Landon Hollingsworth
Junior player Landon Hollingsworth, at the age of 15, is starting to ‘find his stroke,’ as they say. On the 4th of July weekend, at Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN, he advanced to his first hot seat match and though he’d lose that first attempt to earn that seat, he came back from the semifinals to challenge Hank Powell. It was 3 a.m., though, and the two mutually agreed to split the top two prizes. Last weekend (August 15-16), at Pal’s Billiards in Piedmont, SC, Hollingsworth, entering the tournament as the tour’s points leader, advanced to compete in his second hot seat match and win it this time around. He then stopped a nine-match, loss-side challenge by Kelly Piercy to claim his first event title, having gone undefeated. This past weekend (Aug. 22-23), at Jac’s Billiards in Newport, TN, he chalked up his second title. This time, coming from the loss side to challenge the player who’d sent him there (Gary South) and double dipping him in two double hill matches in the finals.
Call it two and a half tour victories in about seven weeks. The most recent event drew 30 entrants to Jac’s Billiards.
Hollingsworth advanced through the field and drew Gary South in a winners’ side quarterfinal. South sent him west and advanced to meet Rodney Husky in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Sammy Manley and Matt Shaw met in the other one.
Manley and Shaw battled to double hill (5-6; Shaw, racing to 7) before Manley prevailed. South joined him in the hot seat match, once he’d dispatched Husky to the loss side 8-1. South moved into the hot seat with an 8-2 win over Manley.
On the loss side, once he’d started his five-match, loss-side run by defeating Ricky Martin and Ryan Fossum, both 7-3, Hollingsworth drew Matt Shaw. Husky picked up Daniel Autrey, who’d recently eliminated Jeremy Sertain 6-4 and Ricky Bingham 6-2.
At this juncture, in the event’s first money round, Hollingsworth set out on a path that would end in the finals with five straight double hill wins. He took the first (7-6) over Shaw, as Autrey downed Husky 6-1. He won the second, the quarterfinal and the third, the semifinal by 7-5 scores; Autrey and Manley both racing to 6.
With South racing to 8, Hollingsworth won both double elimination sets 7-7 to claim his second straight event title. The next time these two meet, they could well be playing straight-up races to 8.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker (with Herman still recuperating on the home front, so to speak) thanked the ownership and staff at Jac’s Billiards for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards, Tickler Pool Ball Washing Machine, Skyline Construction, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and Dirty South Grind Apparel Co. The Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour will be conducting two straight Scotch Doubles events in the two weekends ahead. They’ll begin with an event this weekend (Aug. 29-30) at Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN and follow it on Labor Day weekend (Sept. 5-6) with a $500-added Scotch Doubles event at Break & Run Billiards in Chesnee, SC.
The tour has also announced what is expected to be a yearly event, coming up in October. On the weekend of October 23-25, Break and Run Billiards will be hosting a $2,000-added event which will be the inaugural Carolina Cup. See the tour’s Facebook page for further information.
