Twenty-eight players showed up ready for pool action August 15-16th weekend at P.O.E.T.S. Billiards in College Station, TX.  This was the first time the tour was at P.O.E.T.S Billiards.  Special thanks to John Wine and his staff for taking care of all the ladies, fan and supporters.  They were gracious in their service and hospitality.  The equipment was great and lots of room to feel at ease for this two day event.  Extra special thanks to longtime tour player Gail Roles for all her assistance in securing this site and making us all feel welcome in her hometown.  P.O.E.T.S. added $2K to this event and everyone was certainly appreciative of the warm welcome!

 

By day’s end on Saturday, six ladies would be returning to continue their winning ways in the Main Event on Sunday morning.  The two undefeated players in the winner’s bracket were Michelle Cortez (Austin) and Terry Petrosino (Houston).  The four ladies returning on the one loss side were Sophia Lopez (San Antonio) vs. Julie Stephenson (Keller) and Jennifer Kraber (Austin) vs. Tara Williams (Ft. Worth).  Placing in the money, but not returning to Sunday, were the 7/8th finishers Angie Payne (Austin) and Kawania Watson (San Antonio).  

 

Eliminated in the first round Sunday morning at the 5th-6th position was Julie Stephenson (Keller) and Jennifer Kraber (Austin).  For the second tournament in a row, Sophia Lopez (San Antonio) took 4th place and showed she will be a consistent top finisher on the tour.  Good tournament to one and all!

 

Terry made her way through Saturday with wins over Shayla Neris (7-5), Michelle Yim (7-6), Amanda Lampert (7-4), and Tara Williams (7-6), besting the tour champion in her first match loss since the first match of the first tour event of 2015.  On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Michelle was making her way through her Saturday matches with her steadily consistent play.  She posted wins over Helen Hayes (7-6), Julie Stephenson (7-5), Leslie Anne Rogers (7-6), and Sophia Lopez (7-5).   In the hot seat match, it was a slow and steady race to the finish line.  Both players displayed their superior skills at the table, but a few missed opportunities by both ladies, kept the match close throughout.  Michelle ended up on top in the match 7-4 and got to wait to see who would be coming through the one-loss side to meet her in the finals.

 

For the 3rd place match, Terry once again met up with Tara.  Just like when they met in the winner’s side on Saturday, Terry jumped ahead quickly in the match and never looked back.  With solid play and some great kick-shots, she shut down the tour champion’s winning streak, leaving Tara to settle for a 3rd place finish by a final score of 7-4.

 

At this event, Terry showed us why she was so successful on the tour in the past.  Her last event to win on the OB Cues Ladies Tour was in 2011.  In early 2012, she decided to take a break and did not participate on the tour in the last two years, but she decided that this was the year to come back and try her hand again at being competitive in women’s events.   We are glad she did as it was a pleasure to watch the finals match between Michelle and Terry.  In this true double elimination format, Terry would need to beat Michelle twice to take the win and she intended on just doing that.  She quickly got up early 4-0 in the match during the first set, but Michelle was down, but not out.  Michelle focused on getting control in the match and came back to close the gap 4-3.  On the next game, it looked like Michelle would tie the score up, but a missed opportunity on an 8-ball allowed Terry to gain another game.  After that, they traded racks back and forth, with Terry coming out ahead in the first set 7-5 and forcing one final set for the title.  In the second set, Terry once again dominated the match early with her solid play and run-outs.  This time, she did not allow Michelle to come back in the match and finished out the final set with a score of 7-4.  Congratulations to both ladies for a great tournament!  

 

 

Thirty-six players showed up Father’s Day weekend June 20-21st at Legend’s Billiards in League City, TX to play in Stop #4 of OB Cues Ladies Tour 2015 calendar.  Top players from throughout the Texas area were competing for the first place prize in this $2000 added monies event.    Legend’s Billiards, home of the Houston Open, and many other special tournaments throughout the years, is always a player favorite, with courteous and welcoming staff, fans as well as well-maintained Brunswick/Diamond equipment.  We look forward to coming back for years to come.  Special thanks to Mindy and Craig Cohen for hosting us on this holiday weekend!

 

By days end on Saturday, eight ladies would be returning on Sunday morning to continue in the Main Event. The final four remaining in the winner’s bracket were Sophia Lopez (San Antonio) vs Tara Williams (Ft. Worth) and MzTam Trinh (Austin) vs. Jennifer Kraber (Austin).  The four ladies on the one loss side were Natalie Esparza (Houston) vs. Terry Petrosino (Houston) and Amanda Lampert (Dallas) vs. Board Member Tracie Voelkering (Ft. Worth).

 

7th-8th places went to Tracie and Natalie, which is her highest finish in only her second event after a tough first round loss.  5th-6th places went to Terry and MzTam, who also had her highest finish ever and 4th place went to Sophia.  Great shooting to everyone.  Keep up the great work!

 

Tara made her way through Saturday with wins over Janna Preston (7-0), Natalie Mans (7-4), and Amanda Lampert (7-5).  On Sunday, she continued her undefeated run and earned a spot for the hot seat with a win over Sophia Lopez (7-4).  On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Jennifer was making her way through her Saturday matches with the strong play that has made her a consistent and formidable player.  Her winning matches were as follows: besting Natalie Esparza (7-5), Shayla Neris (7-3), and Terry Petrosino (7-6).  On Sunday morning, she continued her run taking down MzTam (7-0) which would secure her spot in the hot seat match.   In the hot seat match, it looked like it was going to be over quickly in Jennifer’s favor when she jumped out to a 4-0 lead.  Tara regained her focus though and managed to get on the board to bring the score to 4-3 with some strong play.  Tara missed a 9-ball to allow Jennifer to pull ahead 5-3, but composed herself and ran the next rack to close it out at 5-4.  A late miss by Jennifer then allowed Tara to tie it up at 5 games apiece.  Trading run outs the next two games, it came down to a single game to decide the winner.  Tara appeared to have the advantage after a solid break, but a tough leave on the 5 ball forced to her to make a few difficult shots in a row.  On the 8-ball, Tara slightly overcut the ball and left it hanging in the pocket but Jennifer was left directly behind the 9-ball.  She looked over her options and decided to go for a jump shot, but couldn’t quite get over the 9-ball, giving Tara ball in hand on the last two balls to take the hot seat match and wait for her finals opponent.

 

In the semi-finals match, Amanda and Jennifer traded racks early and it appeared that both players would be grinding it out for the single spot available in the finals.  However, when tied at 2-2, Amanda caught a gear and quickly began pulling ahead in the match.  She played some great outs and strategic safeties to shut Jennifer down in the match, finishing out the set with a final score of 7-2. Good tournament Jennifer—nice 3rd place finish!  

 

As the finals were now set and both Amanda and Tara being champions in their own right, everyone knew it was going to be a strong and solid fight to the finish.  Amanda, seeking to avenge her earlier loss on Saturday to Tara, she quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead.  Tara posted her own solid play to tie it up at 2 games each.  After trading games until tied at 4-4, an early miss by Amanda allowed Tara to pull ahead for the first time in the match.  Tara won the next game as well and looked ready to finish out the set, but a tough leave on the 8-ball gave Amanda opportunity to stay in the match and bring the score to only a one game deficit at 5-6.  On the final game, it looked as if Amanda was going to force a hill-hill set, but a missed six ball allowed Tara to finish the set with a final score of 7-5.  Congratulations to both ladies for a fantastic tournament!  With this fourth win in 2015 for Tara, she makes tour history by becoming the first player to ever win four consecutive events.  She also becomes only the third player to win four stops in a calendar year – Amanda Lampert had four wins in 2013 and Leslie Anne Rogers scored four wins in 2004.   Congratulations on the awesome accomplishment Tara!  You have made your mark in tour history!

 

Special recognition and thanks to OB Cues our main tournament sponsor. If you want to get serious about your game, check out OB Cues at www.obcues.com

 

Also many thanks and love to all our families, fans, supporters—we greatly appreciate each and every one of you. Also to the many, many ladies/ players/friends who traveled from near and far; we loved seeing you all again and greatly appreciate you making the journey to play on the OB Cues Ladies Tour. We look forward to seeing everyone once again at Stop #5 – P.O.E.T.S. Billiards in College Station, Texas, August 15-16th weekend.   P.O.E.T.S. Billiards is a new stop on the OBCLT calendar; so let’s show them how these tour ladies roll with a large showing in attendance.  

 

Good Pool, Good Friends, Good Times – we are the OB Cues Ladies Tour!!!!!

Check us out at www.obcuestour.com or Facebook/obcuestour

 

Main Event Tournament Results & Payouts: $2000 monies added – 36 players

1st – Tara Williams – $800

2nd – Amanda Lampert – $640

3rd – Jennifer Kraber – $465

4th – Sophia Lopez – $345

5th/6th –Terry Petrosino, MzTam Trinh – $175

7th/8th – Natalie Esparza, Tracie Voelkering – $100

 

Best of the Rest Tournament Results & Payouts: $100 monies added – 7 players

1st – Kawania Watson – $120

2nd – Teresa Garland – $50

 

Goody-Giveaway Winners:

$50 Shell Gift Cards (8) – Michelle Cortez, Karen Lawley, Natalie Mans, Krystal West, D’Andrea McQuirter, Teresa Garland, Yvonne Asher, Natalie Esparza

OB Cues Towel – MzTam Trinh

WPBA T-Shirt – Kathy Knuth

MzTam Custom Chalk – Heather Bryant

$30 Tough Luck Draw for drawing the reigning Tour Champ first round – Janna Preston

OB Cues Raffle Winner:  Adam Vargas 

Break Cue Contest – OB Rift Break Cue Winner – Amanda Lampert

Forty players showed up the weekend of May 2 & 3rd at Clicks Billiards in San Antonio, TX to play in the third stop of 2015 on the OB Cues Ladies Tour.  Top players from throughout the Texas area and one player from San Diego were vying for the $775 first place prize in this event.  

 

On Saturday, forty players were reduced to twelve ladies that would be returning on returning on Sunday morning. The final four in the winners bracket returning were Sophia Lopez vs Tara Williams and Belinda Lee vs Tina Malm.  The eight ladies returning on the one loss side were Jennifer Kraber vs Barbara Wisdom, Helen Hayes vs Tracie Voelkering, Natalie Mans vs Gail Roles, and Kim Pierce vs Michelle Yim. 

 

9th-12th finishers were Barbara Wisdom, Tracie Voelkering, Natalie Mans, and Kim Pierce. 7th-8th place went to Jennifer Kraber and Gail Roles (her highest finish to date!); 5th-6th places went to Sophia Lopez and Belinda Lee. 4th place went to Helen Hayes and 3rd place went to Michelle Yim. 

 

Tara Williams made her way through Saturday with wins over Krystal West (7-6), Terry Petrosino (7-2), and Michelle Yim (7-1).  On Sunday, she continued her undefeated run and to earn a spot at the hot seat with another win over Sophia Lopez (7-4).  On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Tina Malm was making her way through her Saturday matches without much opposition.  She posted wins over Angela Garza (7-1), Monica Anderson (7-0), Natalie Mans (7-1) and Tracie Voelkering (7-3).  On Sunday morning, she continued her run besting Belinda Lee (7-2) for her spot in the hot seat match.   In the hot seat match, both players showed the reason that they made it through their brackets with the tough field that was in attendance this May weekend.  After trading racks until tied a four games apiece, a missed safety by Tina after the break allowed Tara a run out to pull ahead 5-4.  With the alternate break format, Tara broke and ran the next rack to reach the hill, and then Tina answered back with her own break and run to set the score at 6-5.  On the final rack, Tara once again broke and ran to take the hot seat and wait for her opponent.

 

For the 3rd place match, Tina quickly got a lead over Michelle Yim and didn’t look back, earning a spot in the finals with a 7-1 win.  In the finals, in the true double elimination format, Tina would need to beat Tara twice in order to win the event.  It was not to be though; both players struggled early on to find the level of play that had allowed them to make their finals appearance.  After a few back and forth racks, there nerves settled down, but Tina was already down 4 games by the time she was able to make it on the board.  Tara was able to finish out a few racks when up 5-2 to win the event in one set with a final score of 7-2.  Congratulations to both ladies for a great tournament!  With this third win in 2015 for Tara, she makes only the third player to ever win three consecutive events; Lisa Marr was the first player to complete this feat in 2002 and Leslie Anne Rogers completed this feat in 2004.  Congratulations on an awesome accomplishment Tara!

 

48 women came to compete at the final stop of the Hunter Classics 2001 Season in Alvin, TX November 10-11.  This Championship Stop would also crown the Tour Champion and it was a fight until the bitter end.

 

Gail Lave, Brenda Plantz and Leslie Anne Rogers were fighting for the title and even on Sunday morning no one was sure who would win.  Only one point separated these three ladies, but in the end, Leslie Anne Rogers would win the Tour Championship title and also the tournament!

 

This is the 5th time in a row Big Daddy's has hosted the season finale of the Hunter Classics Tour.  Many thanks for our wonderful hosts Vickie and Ed McKillop.  Also, a big thanks to Rich Walkuski for being our referee and Mike Roles for being yet again a great Tournament Director for us.  And thank you to Wes Hunter who donated a beautiful $1,900 Hunter Classics Custom Cue for this stop.  Debi Goode, Heather Pratt and Andy Guerrero were wonderful help over the weekend working at Bid Daddy's and making the ladies feel at home.

 

Leslie Anne Rogers of Arlington, TX won $750 for her first place finish and fought all year for the Tour Champion title.  Leslie has been placing high for several years now, including a runner-up finish in the main event in 1998 and three second chance tournament wins just last year.  However, this year she has had two runner-up finishes in the last three Hunter Classics Stops, which help her to be in the running for the championship title.  With this tournament win, it pushed her way ahead in first place in the points and now she can also claim the title of having won a Hunter Classics Event, after so many close times.

 

Sarah Ellerby, runner-up in the Amateur Nationals, received $550 for her second place finish, Nicole Bacon placed 3rd and received $400 and her highest finish yet!  Jeannie Seaver, runner-up in the Regional Tour Championship the previous weekend, placed 4th and received $250 after going hill-hill her last two matches.  Julie Stephenson, Hunter Tour Board Member, placed 5th as did local Dana Hanks – her highest finish yet.  Karen Smith and Brenda Plantz, traveling buddies from Colorado, both placed 7th, with their other traveling roommate Lisa Preston placing 9th.  The other three 9th-12th place finishers included last year's Alvin winner Sherri Hudson, Sherry Pouncey of Austin ,TX having her highest finish yet and Natalie Mans of Clearlake, TX playing in her first Hunter Tournament.  Congratulations to all of the women!

 

Sarah Ellerby's road to the finals started off with a bye and then wins over Gail Lave 7-5, Sybil Wingard 7-1, Brenda Plantz 7-5, Jeannie Seaver 7-5 and Nicole Bacon 7-6 before playing Leslie in the finals.

 

Leslie's road to the finals started off with a bye also, and then wins over Melinda Bailey 7-2 and Sherry Romero before losing to Jeannie Seaver 5-7.  At this crucial point in the tournament, Brenda and Leslie were both still in the tournament on Sunday, but on the one-loss side.  When play began on Sunday, Leslie had beat Natalie Mans 7-2 while watching Brenda Plantz play Sherri Hudson.  Sherri and Brenda went hill-hill and on the last game, Sherri missed the 9 and scratched which meant Brenda and Leslie had to play each other!  When the smoke cleared, Leslie defeated Brenda 7-4 and Leslie was announced the Tour Champion.  Brenda and Leslie will both receive invitations to the WPBA Nationals in December!  Congratulations to both of these ladies for a hard fight all year long.

 

Leslie then went into high gear – wow stop now?  And defeated Jeannie Seaver 7-6, Nicole Bacon 9-4 and then Sarah Ellerby 11-6 in the finals.  Leslie won the tournament by snapping the 9 in on the break and finishing her great year in style.

 

Numerous raffle items were raffled off, but some of the main prizes were autographed balls signed by professional pool players.  Winners of the autographed balls included Ismael, Robert Plata, Suzanne Walkuski, Linda Chestnut and Billy D.  Another great raffle prize was a gift certificate to the local favorite restaurant, Joe's Bar B Q, which was won by owner Ed McKillop.

 

Several cues were also raffled off.  The number one cue was the beautiful Hunter Classics Custom Cue valued at $1,900.  June Walter of San Antonio was very surprised, but very excited that she finally won a Hunter Classic cue!  The cue forearm is Goncola Alves w/5 ebony points, Ebony butt w/ Goncola Alves band and it has orange and white veneers and stitch rings, 5 Ivory inlays in butt and a black with white linen wrap.

 

The other cues for raffle were a $200 Rhino cue won by Jeannette Martinez of San Antonio, a $500 Olivier cue won by Audra Carter of San Antonio and a $1,200 Annie O' cue won by W.T. Wetsel of the Houston area.  Anne Mays donated the Annie O' cue and also played in the tournament.  She placed 1st in the second chance event, defeating Kawania Watson of San Antonio hill-hill.  Mindy Williams of Houston – newly awarded Most Improved Player of 2001 – placed 3rd with Heather Pulford of Austin placing 4th.

 

The second chance tournament raised money from a Lucasi Cue donated by professional pool player Jeremy Jones, but also raised money for the fire fighter's fund of September 11th.  $435 was raised for the fund, and will be sent to the "Widows and Children's Fund of the Uniformed Firefighter's Association."  Theresa Murphy of San Antonio won the Jeremy Jones Lucasi Cue.  Thanks to Jeremy for supporting us again this year in Alvin, TX.

 

The Hunter Classics members would like to thank Wes Hunter for his continued support and cannot wait to play in 2002!  Thank you Wes for supporting women's pool!  This tour would not be the largest, longest running regional women's tour without YOU.