B. J. Ussery came back from a defeat in the hot seat match to meet and defeat Tommy Kennedy in the finals of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour on the weekend of May 15-16. The win put an end to a three-event winning streak by Kennedy, dating back to a victory on the KF Cues 9-Ball Tour on April 17-18. On that same weekend, Ussery was busy winning his first Jacoby Custom Cues stop of the year. The $1,000-added event drew 20 entrants to Sharks ‘N Shooters in Rocky Mount, NC.
From among the winners' side final four, Ussery got into the hot seat match with a 7-5 win over Sam Monday. Kennedy sent Michael Fuller west 7-2 to join him. Kennedy gained the hot seat 7-5 and waited a relatively short hour and half for Ussery to get back from the semifinals.
On the one-loss side, Steven Page gave up only two racks in 15 games – none in a shutout over Ron Park and one versus Sidney Champion – for the right to meet Monday. Fuller picked up Glenn Russell, who'd defeated Delton Howard 7-3 and Shawn Putnam 7-2. Monday turned the tables on Page, giving up only a single rack against him to move into the quarterfinals. Fuller dispatched Russell 7-3 to meet him. Two shutout matches ensued; Fuller taking the first one against Monday, then falling by the same shutout score to Ussery in the semifinals.
Kennedy opened the race-to-11 finals with a win, but it was the only lead he'd own. Ussery came back to go up 4-1, and though Kennedy would come back to win three of the next 10, Ussery kept putting together strings of three and four games that had him out in front by seven racks when it finished at 11-4.
Ussery and Kennedy were members of opposing teams in the finals of a new-format, Pro Am Early Bird tournament on Friday night, which drew a total of 17 entrants. The new format featured a round robin, 8-ball tournament with teams of two and/or three players, playing Scotch doubles rules. Sponsored by a local eatery – The Texas Steak House – the team of Ussery and Chris Turner scored a total of 164 points to defeat the A & J Golf Cars- sponsored team of Kennedy, and the father-son team of Paul and Dylan Letchworth, which scored 122 points.
Ron Park, who finished in the 9-12 slot in the Open event, placed first in Sunday's Second Chance tournament, which drew 10 entrants. Park bested Glenn Russell 7-3 in the finals to take home the first-place, $110 prize. Russell pocketed $60 for his second place finish. Ken Hendricks picked up $30 in third place.
Carly Pitt earned honors as the Ladies winner, and Dylan Letchworth was declared the Juniors winner. Lynn Aycock won the event's raffle cue. Sidney Champion won the five-entrant Break contest and took home $60 for the effort, while Ussery collected $87 for sinking a ball in the Break and Run Contest. The contest jackpot will be at $91 per ball at the next event.
