The Carolina Amateur Championship at World Cup Billiards in Greenville, South Carolina, was played out by the participants of the latest Great Southern Billiard Tour event over the weekend of December 13th-14th. The $1500 added tournament filled the brackets with fifty-six players, all gunning for the $1000 first prize. Out of the field, there was an astonishing thirty-six discounted entry fees for league, juniors, seniors, women, and military players (along with five free entries).
When the field came back on Sunday, there were only sixteen remaining and they were matched up and played out as follows:
Winner's side:
Brian Bagwell d. Kenny Wilson 8-4
Steve Holman d. Rory Dover 8-5
Chris Zayas d. Mike Basha 8-4
Mark Parlier d. Marty White 8-4
The next couple of rounds pitted Bagwell against Holman (Bagwell 8-4) and Zayas with Parlier (Parlier 8-4) leaving Bagwell and Parlier to tough it out in the hot-seat match. Bagwell ended up coming out on top in a commanding 9-3 finish to ensure he was in the finals.
The one-loss side started with the following:
Scott Lewis d. Gary Neal 8-5
Justin Price d. Josh Newman 8-4
Jeff Haton d. Casey Looper 8-4
Matt Mancini d. Antonio Tovar 8-3
The left side of the board continued to break it down to the final few as the 9th-12th places were filled out: Lewis d. Basha 8-5; Price d. White 8-6; Wilson d. Haton 8-5; and Dover d. Mancini 8-7.
To occupy the 7th-8th spots, Justin Price and Rory Dover. Lewis slipped by Price 8-5, while Wilson dominated Dover 8-1. And in the 5th-6th place, Lewis continued his run with a persuasive win over Steve Holman 8-1, and Wilson finished off Chris Zayas as well 8-4.
With both Lewis and Wilson playing so well, it was bound to be that the two would end up matched up at some point and that is exactly what happened when it came down to determining 4th place. In true fashion of the days sets, these two provided the spectators a close finish 8-7 with Lewis surviving to have a shot at Parlier in the semis.
Lewis didn't give many opportunities from there forward as he clinched the semis 8-3, then went on to double dip Brian Bagwell in the finals 8-6, 8-3 for the champ title. Lewis had a great weekend with a total of ten wins (the first a bye) to put him in the top spot, but this was not unexpected as he recently double dipped his finals opponent in a prior GSBT stop as well (November 2008). Great shooting Scott!
The second chance event on Sunday had a total of sixteen players make their way back with Jim Jennings and Josh Johnson coming out on top of the field in the end. Jennings cashed $160 for his superb play, while Johnson took home $80 for his efforts.
Many thanks to World Cup Billiards (owner Han Choi) as they were gracious hosts – the tour looks forward to returning during the 2009 season. In addition, the continued support of the tour sponsors has been a great foundation to build upon: Nick Varner Cues & Cases, Delta-13 Racks, Tiger Products, Master Chalk, AZBilliards, Inside Pool, Billiards Digest, and Professor Q-Ball. Details from this weekend's event at Karl's Korner in Columbia, South Carolina will follow later in the week.
