The Fast Eddie's Olhausen 9 Ball Tour sponsored by Schuler Legacy Cues held stop number seven for the 2005 season in Austin, Tx. on July 17th for the Ladies division. With many new faces in attendance, thirty-seven ladies descended on the Texas capitol to do battle on the green level devils.
Top picks were Tour point leader Amanda Lampert, Heather Pulford, Leslie Anne Rogers and Deanna Henson. Including others, this is by far the strongest field of the year so the "queen of the green" title was anyone's guess.
The 7-8th positions were filled by "soon to be a mama", Erin Cano, of McAllen and the very consistent Kim Pierce of Bastrop.
5-6th place went to Kyu Yi of San Antonio and Nicole Menitz of Austin. Everyone commented on how much both of these ladies games have improved of late. Keep it up!
Amanda Lampert of San Antonio took the long route to 4th place after a second round upset by Tara McCracken sent her to the "B" side where she went to work with five straight victories in a row. Heather Pulford derailed Amanda on her quest for another Tour victory, 5-2. Also, congratulations to Amanda on winning a qualifier to play in a WPBA pro event next month in Peoria, Illinois.
Heather Pulford of Austin, number two lady in the Tour point standings, started with victories over Angie Amrein, Sophie Lopez and Deanna Henson before running into a very determined Tara McCracken in the semis to send her to the left side where she eliminated Nicole and Amanda before, again, running into Tara in the finals of the one loss side. Tara, once again, came out on top, 5-1. Heather played very methodically and consistent to achieve a fine third place finish.
Tara McCracken of the Dallas-Fort Worth area has not played many Tour events this year, but when she shows up, it's all business. Tara started her run with triumphs over Diana Cardona, Amanda, Kim and Kyu before meeting Leslie Anne Rogers for the hot seat.
Leslie Anne Rogers of Dallas has been tearing up the southwest region lately in many events. Leslie Anne's run for the hot seat started with victories over Melinda Hinojosa, Nicole Menitz, Erin Cano and Heather Pulford before meeting Tara in the finals of the winner's bracket. Leslie Anne and Tara battled to a hill-hill tie with great shot making and safety play with Leslie Anne coming out on top in the final game, 5-4.
Tara eliminated Heather in the finals of the one loss side to meet Leslie Anne for the final match. The final was a repeat of the hot seat final with both ladies earning four games each to tie the match hill-hill. Once again, Leslie Anne secured the case game and with that, her first Tour victory of the year.
A special thanks to Fast Eddie's Billiards, Olhausen Mfg. and Schuler Legacy Cues for being the cornerstone foundation on which the Tour is built. Thanks to Danny, Amy and your staff for hosting the event. Ron Geyer of the Custom Cue Connection, Jack Kompan of Mystick Cues, Tino Lopez of Teodora's Mini-Tacos, Joe Salazar of Connoisseur of Custom Cues and newcomer to the Tour, Lesa Moore of Hard 8 Clothing Co., we could not do this without you. Thank you ladies and spectators for an exciting event of marathon proportions.
See ya'll next month at N. W. Military in San Antonio on August 13-14th!
Complete Results:
1st Leslie Anne Rogers $800
2nd Tara McCracken $510
3rd Heather Pulford $310
4th Amanda Lampert $200
5th/6th Kyu Yi, Nicole Menitz $75
7th/8th Erin Cano, Kim Pierce $50
