the true double elimination and dropped the 9-ball to force a second set. Powell came back in the second set and won it 7-3 to claim the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Chris England and his staff at The Clubhouse for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (March 9-10) will feature two events; A Saturday, March 9 handicapped event, and a Sunday, March 10 Open event. Both will be hosted by a new venue on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour schedule – Wolf’s Den, owned by the Wolford family (parents to Shane Wolford, who will presumably be on-hand to compete) in Roanoke, VA.
