Ray McGinn has been on and off the Great Southern Billiard Tour, dating as far back as 2009, when he finished second behind Larry Faulk at a tour stop in Jacksonville, NC. On the weekend of April 4-5, he broke through to chalk up his first victory on the tour, and once again, had to face a 'Faulk' in the finals; this time Guy Faulk, who won three on the loss side to challenge him. The $700-added event drew 31 entrants to Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach, SC.

 

McGinn advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Mike Haas, as Faulk faced Micky Hucks.  McGinn got into the hot seat match 5-3 over Haas and faced Hucks, who'd sent Faulk to the loss side 6-1. McGinn grabbed the hot seat in a double hill fight and waited on Faulk's return.

 

On the loss side, Faulk ran into Gatlin Askins, who'd defeated B.J. Hucks 9-5 and Jamie Ford 9-3. Haas drew Matt Bulfin, who'd gotten by Bo Miller 9-2 and eliminated Phillip Britt 9-4 (Britt, by the way, was present, when McGinn fell to Larry Faulk in the GSBT final, five years ago. Britt, in fact, had been sent to the loss side by McGinn in a winners' side semifinal). 

 

Player handicaps came into play in the battles for advancement to the quarterfinals, with both lower handicaps (Haas and Faulk) moving on. With Bulfin and Askins racing to 9 games, Haas defeated Bulfin 4-7, while Faulk downed Askins 3-5. Faulk took it two steps further, downing Haas in those quarterfinals 3-3 and then, Hucks, in the semifinals 3-4.

 

McGinn put a stop to Faulk's run, although not before Faulk's handicap had forced a deciding seventh game. McGinn took the only set necessary 5-2 to claim his first GSBT title.

Devin Poteet stopped a five-match, loss-side winning streak by Trey Frank to complete an undefeated run on the Great Southern Billiard Tour on the weekend of August 9-10. The $1,000-added event, which drew 41 entrants to Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach, SC, was Poteet's first win on the tour.

 

Frank was already at work on the loss side, when Guy Faulk, who'd sent him there, faced Jamie Lowery in a winners' side semifinal. Poteet met up with Junior Faircloth in the other. Lowery sent Faulk over 6-2, as Poteet advanced to the hot seat match 6-3 over Faircloth. Poteet defeated Lowery 6-3 and sat in the hot seat, awaiting Frank.

 

Frank, who'd defeated Adam Towery 5-4, and Ken Cagle 5-3, missed his chance at a re-match versus Faulk by drawing Faircloth.  Faulk drew Chandler DeGuzman, who'd gotten by Steve Girardi and David Tootle, giving up only rack to each of them. DeGuzman did another 4-1 number on Faulk, as Frank was defeating Cagle 5-3.

 

Frank downed DeGuzman in the quarterfinal 5-3 and then dropped Jamie Lowery into third place 5-4. Poteet ended Frank's loss side run with a first-set, 6-3 win in the finals.

In winning his third overall Great Southern Billiard Tour title on the weekend of July 12-13, B.J. Hucks had to contend with a very determined Paul Bailey, who lost his opening match and embarked on a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that put him into the finals, late on Saturday night. Hucks prevailed to go undefeated in the $1,000-added event which drew 38 entrants to Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

 

Before Hucks could contend with Bailey, at work on his loss-side streak of victories, Hucks advanced to a winners' semifinal against Guy Faulk; a formidable challenge, with Hucks needing to reach nine games before Faulk won three. Josh Richard and Bruce Luttrell squared off in the other. Hucks downed Faulk double hill, 9-2, as Richard sent Luttrell to the losers' bracket 5-3. Hucks got into the hot seat with a 9-2 win over Richard and waited for Bailey to complete his loss-side run.

 

With four down and five to go, Bailey defeated Gatlin Askins 6-3 and Dennis Rose 6-2, to pick Luttrell. Faulk drew Cliff Cribb, who'd gotten by Hank Warner 7-3 and Keith Crawford 7-2. Bailey eliminated Luttrell 6-5, and in the quarterfinals, met up with Faulk, who'd defeated Cribb 3-5. Again, Faulk's handicap brought his opponent, in this case, Bailey, to the brink. Bailey prevailed 6-2 and moved right into another double hill fight; this time, against Richard in the semifinals. 

 

Bailey won his second straight double hill battle, and completed his nine-win, loss-side streak for a crack at Hucks in the hot seat. Hucks ended the streak with a 9-3 victory in the finals.

 

Wendell Thompkins got two shots at him, but couldn't get by Anthony Vallario, who went undefeated to win the May 10-11 stop on the Great Southern Billiard Tour. The $700-added event drew 28 entrants to Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach, SC.

 

Thompkins (racing to 9) had his first chance against Vallario in a winners' side semifinal, as Kevin Ping and Justin Martin were squaring off in the other one. Vallario (racing to 6) defeated Thompkins 6-5 and in the hot seat match, facEd Martin, who'd sent Ping to the losers' bracket 5-4. Martin battled Vallario to double hill, but Vallario prevailed to sit in the hot seat, awaiting the return of Thompkins.

 

Thompkins moved to the loss side and picked up Phillip Britt, who'd defeated Chad Lee 9-2 and Ken Cable 9-4. Ping drew Jason Martin (father to Justin), who'd gotten by Guy Faulk 6-2 and survived a double hill match against Matt Collins. Jason Martin downed Ping 6-1, as Thompkins was busy eliminating Britt 9-4. Thompkins then spoiled the possibility of a father-son semifinal with a defeat of the father, Jason, 9-3 in the quarterfinals. He then defeated the son, Jason, by the same score in the semifinals for a second shot at Vallario. 

 

Thompkins fared better in the re-match, falling a game short of forcing a case game. Vallario, though, hung on to win 6-7 and claim the event title.

 

Tour director Shannon Daulton thanked the ownership and staff of Shore Thing Billiards, along with sponsors Nick Varner Cues & Cases, Delta-13, Ozone Billiards, Tiger Products, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, Lomax Cues, and Universe Clothing. The 10th stop on the GSBT, scheduled for May 17-18, will be hosted by Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.

Jason Martin went undefeated on the weekend of February 8-9 to win his first stop on the Great Southern Billiard Tour. He had to get by Darren "Gilligan" Blitch, looking for his second win on the tour, twice to complete the victory. The $1,000-added, 9-ball event drew 50 entrants to Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach, SC.

 

Martin and Blitch met first among the winners' side final eight, where a 6-6 win (Blitch racing to 8) movEd Martin into a winners' side semifinal against Guy Faulk, while Blitch moved to the losers' bracket. Joey Stevens and Ray Floyd met in the other semifinal. Martin downed Faulk, double hill, while Floyd defeated Stevens 5-3. Martin got into the hot seat with a 6-4 win over Floyd.

 

On the loss side, Blitch began his five-match march back to the finals with an 8-4 win over Matt Collins. He followed it with an 8-5 victory over Todd Kiser, which set him up to face Stevens. Faulk drew David Tootle, who'd gotten by B.J. Hucks 6-4 (Hucks racing to 9), and survived a double hill fight against Phillip "Ski Bo" Britt. 

 

Blitch downed Stevens 8-3, and in the quarterfinals, met up with Faulk, who'd eliminated Tootle 4-2. Blitch then dropped Faulk into fourth place 8-2, and survived a double hill match against Floyd to earn his second shot against Martin. For the second time, Martin defeated Blitch 6-6 to claim the event title.

 

Marge Cooper, filling in for the absent Shannon Daulton (in Vegas for WPBL duty), thanked Brent Hudgins and his staff at Shore Thing Billiards, along with sponsors Nick Varner Cues & Cases, Delta-13, Ozone Billiards, Tiger Products, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, Lomax Cues, and Universe Clothing. The next stop on the GSBT, a $2,000-added double-event (8-ball & 9-ball), is scheduled for February 21-23 at Michael's Billiards in Fairfield, OH.

Working under a new handicap system that has players racing to their ranking number – in 8-ball, 3-9; in 9-ball, 3-11 – the Great Southern Billiard Tour stopped off at Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach on Saturday, August 3 for an 8-ball tournament. Greg Dix, who won the last Shore Thing Billiards 8-ball tournament, back in May, almost made it two, winning seven on the loss side to challenge hot seat occupant, Jason Heyward. Heyward, though, came back from a defeat in the opening set of the true double elimination final to win the second set and claim the event title. The $700-added Amateur 8-ball event drew 25 entrants.

 

As Dix went to work on the loss side (following a 6-2 defeat at the hands of Mike Johnson in the second round), Heyward advanced among the winners' side final four for a contest against Daniel Adams. David Styers, in the meantime, met up with Trent Talbert. Heyward sent Adams packing 9-4 (Adams racing to 6), as Styers, in a straight-up race to 6, downed Talbert 6-2. Heyward got into the hot seat with a 9-4 win over Styers, and waited for Dix to complete his loss-side run.

 

With two victories already on the board, Dix gave up only a single rack, in total, to Robert Worsham (0) and Guy Faulk, and picked up Adams. Talbert drew Phillip Britt, who'd gotten by Collin Hall and Dale Holt, both 8-4, although with Holt racing to five, that was a double hill match. Dix and Talbert downed Adams and Britt 8-2 and squared off against each other in the quarterfinals.

 

Dix took the quarterfinal match against Talbert 8-2, as well, and gave up one more rack in the semifinals, winning it 8-3 over Styers. In the opening set of the true double elimination final, Dix capitalized on a few Heyward errors and chalked up yet another 8-2 win (through his final six matches, Dix won 82% of the games he played; 48-10). Dix encountered some problems on his break in the second set, tending to allow Heyward to step to the table with a benevolent spread of balls. Heyward took full advantage, winning the second set 9-4, and the event title.

 

Shannon and Marge thanked Brent Hudgins and his staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Nick Varner Cues & Cases, Delta 13 Racks, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, Tiger Products, and Lomax Custom Cues. Next up for the GSBT is a stop at Johnny Archer's place – The Marietta Billiard Club in Marietta, GA – for a $1,000-added Amateur 9-ball tournament, set for August 17-18.