At times, David Rice must have felt as though he were facing only a single opponent in his recent victory on the Great Southern Billiard Tour. Rice had to face Billy Kuykendall three times, all double hill affairs, to win the event on the weekend of March 27-28. The $1,500-added amateur event drew 60 entrants to The POOL ROOM in Duluth, GA.
After sending Kuykendall to the one-loss side from among the winners' side final eight with a first hill-hill win, Rice defeated Josh Newman 9-6 to get into the hot seat match. He was joined by Sean Davis, who'd sent Jack Cavalier west 9-4. Rice sent Davis to the semifinals 9-8 and waited for what turned out to be Kuykendall's return.
Kuykendall, in the meantime, opened his one-loss side campaign with a 7-4 win over Amy Chen and followed it with a 7-7 win over Benny Conway, Jr. to face Cavalier. Curtis Hale advanced to meet Newman, after defeating Robert South 7-7 and Richard Andrews 7-6. Kuykendall was picking up some speed, as he advanced into the quarterfinals with a 7-1 win over Cavalier. Newman handled Hale 9-4 to meet Kuykendall.
After defeating Newman in the quarterfinals 7-5, Kuykendall dropped Davis into third place 7-7 and turned to face Rice in the finals. In the opening set of the true double elimination final, Kuykendall prevailed in his second straight hill-hill meeting versus Rice. Tied at one match apiece, the two moved into the second set, where Rice broke the 1-1, hill-hill match tie to win the event.
