It was referred to as the Greentop Amateur 9-Ball Tournament and was held under the auspices of the Great Southern Billiard Tour, itself sponsored by Nick Varner Cues and Cases, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues and Delta-13 racks, on the weekend of September 25-26. It went on until about 5 a.m. on Monday, September 27, and thanks to the owner of Greentop Billiards in Rocky Mount, NC (Aubrey Wiggins, known state-wide as Shack), at the end of every match, tables were brushed and balls were cleaned. On Saturday, Shack brought in a private chef to host a steak, rib and sausages barbeque for participating players, which makes it more than likely that the Great Southern Billiard Tour will be paying another visit in the near future. Oh, and B.J. Ussery chased the dawn to a double dip finals victory over Steve Page. The $1,500-added event drew 41 entrants.
From among the winners' side final four, it was Page who got into the hot seat. He sent Glenn Russell west 9-7 as Ussery was sending Roy Musser over 11-4. Page then sent Ussery to the semifinals with a 9-7 win that left him in the hot seat.
Over on the one-loss side, an elderly player named just “Pokey,” who, according to tour director Shannon Daulton, has been “playing in the area for about 50 years” was making some competitive noise that would propel him all the way to the semifinals. Pokey, after victories over Shane Ward 9-4 and Cary Dunn, 9-8, drew Russell in the battle for fifth place. Musser picked up Mike Fuller, who'd defeated Ken Hendricks 11-2 and Chris Vollmar 11-5. Pokey made Russell's visit to the one-loss bracket brief with a 9-3 win, as Musser was dominating his match against Fuller 7-1.
With credit to Daulton, Pokey “poked another one in” in the quarterfinals with a commanding 9-1 victory over Musser, but himself got “poked” by Ussery in the semifinals 11-3. Ussery turned back to face Page in a true double elimination final and won them both, 11-6 and 11-3, to take home the first place prize; his first on the GSBT Tour.
