He had to win two double hill matches out of his final three, but Taz Holliday did just that on the weekend of October 28-29 to complete an undefeated run and win the 2017 Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Bar Box Tour Championship. The $1,000-added, invitational event drew 77 entrants, representing seven states (FL, GA, NC, SC, VA, TN, and WV) to Cue Time in Spartanburg, SC.

 

Holliday’s first double hill fight of his final three matches came in a winners’ side semifinal against the higher-handicapped Bobby McGrath. With McGrath racing to 11, Holliday got into the hot seat match with a 6-10 win over him. Jason Potts, playing in the other winners’ side semifinal, defeated Brent Hensley 7-4. With Potts racing to 7, Holliday claimed the hot seat 6-5 and waited for Potts to come back from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, McGrath picked up Michael Chapman, who’d defeated Justin Duncan 7-5 and Scott Roberts 7-3 to reach him. Hensley drew Jerry Ray Harris, who’d eliminated Bo Blakely 6-2 and survived a double hill fight versus Chris Gentile (6-8, Gentile racing to 9). Chapman and Harris handed McGrath and Hensley their second straight loss; Chapman 7-9 over McGrath (racing to 11) and Harris 6-2 over Hensley.

 

Chapman dropped Harris off in the quarterfinals 7-2, but had his modest loss-side streak ended by Potts in the semifinals 7-5. Holliday completed his undefeated run with a re-match double hill win over Potts in the finals.

 

Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour will be the $1,000-added, 3rd Annual North Carolina State 8-Ball Championships. Scheduled for November 4-5, this annual event has been won by Mike Davis over the past two years, and will be hosted by Brown’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC.

 

Given the theory, supported by anecdotal evidence, that competing against stronger opponents improves one's own pool game, the allure of handicapped tournaments is easy to understand. Handicaps in such situations are designed to give lower-ranked players something of a fighting chance against seasoned (higher handicapped) veterans.

 

On the weekend of June 17-18, at a stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, Michael Chapman, looking for his first major tournament win, made it to the hot seat. In the finals, he faced Open/Pro player Jonathan Pinegar, aka Hennessee from Tennessee, who'd lost his opening match and won eight on the loss side to reach those finals. With Pinegar racing to 12 and Chapman racing to 6, Pinegar took the opening set in the true double elimination final. Chapman, though, obviously improving on the spot, as it were, came back to win the second set and claim his first major title.  The event drew 27 entrants to a new venue on the tour, Billiards and Brews in Knoxville, TN.

 

In the event's opening round, Pinegar faced Ricky Bingham, who was racing to 8. Bingham won that match 8-9, and eventually advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Jerry Ray Harris. Chapman, in the meantime, squared off against Bryan Walters in the other winners' side semifinal. Harris downed Bingham 5-4, as Chapman was sending Walters to the loss side 6-4. Chapman claimed the hot seat by that same score, and waited for Pinegar to complete his loss-side run.

 

It was Walters who drew Pinegar, halfway through his eight-match, loss-side winning streak, which included, most recently, a double hill win over Brett Kleinhaus (12-8), and a 12-3 win over Joel Bradshaw. Bingham drew Steve Ellis, who'd downed Angela Gann 6-2 and Rick Rogers 6-4. Pinegar advanced to the quarterfinals 12-3 over Walters, as Ellis spoiled the opportunity for a Pinegar/Bingham re-match with a 6-3 win over Bingham.

 

Pinegar gave up only a single rack to Ellis in those quarterfinals, and then spoiled Harris' hopes for a re-match against Chapman, with a 12-2 win in the semifinals. Chapman put up a double hill fight against Pinegar in the opening set of the true double elimination final, but Pinegar prevailed 12-5 to force a second set. Chapman downed Pinegar in the second set 6-8, completing his undefeated run to claim his first major title.

 

Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Billiards and Brews, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for June 24-25, will be the 1st Annual South Carolina State 9-Ball Barbox Championships, to be hosted by Cue Time Billiards in Spartanburg, SC.

 

There were a number of factors which contributed to Alex Boles and Jonathan (Hennessee from Tennessee) Pinegar's decision to split the top two prizes on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour stop on Memorial Day weekend (May 27-28). One of them was dawn on Sunday, May 28. Another was a striking difference in skill levels, related to their ages (Boles is 15, Pinegar is. . . much older). Among the most significant, however, was the fact that they'd driven to the event together and when it came down to the finals, with the youngster Boles in the hot seat, and the veteran Pinegar having just completed a seven-match, loss-side run, well. . .there was, so to speak, no contest. The undefeated Boles became the event winner and Pinegar gladly settled for runner-up. The event drew 28 entrants to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.

 

With Pinegar already at work on the loss side, the teenager (Boles) advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Scott Howard. Randall Bowman, in the meantime, faced Josh Williams. Boles downed Howard 5-5 (Howard racing to 7), and in the hot seat match, faced Bowman, who'd sent Williams west 6-4. Boles claimed the hot seat 5-3 over Bowman.

 

Two matches in to his loss-side run, Pinegar defeated Brandon Kidwell 12-4 and Buffie Jolie 12-1, to pick up Williams. Howard drew Scott Roberts, who'd defeated Brandon Helton 7-2 (thus, denying Pinegar the pleasure of a re-match) and Jerry Ray 7-4 to reach him. Pinegar downed Williams 12-2, as one 'Scott' (Howard) downed the other 'Scott' (Roberts) 7-4.

 

Howard put up a bit of a fight against Pinegar in the quarterfinals, battling to double hill (11-6), before Pinegar finished it at 12-6. Pinegar then gave up only a single rack to Bowman in the semifinals, completing his loss-side run. The decision was made at dawn (more or less) to split the top two prizes, leaving the undefeated Boles in possession of the event title.

 

Tour director Herman Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her staff at Borderline Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for June 3-4, will be hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.

 

In the second stop on the Great Southern Billiard Tour featuring a new handicap format that has players racing to their handicap number, Jerry Ray (4) went undefeated, eliminating two 6s and one 5 in his final three matches and stopping a five-match, loss-side winning streak by Anthony Green (6) in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 50 entrants to Johnny Archer's room, The Marietta Billiard Club in Marietta, GA.

 

"The backbone of my tour is to give amateur players the chance to win," said tour director Shannon Daulton, "because if the true amateur players don't have a chance, you're not going to have a tournament."

 

"We had one player at this event, a Taiwanese girl (Angela Ger, ranked as a 3), who finished in 5th/6th," Daulton added, "and you'd have thought she won the lottery."

 

Jerry Ray advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Dustin Byrd (6), as Curtis Hale (6) squared off against Daniel Autry (5) in the other. Ray gave up only a single rack against Byrd, and was met in the hot seat match by Autrey, who'd sent Hale west with a double hill win. Ray downed Autrey and waited on the return of Green.

 

On the loss side, Green, who'd been sent over by Hale in a winners' side final eight match, shut out Tim Hart, and gave up only a single rack in a victory over Horace Godwin (8) to pick up Byrd. Hale drew Angela Ger, who'd gotten by Travis Barber (5), 3-1 and Dana Aft (4) in a double hill match. 

 

Hale and Green advanced to a re-match quarterfinals after defeating Ger and Byrd, both 6-2. Green wreaked his vengeance on Hale in a straight-up race to 6 that went double hill and then defeated Autrey 6-2 in the semifinals, to get a shot at Ray in the hot seat.

 

To no avail, as it turned out. With two on the wire at the outset, racing to 6, Ray and Green battled to double hill (3-5) before Ray prevailed to capture the event title.

 

Tour directors Shannon Daulton and Marge Cooper thanked the ownership and staff of The Marietta Billiard Club, as well as new sponsor, Ozone Billiards, and regular sponsors Nick Varner Cues & Cases, Delta 13 Racks, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, Tiger Products, and Lomax Custom Cues. The next stop on the GSBT, a $1,000-added amateur 9-ball event, is scheduled for September 7-8 at Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beacj, SC.