Twenty-three players stopped in to Capone's Billiards in Springhill, Florida the weekend of September 22nd and 23rd to play in the $1000 added eighth stop of the J. Pechauer Custom Cues Southeast Open 9 Ball Tour. Some of the players being noticed off the bat were Tim Hall, Scotty Townsend, Tommy Kennedy, Tony Crosby, Donnie Mills, and WPBA player Tracie Hines.
The first round of the tournament on Saturday seemed to set the tone for the weekend with a feature match-up between tour director, Tommy Kennedy and two-time tour season winner, Donnie Mills. Mills would come out victorious against Kennedy and continued to work his way through the brackets throughout the day. It was apparent as the day winded down, that Mills was there to stay as the winner's side of the bracket had dwindled down to Donnie Mills v. Scotty Townsend, and Tony Crosby v. Dave Ross, and the one-loss side held such names as Tommy Kennedy and Tracie Hines all hanging on for their chance at the finals.
On Sunday, Donnie Mills continued his relentless reign with a close win over Scotty Townsend 9-7, while Tony Crosby defeated Dave Ross 9-5. On the one-loss side, after having a great event, Tracie Hines ended her tournament run against Scotty Townsend with a score of 9-4, at the same time as Tommy Kennedy's 9-4 defeat over Dave Ross.
The hot-seat match ended up being quite a see-saw set for Crosby and Mills, however, Mills was able to outdo Crosby with a 9-6 win. The quarter-finals were uneventful as Kennedy handed a quick loss to Townsend of 9-3, setting up a semi-final match between himself and Crosby. The set was quite competitive and ended with a very close margin - Crosby was able to walk out of that contest with a score of 9-7.
The final match of the tournament was a true double elimination set between Donnie Mills and Tony Crosby. Mills jumped out very early on Crosby and continued until he eventually captured the set ending the tournament with a final score win over Crosby of 9-5.
In addition to this great tournament finish, additional honors went out to the highest lady finisher Sis Tavner ($25) and highest senior finisher Bo Nelson ($50). Also, $30 was provided to a local non-profit charity in Springhill.
Thanks to the management and staff at Capone's for hosting the event and to all of the spectators for their attendance. For additional information on the tour, please see www.southeastopen.com The ninth tour stop of the season will be held at Cunningham's Pool & Darts in Vero Beach, Florida the weekend of September 29th and 30th – this is a $1000 added tournament.
