It was a beautiful March 3^rd and 4^th weekend, weather-wise and pool shooting-wise in Lake Jackson, Texas.  Forty-two (42) ladies ventured down to southeast Texas to play in the 2^nd Hunter Classics Tour stop for 2007 at the Shooters II establishment.

We were welcomed by Deby Wardlow, owner and manager, of Shooters II and her hospitable staff and regular patrons.  Deby has invited the Hunter Tour to her pool room for the last four years and as always, it was a great pleasure and fun time for everyone.  The Hunter Tour also presented Deby with a plaque for hosting us year after year.  Many, many thanks to Deby and her staff for their awesome service and accommodations.

Special thanks also to Wes Hunter and his Hunter Classics Custom Cues and for sponsoring us for 14 years straight.   Without you, Wes, we would not be able to fulfill our dreams or passion.   Every tour stop a Hunter Classics Custom Cue is raffled and Lisa Watson, Hunter Classics Tour member, was the lucky winner. 

One additional Hunter Classics Tour co-sponsor made the trek from Dallas, Texas to Lake Jackson and that was Royce Bunnell of the OB-1 Cue Shaft.  Royce contributed added monies to our Sunday Second Chance Tournament and also raffled a free OB-1 Cue Shaft for one lucky Hunter Classics Tour tournament player.  That lucky player was Kim Pierce, who was fortunate in winning the shaft to replace one previously stolen.

Pre-empting tournament play, we had a player’s meeting to go over tournament rules, etc. plus lots of giveaways to start the excitement for this event.   Congratulations to all winners:

Helen Lee – won her tournament entry fee back ($30)

Jillian Valles – won 1 year subscription to Pool and Billiard Magazine

Lynda Tetlow – won Strok-N-Style glove certificate

Susan Petty – won a billiards goody bag from Samm’s SidePocket

Chris White – won $20 gift card to Starbucks

Tournament participants were from all over the U.S. which included regular tour members from Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, and new members Kathleen Lawless from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Lisa D’Atri from Fairfax, California.  Kathleen and Lisa play on other regional tours around the country but ventured to Texas for their first Hunter Classics Tour event.  We were glad to have them with us and hope to see them again at future Hunter Classics Tour stops.  Also joining us for the first time were several ladies local to the area – Christine Burns, Tanya Moss, Lynda Tetlow, Lisa Jo Myers and Dale Boswell.

Lisa Marr, from Little Rock, Arkansas, was out in full force as she wanted to repeat her win last year at Shooters II.  By day’s end, Lisa and  11 other tournament hopefuls would return on Sunday to continue their quest for the $750 first prize.  Included on the winner’s side along with Lisa were Leslie Anne Rogers, 2001-2005 Hunter Tour Champion from Arlington, TX, Tara “Firecracker” McCracken, Dallas, TX and Kim Pierce, Bastrop, TX.  On the “other” side of the bracket were board members Melinda Hinojosa and Helen Hayes, Samm Diep from Colorado, Jennifer Kraber, Kathleen Lawless, Tasha Salandanan, Heather Lloyd, 2006 Hunter Classics Tour Champion, and Michelle Yim.  We are happy to note that Michelle Yim had her highest Hunter Classics Tour finish ever at this stop.  Good job, Michelle. 

As the main event continued on Sunday, the finals came down to Lisa Marr and the “never give up attitude” of Heather Lloyd.  On Saturday, Heather won her first match of the day, but then lost to Helen Hayes.  From that point on Heather never looked back and played 8 consecutive and tough matches to vie for a shot in the finals match against Lisa.  Additionally, in true double elimination format, Heather had to beat Lisa twice to win the tournament and lo and behold that is exactly what she did.   Heather won the first set 7-4 and then the second set 7-6 in an exciting hill-hill finale match for the crowd.   Congratulations to Heather on a fine comeback finish!

For complete Lake Jackson tournament coverage, you can see the brackets, payouts & players list posted here http://www.azbilliards.com/brackets/showbrackets.cfm?tourneynum=2328  

Photos can be found here:  http://www.hunterclassics.com/LakeJackson07/

And updated rankings can be found here:  http://www.hunterclassics.com/pointstandings.cfm

Our next stop is at Magoo’s Billiards, in Tulsa, OK March 31-April 1.  The Qualifier for this event is a paid entry into in the May 13-19 Enjoypool.com 9-Ball Championships in Las Vegas. Come on out for Good Pool, Good Friends, Good Times.

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