Tommy Kennedy combined a commanding performance in the hot seat match with a closely contested final match – both against Trevor Moore - to win his own J. Pechauer Southeast 9-Ball Tour stop on the weekend of May 9-10. Hosted by the Art of Billiards in Gainesville, FL, the $1000-added event drew 38 entrants. “Great room,” said Kennedy, shortly after posting his first win on his tour this year. “(Room owners) Art and Dana Rogers are really great hosts.” Kennedy began his final three matches with a 9-3 win over Randy Simpson that put him in the hot seat match for his first meet with Moore. Moore, in the meantime, had sent Bobby Garza west 9-6. Kennedy sent Moore to the semifinals with a commanding 9-1 performance that left him in the hot seat. On the one-loss side, Ron Park and Tony Crosby were waiting for Simpson and Garza, respectively; Park having dropped Matt Bauries into the tie for seventh place 9-5, as Crosby got by Don Kreischer 9-7. Park advanced to the quarterfinals with a 9-3 win over Simpson and Crosby joined him with a 9-1 win over Garza. Crosby then dropped Park into fourth place and got himself into a tough semifinal battle against Moore. The two battled to a 7-7 tie, before Moore took advantage to reach the hill first and then break and run for a second chance at Kennedy. Kennedy and Moore found themselves entangled in an equally tough battle in the early going of the final match; a race to 11. Kennedy got out in front by a couple of racks and reached the hill ahead by three. Moore continued to battle, winning the 18th game, but it was his last. “(Moore) broke that last rack, but really didn’t have much to work with,” said Kennedy. “I finally got a good chance and made a great run.” Kennedy closed it out at 11-8 and after acknowledging the work of his assistant tour director, Tom Potter, took home the first place prize. - by Skip Maloney - AzB Staff - 2009-5-10
AZBilliards.com

It was that time of year again for Pockets in Dothan, Al. Tommy Kennedy and the Pechauer Tour brought a field of a little over 30 players on the 21st & 22nd of February. John Schmidt, Tommy Kennedy, Stoney Stone, Scotty Townsend, Josh Hillard and Matt Bulfin just to name a few. As the brackets drew out it was Scotty and Schmidt in the top portion with Stoney, Kennedy, Hillard and Bulfin all in the bottom. The way Scotty has been playing and John in pure punch it was inevitable. They faced each other after only a few matches and John was more than prepared. Playing flawless and giving Scotty no real opportunity at the table. John cruised to a 7-0 victory and waited for his next opponent, T.F. Whittington. On the other half it would be a long road for any player looking to meet up with T.F. or John. It saw Kennedy defeating Hillard by a score of 7-5 and Bulfin passing by Stoney Stone at an unknown score. This left Bulfin and Kennedy, John and T.F. fighting out the winners side. Speeding through some matches and moving in on day two, It saw an extended race to 9 for both sides with everyone in the money. First matches of the day for the losers side saw Scotty defeat Kevin Duffy 9-3 and Stoney steam roll Hillard 9-2. Winners side featured Schmidt passing by T.F. and Bulfin handing Tommy his first loss 9-8 after being down 8-6. Matt Bulfin who appeared to be in high gear attempted to take Schmidt down for the hot seat. Just as it looked like he might do it, John came through with a break and run to take down the set 9-7. Matt now in the losers side would have a long wait for his next opponent and a chance to get back at Schmidt. But could he stay in stroke during his wait would be the question. The losers side began the next round of matches. With an unknown score, T.F. would fall to Stoney while Scotty knocked off Tommy Kennedy 9-2, leaving a very talented final four players. It was unclear who would end up challenging Schmidt in the final race to 11. Only time would tell. The next match featured a great sight for all watching. Stoney Stone and Scotty Townsend. This match would turn out similar to the hot seat match. A grinder with Scotty breaking 8-7. Unfortunately for Stoney, Scotty would break perfect and complete the out to give Stoney a 4th place finish. Matt now finally with a chance to come off of the bench and play again would have to deal with Scotty, a man on a mission. But had his gear been iced from the long wait. I think not as he played very well and took down the set by a score of 9-6 after a great break but an unlucky scratch on Scotty's part. The long awaited final match to 11 had arrived. Matt Bulfin and John "Mr. 400" Schmidt. Who would it be? Could Matt pull of another great match, or would Schmidt show why he's a former US Open winner. It started out looking like it might be a close one, But Schmidt was in no mood for a second place finish. John would go on to play some flawless pool, Giving Matt very little opportunity and earning the win by a score of 11-6. Congratulations to John for the win and Matt for the excellent play over the weekend. 1st John Schmidt $770.00
2nd Matt Bulfin $450.00
3rd Scotty Townsend $350.00
4th Stoney Stone $250.00
5th TF Whittington $160.00
5th Tommy Kennedy $160.00
7th Josh Hillard $100.00
7th Kevin Duffy $100.00
- by By Josh Hillard - AzB Staff - 2009-02-24
AZBilliards.com

The Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour dropped into Side Pocket Cue Club & Grill in Marietta, Georgia, over the weekend of December 6-7, 2008, with the onlookers keeping an eye on such noticeable names as T.F. Whittington, Paul Song, Jessie Middlebrook, and Stevie Moore. Pushing his way to the finals was Stevie Moore after shifting to the one-loss side earlier in the event. Moore diligently made his way through his challengers until he found himself in the quarter final round with T.F. Whittington. Whittington would be just another step for Moore to move up the ladder as he bested Whittington 7-5 to run into Jessie Middlebrook, who had lost the easy in into the finals while matched up against Jason Stemen in the hot-seat. Middlebrook kept it tight, but ended up down 7-4 to Stemen and found himself face to face with a force to be reckoned with in Moore. Moore dropped Middlebrook 7-0 to have his shot at Stemen. In the finals, Stemen held his own pushing Moore to earn his first place spot this past weekend, but that was exactly what he did. Moore finished off the weekend up 9-6 over Stemen in this $1500 added open event. Other honorable mentions, highest senior finisher and $50 went to B.R. Tatum; highest woman $50, Amy Chen; and $20 went to a local non-profit to cap it off. On Sunday, the amateur/semi pro $500 added division saw Duane Bourgeois snag the hot-seat from Jess Tabet on the hill 5-4, only to be bested by him in the finals in a devastating 7-1 loss. Tabet may have had the better of the deal as he had to keep in stroke to make it past his opponent in the semis, Amy Chen 4-1, before having another shot at Bourgeois. The tour wishes to thank Side Pockets (and staff) and Woody McClure for hosting an event this season. Next up: The J. Pechauer Atlanta Open
Mr.Cues
Atlanta, GA
December 13 - 14, 2008
770-454-7665 $1500 total guaranteed added: $1000 added open (Saturday only); $500 added amateur/semi-pro second chance tourny Sunday only. File photo courtesy of Bruce Clayton
1st Steve Moore $600.00
2nd Jason Stemen $385.00
3rd Jessie Middlebrook $280.00
4th T.F.Whittington $180.00
5th Paul Song $50.00
6th Ellis Brown $50.00
Highest sr.finisher received $50.00 B.R.Tatum
Highest lady finisher received $50.00 Amy Chen
Local non profit charity of Marrietta,GA.received $20.00 Amateur/Semi Pro $500.00 Added!
Side Pocket Cue Club & Grill
Marietta,GA.
1.Jess Tabet $400.00
2.Duane Bourgeois $250.00
3.Amy Chen $160.00
4.John M - by By Sherry Pouncey - AzB Staff - 2008-12-12
AZBilliards.com

November 1st and 2nd saw the fifth stop of the J. Pechauer Custom Cues Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour get underway. We would like to start off by thanking Tom Potter for running such a great event, we are deeply grateful for everything he has done for us. The $1000 added “Pechauer Gainesville Open” played at The Art of Billiards in Gainesville, Florida, ended up with a few new names in the running – Garrett Wiley took top junior finish and $25; John Foster and Ron Richardson shared honors as highest senior placing ($25 each); and the crown for the women finishers was shared by Dana Rogers and Allison Folds. Both Rogers and Folds received $25 each for their placings. $35 went to a local non-profit charity in the city in which the event was held. The main event boasted a $2210 purse and thirty-four players came out to earn their right to be called the champion of the tournament. As fate would have it, the eventual winner would be none other than Tommy Kennedy. He (Kennedy) secured his spot in the finals arena with a win over Neil Fujiwara in the winner’s side hot-seat match 9-4. On the one-loss side Butch Croft was making his way to match-up with Fujiwara in the semis with the latest of his wins over Walter Blacker 9-7 in the quarter-finals. Croft continued his superb play in the semis and ultimately took control and ended the set over Fujiwara 9-4 to move into the finals with Kennedy. The finals ended up being quite a tight race. Croft, down in the set 9-6, ran three racks to tie up the score at 9-9. Due to an unexpected mistake in the next rack, Kennedy had the opportunity to take the lead and closed out the set 11-9 taking his second tournament in a row and causing Croft to settle for a very respectable second place finish this weekend. Special thanks to Art and Dana (at The Art of Billiards) for hosting the event, along with the staff, players in attendance, and spectators that were on hand cheering on their favorites. This weekend, November 8th and 9th, the tour will hold The J. Pechauer Sunrise City Open at Ultimate Billiards in Ft. Pierce, Florida. For more information contact Gary at (772) 370-9184 or Bill at (772) 418-7075. This stop will feature a $1000 added open Saturday/Sunday and a $500 added amateur division Sunday only.
- by By Sherry Pouncey - AzB Staff - 2008-11-04
AZBilliards.com

The J. Pechauer Savannah Open, event four of the season for the J. Pechauer custom Cues Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, came after a little bit of a break. Just over a month ago was the last stop and the tour came back strong at Southside Billiard Club in good ole Savannah, Georgia this weekend (September 27th-28th). The $1500 added open event which took place on Saturday and Sunday and $500 added amateur/semi-pro second chance tournament that was held Sunday only saw a variety of faces. The open field drew a field of forty-six players all vying for the $3350 purse on hand. Some of the highlights from the main event included highest woman finisher which ended up being split between Joann Krisen and Jessica Tennick ($50); top junior finisher, Howard Roe took home $25; and J.R. Rossman ran away with high senior and $50. As always, the tour donated to one of Savannah’s local non-profits in the way of $55. This weekend ended up being all about Tommy Kennedy though. After an earlier loss, Kennedy made his way through the one-loss side eventually running into North Carolina’s Ron Park in the quarter-finals. If it wasn’t at that point, it would soon be noticeably obvious that Kennedy was catching a gear. Park ended up settling for a strong fourth place finish with his 9-4 loss to Kennedy. In the semi-finals, Neil Fugiwara became Kennedy’s next victim. Fugiwara was ousted to the one-loss side when Butch Croft bested him for the hot-seat 9-6 earlier, but in an effort to get back to avenge his loss, found himself on the low end of the scoreboard against Kennedy and having to settle for third this weekend – score 9-3. The finals pitted Croft and Kennedy together. The plus side for Kennedy was that he had ample time to get into stroke while taking down tough competitors on the one-loss side and in the end, it paid off. Croft gave Kennedy a great fight, but could not hold him off succumbing to him 11-9 in the end. We can’t forget the second chance event. On Sunday the amateur/semi-professional second chance event went off without a hitch! The twenty-eight player $500 added tournament (total purse $1210) ended on a sweet note for Chad Stokes as he went undefeated through the brackets. Strokes secured the hot-seat with his victory over John Swope 5-3 and waited it out until Swope made his way back to him in the finals. The quarter-finals saw Josh Stewart over Champ Farmer 4-2, but Stewart was unable to overcome Swope – the set ended 4-1. The finals were much tighter, but at 6-5, Stokes swooshed in the final nine for the winning game – final 7-5. Special notes from the tour – it was great to see Billy Sikes as he was an added and exciting addition to the weekend; thanks to the folks at Southside Billiard Club (Joe and staff) for having the tour (this billiard room rolls out the welcome mat and true southern hospitality and it is a pleasure to stop in while in Savannah); to Kevin Caruso for his faithful support; to all in attendance – thank you and hope you had a great time; and to Tom Potter and Mike Matsie for all their hard work in assisting Tour Director Tommy Kennedy. Special thanks to the tour sponsors – check them out at www.southeastopen.com/sponsors.asp and help support those that bring the tours to your area. Lastly, you wanna play on the tour? Well, your next chance will be The J. Pechauer Gainsville Open November 1st-2nd at The Art of Billiards in Gainsville, Florida. The event will host a $1000 total guaranteed added open (no amateur/semi-pro second chance event) and an exhibition by Tommy Kennedy on October 31st. Additional stops can be found using this link: www.azbilliards.com/2000showschedule.php?tournum=8 or you can visit the tour homepage at www.southeastopen.com/index.asp. - by By Sherry Pouncey - AzB Staff - 2008-09-29
AZBilliards.com

The J. Pechauer Custom Cues Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour recently finished off the season with a bang and the new season has already started with great vigor and a promising outlook for what is on the horizon for the 2008/2009 season. This past weekend June 21st-22nd, the tour kicked off the season with a $500 added open event and $500 added amateur second chance tournament at Lucky Dawgs Billiards in Athens, Georgia. In attendance for the main event and taking home top honors were highest lady finishers Rebecca Logan and Beth Daniels - the ladies split the $50 prize; and highest senior Jim Jennings who also took home $50 for his win. For the main tournament win, Johnny Archer went undefeated through the field of nineteen players, ensuring his spot in the final round after a 7-0 hot seat victory over Henry Cofer 7-0. On the one-loss side, Bruce Berrong worked his way through the field and ultimately ran into Billy Holmes in the quarter final round where he maneuvered past Holmes by a score of 7-2. Berrong then bested Cofer in the semi-finals 7-2 to have a chance at Archer. Although the finals were an extremely tight race, Berrong was unable to hold off Archer for the season opener victory – the score read 9-8 in the end. In the Sunday only amateur second chance event, a total of thirty players finished out the week with David Shadden taking home first place, Jim Jennings second, and Henry Cofer duplicated his main event finish in third. Special thanks to the management and staff at Lucky Dawgs Billiards. The tour will next stop into Metro Sports Bar in Jonesboro, Georgia August 2-3, 2008 to host the $1000 added First Annual Fayetteville Georgia J. Pechauer Open. This event will not host an amateur second chance event, but there will be an added bonus - professional player Tommy Kennedy will be onsite Friday, August 1st from 8-10 pm providing an exhibition. For more information on this event, contact the tour (www.southeastopen.com) or Tommy Lee Jones at (678) 927-4262. Results (main event)($1115 purse):
1st Johnny Archer $515
2nd Bruce Berrong $300
3rd Henry Cofer $200
4th Billy Holmes $100 Results (amateur second chance event)($1320 purse):
1st David Shadden $520
2nd Jim Jennings $300
3rd Henry Cofer $200
4th Stanley Lingerfelt $150
5th/6th Rodney Holland/Bryant Walker $75 - by Sherry Pouncey - AzB Staff - 2008-06-26
AZBilliards.com