With sixty-one determined players, the Great Southern Billiard Tour made its way to Palace Billiards in Greenville, South Carolina the weekend of August 25th and 26th for a $1500 added event.
The top picks for the event were Shannon Daulton, Larry Nevel, Louis Ulrich, Tony Watson, Jonathan Hennessee, Brian White, Scott Rabon, Doug Young, and Eric Durbin. Also included in the field were five women, including highest finisher Haley Landreth which took home $50 for her placing, and one junior player, twelve year old Jackson Jeffries. Jeffries won the Nick Varner raffle and took home two cues, one playing cue and one sneaky pete. Congratulations to both Haley and Jackson!
On Sunday, the winners side matched up:
Scott Rabon / Louis Ulrich (Rabon lost)
Brian Capps / Tony Watson (Watson lost 9-8)
Jeff Abernathy / Boyd Bauknight (Bauknight lost 9-1)
Shannon Daulton / Doug Young (Young lost 9-8)
The one-loss side came down to:
Danny Turner / Mike Champagne (Champagne lost 7-4)
Eric Durbin / Larry Nevel (Durbin lost 7-1)
Mike Basha / Mike Baumgarner (Basha lost 7-5)
Jonathan Hennessee / Ron Park (Park lost 7-4)
The following rounds on the one-loss side saw an end to the tournament for Boyd Bauknight (lost to Turner 7-3), Doug Young (lost to Nevel 7-3), Mike Baumgarner (lost to Rabon 7-5), and Jonathan Hennessee (lost to Watson 7-2). While on the winner's side, Ulrich took down Capps 9-4 and Daulton defeated Abernathy 9-4, sending both to the one-loss side.
The matches on the one-loss side really lit up with eliminations beginning with Turner (lost to Nevel) and Rabon (lost to Watson 7-2). Setting up Capps to defeat Nevel 7-6 and Watson sending both Abernathy and Capps (7-6) home and waiting for his chance at either Ulrich or Daulton in the semi-finals.
Louis Ulrich finally sent down Shannon Daulton to the one-loss side from the hot seat match with a score of 9-6 and after a hard fought semi-final round and a score of 7-6 between Watson and Daulton, Watson moved on to the finals, which was a true double elimination match-up, races to nine. In the end, it was Tony Watson for the win in Greenville after double dipping Louis Ulrich 9-5 and 9-7.
Thanks to all of our sponsors for their continued support – Nick Varner Cues & Cases, Break N Run Sportswear, Jimmy Reeves Custom Cues & Repairs, and AZBilliards.com. The next stop for the tour is September 8th and 9th at Randolph's Billiards in Hickory, North Carolina.
