Amidst a short field of 14 entrants, B.J. Ussery came back from a second round trip to the one-loss side to defeat hot seat resident Johnny Griffin and capture first place in the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour stop on the weekend of April 17-18. The $1,000-added event was hosted by On the Snap Billiards in Fuquay Varina, NC.
Keith Bennett, who'd sent Ussery west in the second round 7-3, moved among the winners' side final four to face Griffin. Peaches Fuller faced Arnold Hamlet. Griffin sent Bennett west 7-5, as Hamlet did likewise to Fuller 7-3. Griffin gained the hot seat with a 7-5 win over Hamlet and waited for Ussery's return.
Ussery began his five-match journey back to the finals with a 7-4 win over Michael Dearing and followed it with a 7-1 win over Chris Turner, that set him up to face Peaches Fuller. Michael Fuller, in the meantime, was busy dropping Chris Rhoades and Delton Howard, both 7-1, for the right to face Bennett. Ussery and Michael Bennett moved into the quarterfinals with identical 7-5 wins over Peaches Fuller and Bennett, respectively. Ussery downed Michael Fuller in the quarterfinals 7-2 and finished Hamlet's day with a 7-3 win in the semifinals.
In the single race-to-11 finals, Ussery and Griffin battled back and forth through the opening games. With a slim 4-3 lead, Ussery surged ahead with three games in a row to go ahead by four, with four to go. Griffin responded with five straight racks, including two break-and-runs to take an 8-3 lead. Ussery came right back to win the four he needed to seal the 11-8 victory and first place.
A Friday night Early Bird tournament drew 13 entrants and was won by Keith Bennett, who pocketed $140 after a 7-1 finals victory over Chris Vollmar, who, in addition to his second place, $80 winnings in the Early Bird tournament, added $50 for winning the event's break contest. Craig Wolfe finished in third place in the Early Bird. Pam Bartholomew was declared the event's female winner and Jordan Douglas was recognized as the Juniors winner. The tour's break and run contest had no winners on this weekend, thus elevating the prize per ball amount to $87 for the tour's next stop.
A Sunday Second Chance tournament drew eight entrants. It concluded with a double hill battle in the finals between Michael Yingling and Vollmar, looking for his third package of prize money. He'd earn that third package, but for second place ($60), as Yingling hung on to win the $100 first place prize.
