The J. Pechauer Custom Cues Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour brought its fifteenth stop of the season and twenty-nine players to Diamond Billiards in Cape Coral, Florida, the weekend of February 16th and 17th. This $1000 added event entitled The Pechauer Cape Coral Open was played on nine-foot Diamond Tables and 860 Simonis cloth. The top finisher of the weekend was none other than the “Prince of Pool”, Corey Deuel. Deuel provided the spectators with incredible play throughout the tournament. Although he had an early loss in the event, he managed to make his way through the one-loss side and ultimately into the quarter-finals against Justin Hall. Hall ended his weekend with a loss to Deuel and a score of 7-2, sending Deuel up against Mario Cruz in the semi-finals. Cruz’ first loss came when he was bested in the hot-seat match against Louis Altes 7-5. Cruz then gave Deuel a whirl for the win and kept the race tight, but succumbed at 7-5 to make way for Deuel to advance into the finals. Once reaching the finals, there was no stopping Deuel as he pushed past Louis Altes 7-0, 7-4 to take home the win. Although Deuel took first place honors, he was not the only winner at this event. In addition, the highest lady finisher was Gale Martin ($25); highest senior Frank Strain ($50); and highest junior player ended in a split between Brock Pyper and Andrew Cruz ($25 each). One of the local non-profit charities in Cape Coral also received a $30 donation from the tour. The next stop for the tour will be The J. Pechauer Alabama Open at Pockets Billiards in Dothan, Alabama, this weekend (February 23-24, 2008). For more information on this and other tour specifics, visit their website at www.southeastopen.com AZBilliards.com

The J. Pechauer Custom Cues Southeast Open 9 Ball Tour’s Savannah Open took place over the weekend of September 15th and 16th at the Southside Billiard Club in Savannah, Georgia. This was the seventh tour stop of the season and a $2500 added event that kept the crowds coming through the doors throughout the course of the event. Not only was the location beautiful, but the food/drinks, and pro-shop were great. There were a total of sixty-nine players that made the trek to the tournament including many highly recognizable players which added a competitive spirit to the event and made it quite enjoyable for all in attendance. In the group of top picks were Louis Ulrich, Tommy Kennedy, B.J. Ussery, Stevie Moore, Mike Davis, and the list goes on - all in all the level of talent present was fantastic. On Sunday, the continuation of matches heated up immediately with the day ending with such match-ups as Tommy Kennedy defeating Mike Davis 9-7 in the quarter-finals; the hot-seat match was a clash between Louis Ulrich and B.J. Ussery, which ended with a score of 9-6 and a win for Ulrich. The semis featured Tommy Kennedy defeating B.J. Ussery 9-4, and ultimately set-up a finals match between Louis Ulrich and Tommy Kennedy. In the end, Ulrich was able to maintain control of the match and ended Tommy Kennedy’s tournament life with a final score of 9-5. In addition to the final sixteen players that received prize money, several finishers outside of that list received recognition as well for their achievements at the event, including, highest junior finisher, Thomas Graham, he took home $25.00; Tracy Abbott, captured highest lady finisher and $50.00; and highest senior ended in a split between Sam Staats and Jim Jennings for $50.00. One of the local charities also received a donation - $80.00 was provided to the Humane Society. Special thanks to Southside Billiard Club for hosting the event and to Tom Potter for his role in assisting the tournament director. - by Sherry Pouncey - AzB Staff - September 18, 2007
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The J. Pechauer Custom Cues Southeast Open 9 Ball Tour held its fifth stop of the season the weekend of August 18th and 19th at Skeeters Billiards in Gulfport, Mississippi. This was a $1000 added event entitled The J. Pechauer Mississippi Open, which drew a strong playing field of fifty-one competitors. The devastation of last year’s hurricane Katrina is but a memory – showing that she could blow them down, but could not keep them down. The entire area is filled with dedication to fast recovery and building back bigger and better than they once were prior to the storm. During the tournament, Skeeters was open twenty-four hours. The room provided nine-foot Diamond tables. On Saturday, the race was to seven on both sides, but Sunday the races went to nine, with a true double elimination finals format. Some of the highlights for the weekend were as follows: day one of this two day event awarded highest senior, Mike Trawick, $50.00; highest junior finisher, Daniel McKenney, received $25.00; and highest female finisher was $50 and was split between Bettina Yurkos, Beth Edicicco, and Mara Whitfield. On day two, the money matches showed Tommy Kennedy defeating Dale Sellers in the quarters one-loss side 9-2; the hot seat match pitted Davis Walters against Jay Bird, with Walters winning 9-6; the semi-finals were between Tommy Kennedy and Jay Bird, Bird lost 9-6; and the finals reflected Kennedy taking out Walters 9-5, 9-4 for the event win. There were a total of twelve places paid out for this event and a total purse of $2825.00. In addition, a local non-profit charity of Gulfport, Mississippi received $45.00 for their cause.- - by Sherry Pouncey - AzB Staff - August 22, 2007
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