I competed in the 5th annual Space City Open (SCO) - Women's 9-ball division. The event was held at Bogies Billiards in Houston, Texas on the first weekend of December 2016. Since I took second place in last year's event, I wanted to try my hand at besting that. Seriously and Realistically though, my goal was to see how I would fair with my fairly new stance, as well as, other new elements recently added. They say when you add or change something to your game that you pretty much take a step back before seeing the progression forward. I had planned months ago to do SCO again this year and didn't allow the new to discourage me from competing. I took it as a quiz or exam. You know what we're told, take it one shot at a time, one game at a time.
As a warm-up to SCO, my friend Kim took me to Skinny Bob's for their weekly in-house 9-ball tournament. The entry was minimal for the ladies and the races were very short in the double elimination event. I tend to shy away from short race events, but for the sake of a warm-up in a strange land I launched into the deep. With this being an open event, tour director Tom also pays out to the Last Lady Honors.
Well, things didn't look so good for me in the beginning; I wasn't quite acclimated to the equipment and loss my first match to a good player 3-0. Then things started to look up as I got through enough matches to play the tour director, who loss the hot seat match. Since the establishment was technically closed, we agreed to split the winnings. On top of that, I received winnings for Last Lady Honors. I felt honored!
On to SCO for the ladies on Sunday. Things were quite different for me in that event. I had a first round bye, but couldn't quite get through the next two matches. There were certain elements, well really just one, that was a bit off at times. However, my jumps had improved tremendously here lately and was consistent in both events. I'm not talking about just simply jumping. I had pocketed about 98% of the balls i jumped and controlled the cue to get position for the next shot. If nothing else, I am proud of that huge improvement. My new stance was consistent too; a step or two forward in a sense.
One thing I am happy about in touring is meeting new people, making new friends, and reconnecting with existing ones. Below are a few pictures from being social during my time in Austin and Houston. I'm pretty saddened that I didn't get a picture with friends like Kim Hernandez Pierce (who graciously hosted me at her home), Danny R., Gail Eaton, David Williams and more. I think i'll have to make it up them by taking another trip to their neck of the woods sometime in the near future.
Looking forward, I now have a good break before my next big tournament. This gives me plenty of time to bear down with drills and keep stepping forward, one shot at a time, one game at a time.
Special thanks goes out to Triple Nines Bar & Billiards for sponsoring me for this event.