The $10,000-added Carolina Open at Fast Eddie's in Goldsboro, NC was to have got underway with a One-Pocket Warm-Up Tournament on Monday night, October 5. Instead, it got underway with a 9-Ball Warm Up-Tournament on Monday night, rescheduled both the One-Pocket Warm Up and the One-Pocket event and reduced the entry fee for both the One-Pocket and 10-Ball events down to $100.
Early attendance at what was supposed to be Monday night's One-Pocket Warm-Up led tour director Doug Ennis to conclude that a delay in the start of the One-Pocket event would benefit players who may have had some distance to travel in a short amount of time. As a result, the One-Pocket Warm-Up, originally scheduled for Monday night, was set to begin at 7 p.m. tonight (Tuesday, October 6). The start of the One-Pocket event was moved from its Tuesday afternoon schedule to Wednesday afternoon, October 7.
A field of 27 players signed on for the $250-added 9-Ball Warm-Up on Monday night, won by Shawn Putnam with a victory over Dave Grau in the finals. From among the winners' side final four, Putnam had advanced into the hot seat with a 5-3 win over James Hunt and a 5-1 win over Larry Price, who'd sent Grau west in a hill-hill struggle.
Hunt moved to the one-loss side to square off against Shane Winters, who'd just finished shutting out Shawn Casey and knocking Larry Nevel out of the tournament 5-1. Grau met up with T.J. Moore, who'd shutout Dustin Wiley and defeated Marcos Candelaria 5-2. Grau defeated Moore 5-1, as Hunt advanced to the quarterfinals with a 5-3 victory over Winters. Grau got by Hunt 5-3 and persevered in a hill-hill match against Price in the semifinals.
In the single, race-to-7 finals, Grau and Putnam battled to hill-hill, as well. Putnam hung on to win the $300 first place prize.
