(l to r): Tommy Kennedy, Scott Rohleder & Anthony Meglino
Though Tommy Kennedy and Anthony Meglino were the last two left standing during the season finale of the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour on December 7-8, they were far from being the only veteran Southeast USA pool players among the 42 entrants. Many of these players sport resumes that date back to the early years of the century. Kennedy, of course, has a resume that began, more or less (not including his life as a road warrior) with his victory over Johnny Archer (twice) in the 1992 US Open 9-Ball Championships and was updated this past weekend with his undefeated run through the Sunshine State Pro Am’s season finale field. Meglino, who finished as runner-up in this event has a history that dates (through AZBilliards) back to 2007, when he finished 5th at a stop on Kennedy’s Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour; Kennedy finished 7th at that event, which was won by Nathan Rose, who finished in the tie for 5th place at this most recent event and concluded the 2019 Sunshine State Pro Am season as its Player of the Year.
This inter-connected, one-big-happy-family, $500-added event drew its 42 entrants to Park Ave. Billiards in Orange Park, FL. Though Kennedy and Meglino were the finalists, at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, they opted out of a final match, leaving Kennedy, the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, as the official winner.
They did meet in the event, once, in a winners’ side quarterfinal. They battled to double hill before Kennedy prevailed and moved on to face Andrew Pettenger in one of the two winners’ side semifinals. Meanwhile, Scott Rohleder (a relatively new member of this family) survived a double hill, winners’ side quarterfinal fight against Nick Applebee to draw the aforementioned Nathan Rose in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Two double hill matches sent Rose and Pettenger to the loss side, advancing Kennedy and Rohleder to the hot seat match. Kennedy claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Rohleder in what proved to be his last match of the weekend.
On the loss side, Rose ran into another marquee matchup against Meglino, who, after his defeat at the hands of Kennedy had defeated the tour’s top junior player Trenton White 7-5 and David Singleton 7-1. Pettenger drew David Grossman, who, after a second-round loss to Rohleder, set out on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently included victories over Clint Nichols 7-3 and a double hill win over James Sandaler.
Pettenger put an end to Grossman’s loss-side streak 7-3 and advanced to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Meglino, but not before he and Rose had battled to double hill. Meglino then eliminated Pettenger 7-4 in those quarterfinals.
Meglino appeared to be picking up some speed, after his successful match against Rose. His victory over Pettenger was followed by a 7-2 victory over Rohleder in the semifinals.
He and Kennedy then opted out of the final match. Kennedy went into ‘the books’ as the event’s official winner.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza thanked Carl Watt and his Park Ave. Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Central Florida USA Pool League, Stitch it to me Embroidery, Diamond Products & Cyclop Balls, AZ Billiards & Cue Sports Studios for streaming. The Sunshine State Pro Am Tour will return on February 1, 2020 with a season opener at Stroker’s in Palm Harbor, FL. At that event, they will present the 2019 Player Awards, to include recognition of Nathan Rose as its Player of the Year, Trenton White as its Top Junior and Stephanie Mitchell as Lady of the Year.
(l to r): Nick Applebee, Tommy Kennedy & Mike Griffin
White and Grossman split top prizes in Amateur event
The season finale of the Sunshine State Pro Am tour, held on the weekend of Dec. 1-2, saw both the Open/Pro and Amateur finalists opt out of a final match. In the $500-added Open/Pro event on Saturday (the tour’s Open 9-Ball Championships), which drew 31 entrants, hot seat occupant Nick Applebee and Mike Griffin (at approximately 4 a.m.) let their first meeting in the battle for the hot seat stand as the determining title match. In the $300-added, Amateur event on Sunday, which drew 22 entrants, it was hot seat occupant Thomas White and challenger David Grossman, who did the same thing. Both events were hosted by Park Ave. Billiards in Orange Park, FL.
In the Open/Pro event, Applebee got by Michell Monk, Jay Stock and Jeannie Seaver to draw Bobby Garza in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Mike Griffin, in the meantime, opened his campaign against the tour’s top junior of the year, Trenton White. After defeating him, Griffin moved on to send Thomas White (official winner of the Amateur event) and Asia Cy to the loss side, to face David Grossman in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Griffin got into the hot seat match with a 7-4 win over Grossman. Applebee and Garza locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Applebee to the hot seat match and Garza to the loss side. Applebee claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Griffin.
On the loss side, Grossman and Garza had the misfortune of running into two competitors who’d lost their opening round matches and were in the midst of a five-match, loss-side winning streak. Garza drew Tommy Kennedy, who’d lost his opening match, double hill to Jordan Burden and most recently had defeated Asia Cy 7-5 and Cody Booth 7-1 to draw Garza. Grossman picked up Anthony Meglino, who’d lost his opening round match to Adam Saaidi, and had most recently eliminated Jeannie Seaver 7-2 and just did survive a double hill fight against Shannon Fitch.
Kennedy downed Garza 7-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Meglino, who’d survived his second straight double hill match, versus Grossman. Meglino ended up on the wrong end of his third straight double hill match and was defeated by Kennedy in those quarterfinals. Looking for his eighth straight loss-side win and a shot at Applebee in the hot seat, Kennedy fell to Griffin 7-5. Griffin and Applebee opted out of the final and the Open/Pro weekend was over.
White and Grossman let hot seat result stand
Thomas White, who ended up in the tie for 13th place in the Open/Pro event, won the hot seat match in the Amateur event over David Grossman, who had finished in the tie for 5th place in the Open/Pro event. Though Grossman won his semifinal match, he and White opted out of an Amateur final, which allowed White, as the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, to claim the official event title.
White advanced through the 22-entrant field to arrive at a winner’ side semifinal against Aaron Sikes. Grossman drew Scott Rohleder in the other one. Grossman advanced to the hot seat match 7-4 over Rohleder, while White downed Sikes 7-1 to join him. White and Grossman battled to double hill to claim the hot seat, which White eventually did, in what proved to be his last match.
On the loss side, Rohleder picked up Open/Pro winner, Nick Applebee, while Sikes drew Bobby Garza (5th/6th in the Open/Pro). Rohleder advanced to the quarterfinals with a double hill win over Applebee. He was joined by Garza, who’d benefited from a forfeit by Sikes.
Garza then eliminated Rohleder 5-1 before falling to Grossman in the semifinals 6-2. White and Grossman opted out of the final and the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour’s season finale was in the books.
In addition to the two tournaments, the tour announced its three award winners – Anthony Meglino as Player of the Year, Kelly Cavanaugh as Lady of the Year and Trenton White as the year’s top junior player.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza thanked the ownership and staff at Park Avenue Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Kamui, Cyclop Balls, Diamond, Play The Game clothing, AZ Billiards, Jacksonville Roofing USA, Inc. and Inside Pool TV. The next stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour will be its season opener, scheduled for January 5-6, 2019 at Stroker’s Billiards in Palm Harbor, FL. It will include a 9-ball Amateur event and the tour’s 10-ball Invitational Tournament for its top 16 players.
David Grossman, playing in an Open event, and Bill Ferguson, playing in an Amateur event, were the ‘official’ winners of the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour’s latest double stop event on the weekend of August 4-5. Both of them split the top two prizes with their respective runner-ups – Anthony Garza in the Open event and Clint Nichols in the Amateur event. The $700-added events ($500 for the Open and $200 for the Amateur) drew 34 (Open) and 30 (Amateur) entrants to Park Avenue Billiards in Orange Park, FL.
Grossman, in the Open event, faced separate opponents in the hot seat and (unplayed) finals. He advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Anthony Meglino and sent him to the loss side 7-3, from which he would return to challenge Grossman in a final that didn’t happen. Bobby Garza downed Billy Burke 7-5 in the other winners’ side semifinal and faced Grossman in the hot seat match. Grossman sent Garza off to the semifinals and sat in the hot seat, awaiting what turned out to be a split with Meglino.
On the loss side, Meglino opened his loss side trek against Mike Delawder, who’d defeated Marcus Murillo 7-3 and Scott Rohleder 7-4 to reach him. Burke picked up Tommy Kennedy, who’d gotten by Clint Nichols (who’d show up as runner-up in the Amateur event) 7-3 and James Sandaler 7-2. Meglino and Burke advanced to the quarterfinals; Meglino, double hill, over Delawder and Burke, 7-2 over Kennedy.
Meglino downed Burke 7-2 in the quarterfinals and completed his loss-side run with a double hill win over Garza in the semifinals. The split was arranged, and Grossman became the official event winner. The event's top junior player was awarded $40.
Bill Ferguson and Clint Nichols battled once for the Amateur title. In the hot seat match, as it turned out. Ferguson had downed Bobby Hicks, double hill, in one of the winners’ side semifinals, while Nichols was busy sending Chuck White to the loss side 7-5. In their one and only match, Ferguson defeated Nichols 7-4 and claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, Hicks picked up Matthew Wilson, who’d gotten by Thomas White 5-1 and Bobby Garza, double hill. Chuck White drew Wes Hammam, who’d defeated Jack Smith 5-2 and James Sandaler 5-3 to reach him.
Hicks downed Wilson 5-2 and in the quarterfinals, matched up with Hammam, who’d sent White to the figurative showers 5-1. Hammam then downed Hicks, double hill in the quarterfinals, before he was eliminated by Nichols 5-2 in the semifinals. Nichols and Ferguson agreed on the split, leaving Ferguson as the official winner. The Amateur event awarded $40 to its top junior, Trenton White.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza thanked the ownership and staff at Park Ave Billiards, as well as sponsors Cyclop, Kamui, Play the Game Clothing Co., Predator, Jacksonville Roofing and AZBilliards. The next stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour, scheduled for September 1-2 will be another double event (9-Ball Amateur, 10-Ball Open), hosted by K & K Billiards in Miami.
Yet another final match with the Touring Pro vs. the Working Joe. Mike Davis vs. Kevin West might have played the best final match we’ve seen yet, certainly the most dramatic with a final score of 138-140.
22 Players across the country as far away as Lee Ladouceur in Vermont to Max Adams in Alaska qualified for 2016 Derby City Finals. Play began one day prior to the 9 Ball Banks event with every player playing four 120 point round robin matches on Thursday to determine our top 8 on Friday.
Shannon Fitch of Gate City Billiards Greensboro NC coming back to the game after more than a 10 year layoff had everyone saying “Who the hell is that guy?” topped Mike Davis & Johnny Archer for the #1 seed with a 4-0 record and point differential of +193, defeating his opponents by the average score of 48 points in a race to 120 points, very impressive.
Jody McLaughlin (Runner up at last year’s Derby Finals) 140-123 over #1 Seed Shannon Fitch
Kevin West (Sponsored by Black Boar Custom Cues) 140-90 over #5 Seed Rob Hall Bumpers AL
Mike Davis 140-108 over Cleiton Rocha (Sponsored by J Pechauer Custom Cues)
Johnny Archer Marietta Billiard Club & Player of TWO Decades 140-106 over another player who had many wondering who the heck he was, #6 Seed Chris McDaniel Denver CO.
Semi Final matches guaranteed that would see a working man vs touring pro finals;
Kevin West Great Slates Billiards MD vs Jody McLaughin Big Dog Billiards IA
Johnny Archer Marietta Billiard Club vs Mike Davis Brass Tap, Bucks & Brown’s NC!
While Kevin and Jody battled back and forth Mike Davis got the jump on Johnny and held it throughout the entire match.
The final match was not looking good for our working man who also happens to be a Type 1 Diabetic. Mike started strong taking a 64-16 lead in a race to 140. American Rotation is a very tough game to come back in so we actually started to lose some spectators as they believed Mike would continue on as he did in his earlier match with Johnny. Many would soon return when somehow Kevin came back strong to make the match 90-90 & 102-98. From there both players scored exactly 20 points to make the score 118 Kevin 122 Mike with Kevin’s turn to break. He did what we all hope to do in that position, broke the 15 balls and ran them all perfectly in rotation to score 20 points making the score 138-122 and now Mike’s break. Who would rather be? The player needing just 2 points sitting in the chair or the player needing 18 but has break ball in hand? Mike broke a table that looked very difficult from the 5 ball on out. He ran 1-4 and played position for a preplanned safety on the 5. It worked as Kevin missed an off angle kick that required just the right amount of spin. Even with ball in hand on the 5 Mike still has his work cut out for him. The 6-7 were tucked under the 14 ball and would require Mike to shoot the 5 ball six feet up the left side rail while moving the cue ball forward and across a position zone about 6 inches wide and 5 ft away. The entire room was pressure packed and wondering what he was going to do and would he succeed or not. Iron Mike did no disappoint. After rebridging several times he struck it perfectly and fell on the only spot on the table where the 6 could be pocketed. From there on out we simply held our breath the see if Mike could run the rest of the table to nab the Series 7 title. Iron Mike came through with a 140-138 victory!
All 22 players received travel money for attending and our top 8 earned additional money
$2,500 & Series VII Champion Mike Davis
$1,500 & a Great performance Kevin West
$1,000 each of 3rd 4th Johnny Archer & Jody McLaughlin
$500 each Shannon Fitch, Rob Hall, Cleiton Rocha, Chris McDaniel
Series VII Finals was an awesome experience for all of us. The American Billiard Club helped put $25,000 in the pockets of some aspiring players and some pro players while they attended what is probably the greatest pool show of the year, The Derby City Classic.
We thank all the players there and all the players at home who competed in their local 10 week Series. We thank Diamond Billiards for allowing us to come in one day early, the use of the tables, for making us feel welcome and for putting on such a great event.
We thank BadBoy Billiard Productions for working with us on Friday while juggling our finals with the 9 Ball Banks Tournament, which had a record 385 players.
We thank TVMike for doing a live free stream with picture in picture video allowing fans to watch 2 tables simultaneously. You really do have to watch these last 3 racks of the finals, the best finish to date. Final match is located on our Vimeo page here; Finals Mike Davis Kevin West
Semi Finals Jody McLaughlin vs Shannon Fitch has been speed edited Semi Finals
Semi Finals Johnny Archer Mike Davis coming soon.
As tour coordinator I can tell you, it’s a pretty nice feeling living up to the American Billiard Club’s mission of helping tour pros cover expenses while also helping aspiring players get to national events like Derby City for the very first time! We absolutely love seeing these players who EARNED their way to these events.
The plan for 2016 is to allow just 32 clubs to qualify 2 players each (March-June & Aug-Nov) so we can have a 64 player Series VIII Championship at the 2017 Derby City Classic. Please email Joe Tucker at JTtenball@gmail.com to support a fantastic format and to secure your clubs spot as we are shutting it down to just 32 clubs, some of which will be coming from different countries 😉
