Were it not for the fact that the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour moves around a bit in its distinctly Southern geographic area, and derives at least a part of its ongoing success to that very mobility, tour directors Herman and Angela Parker might opt to hold all of their tour stops at the Steakhorse Restaurant and Billiards facility in Spartanburg, SC. Almost exactly a month ago (June 2-3), the room opened its doors for the first time, playing host to a stop on the tour. The venue, owned by a player with a tour stop victory on his resume (Dayne Miller), added $1,500 to that opening event, and drew 84 entrants. On the weekend of July 28-29, the tour re-visited the venue, which in the interim had opened walls to expand in size and brought in more tables. Once again, $1,500 was added to the event, which, this time, drew 90 entrants. In the end, Matt Bulfin and Derek Pierce opted out of a final match, and split the top two prizes. Bulfin, as the hot seat occupant at the time, was the event’s official winner.
Though he finished as runner-up to Chase Smith last September on the tour, Bulfin, until this weekend, had yet to chalk up a win on the tour, and, in fact, hadn’t won a stop anywhere (that was recorded) since he took home a title on Tommy Kennedy’s Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, six years ago. His path to the winners’ circle at this most recent stop led him to a winners’ side semifinal match against Steven Ellis, while his eventual hot seat and finals opponent, Derek Pierce squared off against Dalton Messer.
Pierce and Messer battle to double hill before Pierce advanced to the hot seat 5-5 (Messer racing to 6). Bulfin joined him following a 9-4 victory over Ellis. Bulfin then played what proved to be his last match and claimed the hot seat 9-3.
By identical 6-3 scores, Coe and Messer moved to quarterfinals over Ellis and Ringgold. Messer then gave up only a single rack to Coe (6-1) and advanced to the semifinals against Pierce. With Messer racing to 6, Pierce got his second shot against Bulfin by downing Messer 5-4.
Bulfin and Pierce, as noted at the outset, opted out of a final match. Bulfin, in the hot seat, officially recorded his first tour victory.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Steakhorse Restaurant and Billiards’ owner Dayne Miller and his staff (profusely), in addition to title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. In addition to the regular payouts for the event’s top 16 competitors, the tour awarded $50 to the event’s top junior Hunter White. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend – August 4-5 – will be hosted by Buck’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC.
(l to r): Mike Zingale, Nick Applebee, Steven Richmond, Miguel Batista, and Tony Crosby
In the summer of 2017, Stephen Richmond competed in two events at which he finished as runner-up; to Donny Mills in a June stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour, and to Tommy Kennedy in an August stop on the J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour. In both events, Richmond got into the hot seat, only to be defeated in the finals. On the weekend of February 3-4, competing in the Florida Pool Tour’s $5,000-added, 2018 Florida State Amateur 9-Ball Championships, that drew 122 entrants to Zingale’s Billiards Room & Sports Bar in Tallahassee, FL, Richmond opted for a different route. He advanced to the hot seat match, but was defeated by Miguel Batista. He returned from the semifinals to defeat Batista, and claim the event title; his first, according to our available records, since he won a stop on the Pure X Cues All American Tour in April of 2013.
Richmond and Batista got into their first of two matches, battling for the hot seat, following identical 7-5 victories in the winners’ side semifinals; Richmond, over Denny Singletary, and Batista, over Steve Foster. They then proceeded to battle each other to a 7-5 finish that sent Richmond to the semifinals.
On the loss side, Singletary and Foster ran immediately into their second straight losses. Singletary went down in a double hill fight against Nick Applebee, who’d previously defeated Wesley White 5-1 and Matt Bulfin, also double hill. Foster was defeated 5-1 by Mike Delawder, who’d eliminated Jason Wells 5-3 and Rod Rentz 5-1 to reach him.
In what was described by tour officials as an “intense hill/hill (quarterfinal) match,” Applebee and Delawder fought back and forth for the right to meet Richmond in the semifinals. Applebee prevailed, only to be downed by an apparently determined Richmond 5-1.
In an extended race-to-9 final, Richmond and Batista came within a game of yet another double hill match. Richmond, though, pulled out in front to win it 9-7 and claim the event title.
A Second Chance event drew a full field of 64 entrants. It was won by Jeff Jordan.
Tour representatives thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality at their brand new location (1147 Apalachee Parkway), as well as sponsors Simonis, Aramith, Stroke-It-Wear, Crosby’s Billiards and Darts, and XL Press Co. The next stop on the Florida Pool Tour, the 2018 Florida State Open 10-Ball Championship, scheduled for March 3-4, will once again be hosted by Zingale’s.
The Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour played host to a few fleeing Floridians on the weekend of September 9-10. Escaping torrential downpours and widespread damage, they traveled north to Spartanburg, SC, where Cue Time hosted a $500-added tour stop that drew 53 entrants and saw Chase Smith take two out of three against Matt Bulfin to claim his first event title.
Smith and Bulfin battled first in the hot seat match. Bulfin sent Robert Davis to the loss side 10-3 in one winners’ side semifinal, while Smith downed Chris Gentile (Florida State’s Amateur Champion in 2011) 7-5. Smith claimed the hot seat by the same 7-5 score and waited for Bulfin to get back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Davis picked up Daniel Rutledge, who, after being sent over by Justin Duncan, was on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He eliminated Steve Loftin 6-4, and Brett Underwood 6-2 to get Davis. Gentile, in the meantime, drew Dalton Messer, who’d gotten by Mike Bumgarner 6-4 and eliminated any possibility of a Rutledge/Duncan re-match by defeating Duncan 6-3.
Rutledge and Gentile gave up one rack each in their victories over Davis and Messer and faced each other in the quarterfinals. With Gentile racing to 9, Rutledge then chalked up what proved to be his last loss-side win, 6-6 over Gentile. Bulfin ended Rutledge’s bid for a shot at Smith with a 10-3 victory in the semifinals.
Smith and Bulfin fought to double hill in the first set, before Bulfin finished it at 10-6. Smith came back in the second set and won it 7-5 to claim the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time, 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 September 16-17, will be hosted by Mr. Cues II in Atlanta, GA.
Two years ago, at the Super Billiards Expo, Jason Brown downed Corey Deuel in the One Pocket tournament of that annual event. A month later, he joined Danny Smith, Mika Immonen, and Deuel in the tie for 9th at the Buffalo Billiards Pro One Pocket event. Last year, his best in recorded earnings since first appearing in the AZ database in 2004, he cashed in the One Pocket (20th), 9-Ball (17th) and 9-Ball Banks (28th) events at Derby City, as well as the 9-Ball (13th) and One Pocket (5th) events of the annual Don Coates Memorial in Raleigh, NC. In other words, "Jaybird," as he's known, has some history at the Pro level, particularly playing One Pocket.
Brown brought that resume with him to Spartanburg, SC on the weekend of June 24-25, at a stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball tour. It was the $1,000-added 1st Annual South Carolina State 9-Ball Bar Box Championships, which drew 38 entrants to Cue Time Billiards in Spartanburg, and though Brown would relinquish the hot seat to Brian White, he came back from the semifinals to defeat White and claim that inaugural title.
The final three matches on the winners' side were all decided by 9-7 scores. Brown defeated 16-year-old (soon to be 17-year-old) Hunter White to get into the hot seat match. He was met by Brian White (no relation to Hunter), who'd defeated Tim Heath. White then claimed the hot seat over Brown in what proved to be his last win.
On the loss side, Hunter White picked up Brian Bagwell, who, following a defeat at the hands of Matt Bulfin, was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals against Brown. He'd recently survived a double hill fight against J.T. Ringgold, and eliminated Zack Baker 7-5. Heath drew Mike Bumgarner, who had also survived a double hill match, versus Mackie Lowery, and also defeated an opponent in the 7th/8th place matches, Corey Morphew, by a score of 7-5.
Bagwell chalked up another double hill win, defeating Hunter White, as Bumgarner was busy eliminating Heath 7-3. Bagwell chalked up his sixth, and last loss-side win with a 7-4 victory over Bumgarner in the quarterfinals. He was then defeated, same score, by Brown in the semifinals. It was a single race to 11 for the first SC State 9-Ball Bar Box title, and Brown sealed the deal 11-5.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time 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 July 1-2, will be hosted by Randolph's Billiards in Hickory, NC.
(l to r): Mike Voelkering, Jay Murillo, David Gutierrez
Seventeen years ago, David Gutierrez chalked up a win at the 27th Annual Texas Open. It was his first appearance in the payout lists of the AZBilliards database, which, with two exceptions, has included cash winnings for him every year since then. The exceptions were 2006 and last year. He won the Texas Open a second time in 2005, and cashed in that event on a number of other occasions. A regular and regular winner on the Fast Eddie's Tour in Texas, and the Lone Star Billiards Tour, he's appeared and cashed in major events like the Derby City Classic, The US Open 9-Ball Championships and The US Bar Table Championships. His best year, according to our records was 2004, in which he won a stop on the Fast Eddie's and Top Dawg Billiards Tour's One Pocket division, along with cash appearances in (among others) two Carolina Opens, a stop on the Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, and the Music City Classic.
On the weekend of June 24-25, after a year of absence from any of our payout lists (which means, basically, that if he won any tournaments, we didn't hear about them), he returned to the Texas stage and chalked up a win on the sixth stop of the Omega Billiards Tour. Gutierrez went undefeated through a field of 85 in the $1,700-added event, that was hosted by Click's Billiards in Arlington, TX.
Five matches that included two shutouts brought Gutierrez to a winners' side semifinal against Amos Bush, the first opponent he faced who was, at the time of the match, ranked among the Omega Tour's top 20 players (#17). Mike Voelkering (#9), in the meantime, met up with Ray Amarro. Gutierrez downed Bush 9-5, and was met in the hot seat match by Voelkering, who'd defeated Amarro 7-4. Gutierrez claimed his first (known) hot seat since 2015 with a 9-1 victory, and waited on Voelkering's return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Bush picked up Jay Murillo, who, after being defeated by Aram Hasan in the third round, was on an eight-match, loss-side winning streak, that included a victory over the tour's #1-ranked player, Rick Stanley, and would take him as far as the semifinals. He'd recently defeated TJ Davis 6-4 and George Merchan 6-2 to reach Bush. Amarro drew Robbie Cleland, who'd been one of Gutierrez' shutout victims in one of the winners' side quarterfinals and on the loss side, defeated Doug Winnett 7-3 and Greg Sandifer 7-6 (Sandifer racing to 8).
Murillo downed Bush 6-4, and in the quarterfinals, ran into Cleland, who'd eliminated Amarro 7-2. With Cleland racing to 7, Murillo chalked up his last win 6-6 over Cleland, before running into Voelkering, who ended Murillo's loss-side streak 7-1. Voelkering put up a bit more of a fight in the finals than he had in the hot seat match, but Gutierrez prevailed 9-4 to claim the event title.
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership at staff at Click's for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com, and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiards Tour, scheduled for July 15-16, will be a $1,700-added event, hosted by Open Table in Azle, TX.
Moving into the winners' side semifinals of a Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour stop, held on the weekend of March 4-5, it took two double hill wins against separate opponents for Billy Fowler to go undefeated and claim the title. The $500-added event drew 59 entrants to Cue Time in Spartanburg, SC.
The first of those two double hill wins came in one of the two winners' side semifinals, as Fowler sent Matt Bulfin to the loss side 7-8 (Bulfin racing to 9). Kirk Hixon, in the meantime, sent Fowler's eventual finals opponent, Bobby McGrath, to the loss side, in another double hill match (6-9; Hixon, racing to 10). By comparison, Fowler got into the hot seat easily, defeating Hixon 7-2.
Bulfin downed Davis, double hill (9-5), and in the quarterfinals, met up with McGrath, who, in a straight-up race to 10, had eliminated Hawkes 10-5. In a 10-9 race, McGrath then defeated Bulfin 10-3. With Hixon racing to 6 in the semifinals, McGrath ended his run 10-4 for a shot at Fowler in the hot seat. With McGrath racing to his 10, Fowler completed his undefeated run with a 7-7 victory in the finals.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time, 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 this weekend (March 11-12), will be hosted by Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC.
Tony Crosby, Daniel McKinney, Benji Buckey and room owner Mike Zingale
With competitors like Mosconi Cup team member Sky Woodward, former US Open Champion Tommy Kennedy, Robb Saez and Shane McMinn (among others) on the entrant list, one might have been forgiven for expecting a series of marquee matchups in the final hours of the Florida State 10-Ball Open, held on the weekend of January 7-8. Instead, in what must surely have been a surprise to Calcutta participants, you had Daniel McKenny and Benji Buckley battling twice – hot seat and finals – with Buckley, who was the 2016 champion, taking the first and McKenny claiming the title by winning the last. The $4,000-added event drew 77 entrants to Zingale's Billiards and Sports Bar in Tallahassee, FL.
With the aforementioned marquee players at work on the loss side (none of whom would make it out of the 7/8 slots), McKenny and Buckley advanced to the winners' side semifinals; McKenny taking on Butch Croft, Buckley meeting Stoney Stone. McKenny moved into the hot seat match with a 7-1 victory over Croft, while Buckley downed Stone 7-4. For the second year in a row, Buckley claimed the hot seat, this time 7-2 and waited for McKenny to get back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, the 'marquee four' found themselves battling in the second (9/12) money round. Saez eliminated Woodward 7-5, McMinn took care of Clint Nichols 7-1, and Denny Singletary finished Tommy Kennedy's weekend 7-5. Manny Perez knocked tour director Tony Crosby out of the running 7-4. McMinn and Saez were eliminated next; McMinn by Singletary, double hill, and Saez by Perez 7-3.
Singletary drew Stone, coming off his defeat in the winners' side semifinal, and Perez picked up Croft, coming off his. Singletary and Croft got right back into the swing of things and advanced to the quarterfinals; Singletary 7-3 over Stone, Croft surviving a double hill fight against Perez.
The quarterfinals were, at minimum, a $300 contest (the payout difference between 3rd and 4th place) and went double hill. Croft denied Stone a second shot against Buckley with the double hill win that gave him a shot. The semifinals were a $500 minimum battle (the difference between 2nd and 3rd place) and it almost went double hill. At the end, though, McKenny edged ahead by two 7-5 to get his second shot (an absolute $1,000 contest) against the reigning event champion, Buckley.
McKenny pulled it off. For the second match in a row, he was able to get ahead by two at the end to win it (9-7) and snatch the Florida State 10-Ball title away from Buckley.
A $1,000-added Second Chance event, which drew 50 entrants, saw Jamie Baraks go undefeated to claim the title. Baraks and Matt Bulfin, after shutting out their opponents (Jessie Middlebrooks and George Saunders, respectively) in the two winners' side semifinals, squared off in the hot seat match, won by Baraks 4-1. Bulfin downed Rod Rentz, double hill, in the semifinals, before Baraks defeated him a second time 5-3 in the finals.
Tour director Tony Crosby thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality and contribution to the prize money. Crosby also noted that anyone interested in sponsoring the Florida Pool Tour should visit the tour Web site (http://www.floridapooltour.com) for contact information.
Mike Davis is the current North Carolina 8-ball and 9-ball champion. His bid to successfully defend his 10-ball title, won in 2015, was derailed on the weekend of July 16-17 by Shannon Fitch, who came back from a defeat in a winners' side semifinal to battle Davis to a case game in the finals and win it. The $800-added North Carolina State Open 10-Ball Championships, held under the auspices of the Q City 9-Ball Tour, drew 52 entrants to Brass Tap and Billiards in Raleigh, NC.
The event itself was almost derailed by a power outage on Saturday that, instead of the normal dozen or so that might have returned to play on Sunday, forced the return of 30 competitors. Play resumed on Sunday, with both Fitch and Davis advancing to a winners' side semifinal; Fitch versus Matt Bulfin and Davis against Daniel Gambill.
Fitch moved to the loss side after a 7-4 victory by Bulfin. Davis advanced with a 7-2 victory over Gambill. As he had done last year, at the same location, Davis grabbed the hot seat. This time, with a 7-3 victory over Bulfin.
Fitch opened his three-match, loss-side campaign against renowned cue maker Daniel Heidrich, who, in the event's first money round, had defeated Corey Sykes 7-3 and then, eliminated 'young gun' (age 16) Hunter White. Gambill drew Kenny Miller, who'd defeated Chris Wilburn and Joshua Padron, both 7-5.
Fitch and Gambill chalked up identical 7-4 victories over Heidrich and Miller and advanced to the quarterfinals. Fitch took that contest 7-5 and then defeated Bulfin in the semifinals by the same score.
The final was a single race to 9, and it was clear from the start that it wasn't going to be easy. Fitch and Davis battled back and forth through numerous ties until they reached the final one at 8-8. Davis broke and came up dry. Fitch stepped to the table and ran it to claim the 2016 North Carolina State Open 10-Ball title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Brass Tap, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, and Delta-13 Racks. The next stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for July 23, will be hosted by Brian's Billiards in Roanoke Rapids, NC.
Shannon Daulton, Jeff Jordan, James Miracle and manager Sandi Teet
Brothers Randy (older) and Jeff Jordan came within a match of facing each other during the June 6-7 stop on the Great Southern Billiard Tour. Jeff went on to win the $1,000-added event that drew 48 entrants to The Rail in Athens, GA, coming from the loss side to down James Miracle in the finals.
The Jordan brothers were two of the four opponents in the two winners' side semifinals, but did not play against each other. Randy faced Miracle, while Jeff squared off against Chris Cox. Jeff went on to defeat Cox 8-5, and met up with Miracle, who'd sent Jeff's brother to the loss side 5-6 (Randy racing to 9). Miracle captured the hot seat 5-3 over Jeff.
Randy moved west and ran into Steve Cox (no relation to Chris), who'd defeated Matt Bulfin 6-1 and Angelo Rodriguez 6-5. The other Cox (Chris) picked up Jesse Middlebrooks, who'd gotten by Chris DeLee 8-5 and Shane Looney 8-4. A Cox versus Cox quarterfinal was avoided when Middlebrooks downed Chris 8-3. Steve advanced to meet Middlebrooks with a 6-7 victory over Jordan (racing to 9).
With Middlebrooks racing to 8, Steve Cox took the quarterfinal match 6-6, only to be eliminated by Jeff Jordan 8-4 in the semifinals. Jordan took a commanding lead in the first set of the true double elimination final against Miracle, and gave up only a single rack to force a second set. Jordan took that second set 8-4 to claim the event title.
Tour director Shannon Daulton thanked Joe Kirkland and his staff at The Rail for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Nick Varner Cues and Cases, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, Tiger Products, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 and AZBilliards. The next stop on the GSBT, scheduled for June 12-13, will be hosted by Shore Thing Billiards, in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Shannon Daulton, Ray McGinn, Guy Faulk and Brent Hudgins (owner at Shore Thing Billiards)
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.
