Legends Billiards in League City, Texas hosted the fifth annual Friendswood Senior Tournament. Thirty-two top seniors (55 and older) from the Greater Houston Area competed in this invitational event, sponsored, promoted, and directed by Bill Tippit.
In a departure from previous years' tournaments, this year the game was 8-Ball. Invitees included three previous 9-Ball champions: David Cardenas (2007), Gary Duncan (2008) and Gene Marshall (2009). Other notable players included Bob Green, Sonny Bosshamer, W. T. Wetzel, Jerry Avara, Louis Medina, and Adrian Cordova. Regrettably, missing from this year's event was one of the area's all-time pool competitors, Barney Garza, who passed away last fall at age 89.
After eight hours of competition, the field narrowed to the final four: Bob Green and Sonny Bosshamer on the winners' side and David Cardenas and Phil Lambert on the one-loss side. Green then dealt Bosshamer his first loss, 5 to 4, and Lambert eliminated Cardenas in another hill-hill struggle, 5 to 4. While Green waited in the hot seat, Bosshamer earned a rematch by defeating Lambert, 3 to 1.
In the championship match, Bosshamer jumped to a 1 to 0 lead and played well throughout the set. However, after strong finishes in previous year's tournaments, Green wasn't to be denied. Repeatedly cutting and banking his way out of tough leaves, Green rolled to a convincing win, 5 to 1.
For their efforts, Green received $1,000 and the Tejas Trophy; Bosshamer received $500 and the Runner-up Trophy.
Players expressed their thanks to Tejas Testing and Inspection, Inc. (owned and operated by Bill Tippit and his two sons) for sponsoring this event and to Bill for personally promoting and directing it. And everyone appreciated Legends Billiards hosting the tournament. Legends is owned and operated by Ted Dean, and Mindy and Craig Cohen.
