Congrats to Fast Freddy!
Lamers Takes Dubuque Open
Story courtesy of USBA.net
The first three-cushion tournament in Dubuque, Iowa, in a hundred years was won by Fred Lamers of Andover, Minnesota. Lamers defeated Jose Lupe Cruz of Des Moines, Iowa, in the deciding game 25-13 in 21 innings.
The tournament was held in the magnificent billiard room of the Masonic Temple on three 1932 Brunswick tables recently reconditioned with Kleber rubber from Germany and Simonis cloth from Belgium. The tournament was dedicated to the memory of Welker Cochran, Iowa’s other Hall-of-Famer and many times world champion in three-cushion and balkline. Eighteen players were divided into three flights of six for round-robin play. Each flight was assigned one of the three strongest players (Lamers, Cruz, and John Jacobson of Marshalltown, Iowa), the rest were assigned by blind draw.
To view PDF file of Charts, click on the name of the flight:
Flight A: Cruz sailed through flight A undefeated with an average of .718 and a high run of 8. A surprising second was Dave Coan of St. Paul, Minn., who got into the tournament at the last minute when two players and the first two alternates withdrew.
Flight B: In flight B, Lamers was upset 25-19 by James Richards of Milwaukee, Wisc., but won his other four games easily to finish first, averaging .735. Also finishing with a record of 4-1 was Nam Cho of Madison, Wisc., who averaged .581 and had a high run of 8. The hard-luck player in the flight was Richards, who lost only two games, one to Cho 25-23 and one to Gary Eake of Oshkosh, Wisc., by the same score.
Flight C: The seeded player in flight C was Jacobson, who lived up to his rating by going undefeated, averaging .616. Finishing second at 4-1was Tom Paley of Fenton, Missouri, who edged tournament director Bob Byrne 25-24 and lost only to Jacobson by two points. Third in the flight was Doug Taber, a history professor at Wayne State University in Nebraska.
Finals: The finals began at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday with a major upset, Cho over Jacobson 25-19 in 36 innings. Cruz and Lamers had easy wins. In the second round, both Lamers and Cruz held their opponents to 10 points while Jacobson edged Paley 25-22.
Finalists (L to R): Lupe Cruz, John Jacobson, Tom Paley, Robert Byrne (host), Nam Cho, Fred Lamers and Dave Coan.
Another upset occurred in the third round when Paley edged Cruz 25-23 in 43 innings. A crucial match was Lamers versus Jacobson with Lamers pinning a second defeat on Jacobson, 25-20 in 37 innings.
In the second-to-last round, a key matchup was Jacobson, already with two losses, taking on Cruz, who had lost only to Paley. It was Cruz 25-20 in 34 innings. Lamers, helped by a run of 8, crushed Cho 25-12.
In the fifth and final round Lamers, at 4-0 faced Cruz, 3-1. To win the tournament, Cruz had to win the game and hold Lamers to 23 points or less. A 25-24 win for Cruz wouldn’t be enough because both players would then have 4-1 records and Lamers would win the tournament on total points by a single point. The game was never close, as Lamers ran 3 on the break and stayed in the lead throughout. Cruz crept to within four at 17-13, then Lamers clicked off 5 in a row and took the game 25-13.
Lamers averaged .880 in the finals and had a best game of 1.250 in beating Paley 25-6. (In the prelims, his best game was 25-11 over Cho in only 15 innings.) Cruz took second with a record of 3-2 and a grand average of .707. Despite an average of only .464 (two one-sided losses to Lamers and Cruz took their toll), Cho took 3rd at 3-2. Following were Jacobson and Paley at 2-3 and Coan, 0-5.
Lamers won $600 for his first-place finish along with $50 for high run in the finals (8) and $50 for best game in the finals (1.250). Cruz won $500 for finishing 2nd.
Top 3 Finishers (L to R): Nam Cho (3rd), Fred Lamers (1st) and Jose “Lupe” Cruz (2nd)
The prize fund of $2,200 was formed by the entry fees of 100 from each player, $100 from the Minneapolis Billiard Club, $100 from the U.S.B.A, $100 from cuemaker Dennis Dieckman (who contributed his entry fee after have to withdraw) $50 from Ed Wedge and $50 from Bob Byrne. Thom Determan supplied an ice chest and kept it supplied with soft drinks. Gary Eake handled the record-keeping, printing out charts after every round.
The players enjoyed the venue and the town and were glad to hear that the Dubuque Open will be an annual event.
