The owners and staff of Playtime Billiards in Portage, Michigan (near Kalamazoo) welcomed The Jacoby Cues Great Lakes Tour on June 11th-12th for stop # 10 of the 2004-2005 Season. The room, owned & operated by Jim & Beth Reinholt, is perfect for both serious and recreational players alike, with eleven 7-foot tables and ten 9-foot tables and enough room for any event. Playtime Billiards, which recently relocated, also contains a retail billiards store and pro shop with everything from pool tables and cues to game room furniture and all the accessories you could need. Jim & Beth were great hosts and made everyone who attended feel welcome, inviting the ladies to play in the weekly Sunday tournament as the GLT event came to a conclusion.
Tournament play in the first round transpired with close match scores all around as the format for this event was changed to a race to 9 instead of the usual 7. In the second round, tour points leader Julie Melman was dispatched to the one-loss side by Ohio's Dawn Fox (8-9). In other action, Columbus Ohio's Tracy Cantrell was busy working her way to the hot seat, with impressive wins over Julie Ekman (9-8), Chandra Claypool (9-7), Dawn Fox (9-6), and touring pro Gail Grecar (9-4), to take the winners' side. Meanwhile, on the one-loss side, Melman was on a quest to the finals with victories over Sandra Rives (9-7), Hollie Burk (9-1), Angela Mears (9-8), Dawn Fox (9-8), and Gail Grecar (9-4) to set up the championship match with Cantrell. In the finals, Melman took early control and never looked back with a final score of 11-5. Cantrell settled for second place money and the qualifier to the W.P.B.A. Midwest Classic, as Melman had already qualified for this event.
We would like to thank Jim & Beth Reinholt and all the employees of Playtime Billiards and recommend this room to anyone within driving distance. And as always thanks to our sponsors:
Jacoby Custom Cues
Championship cloth
Nine Ball King
Atlas Billiard Supplies
Nick Varner Cues & Cases
BeBob Publishing
Midwest Amusements
Labarons Billiards
Cash In Drop Off
Media sponsors include
Inside English Magazine
azbilliards.com
Chalk and Cue
Billiards Digest
Professor Q Ball
Inside Pool
Pool and Billiard Magazine
National Billiard News
Complete Results:
1st Julie Melman $400
2nd Tracy Cantrell $270 + Qualifier
3rd Gail Grecar $180
4th Dawn Fox $105