Lagrange, Georgia was the site of the latest Great Southern Billiard Tour stop – Chaulk It Up Billiards. This $3500 added main event brought in a load of talent from many areas. Included in the forth-eight player field were Larry Nevel, Shannon Daulton, Jonathan Hennessee, Randy Vaughn, Sparky Ferrell, Jesse Middlebrook, recent champ Randy Jordan, Billy Peay, Doug Young, Paul Turner, Stoney Stone, and Josh Roberts. The tour welcomed in the group, ten players that received free entrants (four women, six military) with five seniors paying half price. The top woman for the weekend ended up being Ravanne Harvala – she won $50 for being the top lady.
This weekend, the added money grew a bit also – the room owner, Darryl Gables, threw in an additional $100 to the pot and Tour Director Shannon Daulton added another $50. Also, offered was an extra $200 to any player that ran out the set from their first shot, so as if the prize fund was not enough, the guys had a tad more incentive to perform.
The stop started out as usual with a long Saturday full of competitive play, but Sunday was when things got heated. The gear shifted upwards and the play became dynamic with the remaining players. The day began with the winner's side sporting wins for Billy Peav (over Jeff Jordan 9-2); Larry Nevel (over Sparky Ferrell 9-4); Randy Vaughn (over Randy Jordan 9-6); and Jonathan Hennessee (over Eddie Little 9-2). The one-loss side began with Billy Holmes (over Wayne Collins 9-4); Josh Roberts (over George Rothrock 9-4); and Stoney Stone (over Jesse Middlebrook (9-8) coming out on top of their opponents. The set between Middlebrook and Stone was exceptionally brutal as Middlebrook was ahead 8-4 and after missing a ball, left Stone an out. From that point forward, Middlebrook was unable to get out of the electric chair – Stone finished out the set 9-8.
Additional matches of interest on Sunday included Jason Heyward and Doug Young. After trading games throughout the set, a missed eight ball at double hill allowed Heyward an easy out for the double hill victory. The matches only got more difficult from there.
On the winner's side, Nevel progressed past Peav 9-3, Hennessee bested Vaughn 9-5 – setting up the hot-seat match between Nevel and Hennessee. “The Truth” as always is the man to take down and Hennessee proved to be the one to make that happen this weekend – the score read 9-4 and Nevel was shipped to the one-loss side because of it.
The one-loss side dwindled with last event champion Randy Jordan besting Holmes 9-3; Roberts moved on against Little 9-3; Stone off'd Jeff Jordan 9-3; and Heyward sent Ferrell home 9-2. Roberts and Heyward made it through one more round (Roberts d. R. Jordan 9-4; Heyward d. Stone 9-7) before ending the weekend at the hands of Peav (d. Roberts 9-6) and Vaughn (d. Heyward 9-7). Peav and Vaughn then had an opportunity at each other, with Peav coming out on top 9-5 to make it into the semis with Nevel.
The semis proved to be uneventful as Nevel pushed past Peav by a score of 9-4 before setting his sights on the hot-seat winner, Hennessee. With Hennessee's caliber of play this weekend, Nevel certainly had his work set out for him as he had to defeat him by two sets as the event is true double elimination, but one set was all that was needed as Nevel fell 9-4 the first go-round.
The tour enjoyed this venue greatly – special thanks to Darryl Gables for hosting the stop and to his management and staff for all of their hard work; and to all that attended in true spectator fashion. Last but certainly not least, thank you to the continuous sponsorship of Nick Varner Cues & Cases, Jimmy Reeves Custom cues & Repairs, and Break N Run Sportswear. The next event is scheduled for this weekend, July 26th-27th at Strokers Billiards in Sumter, South Carolina – The South Carolina Open – see you there!
