Appell, who resumed playing the sport in September of last year following a 12-year lay-off, and Herbison won the prestigious Open Doubles of the Bill Gibbs tournament at Six Shooters Bar in Phoenix last April.

The duo went undefeated during the “Add-to-Two” Doubles at Oskar’s winning out over a field of ten other teams. Their Billy Chiles’ title was good for the winner’s share of the more than $4,000 purse. Arizona’s Ted Canada was the winning team sponsor.

The likeable Herbison was all smiles following the win, “It was a good little tournament with some very tough competition and both myself and Tony really enjoyed traveling to Southern California for this tournament. I know I get my monies’ worth in food every time I drive over, as Anna Brunskill is a terrific cook and always makes sure I have enough to eat.”

Both Herbison and Appell play regularly at MVP’s in Phoenix.

Finishing in second place to the Arizona team were Highland, California’s Eric Chiles and Huntington Beach’s Jeff Posthumous. Third place went to South Gate’s Joe Nino and Yorba Linda’s Bob Brunskill. Chiles is the son of the late Billy Chiles.

The Billy Chiles tournament originated in San Bernardino at the old Silver Spur and was moved three years ago to the Huntington Beach Moose Lodge. This year marked another move as it ended up at Oskar’s in Bellflower. Future plans for the successful event are up in the air at this time.

In the “Add-to-Four” Doubles it was another Arizona team that came out on top. Wayne Scott and Lewis Bailey also went undefeated during the tournament to take home the winner’s share of $1,990. Anna Brunskill sponsored the winners. Second place went to the team of Bishop, California’s H.L. Lee and Garden Grove’s Tony Bastanchury with Arizona’s Linda Churchman and Terry Leahy placing third. Ten teams competed in the event.

The weekend began with the Friday night team sales for the ABC Draw. 51 players were on hand for the tournament’s opening event. Play began immediately following the sale with 17 teams signed on to play. Arizona’s Paul Obermiller, Bellflower’s Mina Bischara and Dan Childs captured the event that was worth the winner’s shared of a combined purse of $6,635. Temecula’s Jim Martin sponsored the winning team. Finishing second were Arizona’s Tony Appell, Hemet’s Robert “Cowboy” Wade and Bellflower’s Erika Worley. Appell’s team won the first best two out of three match but lost out in the event’s championship match.

Third place went to the team of Arizona’s Wayne Scott, San Diego’s Jim Stuart and Los Altos’ Marlene Brennan. Fourth place finishers were Mojeska Valley’s Vern Booth, Dot Bastanchury and Arizona’s Lewis Bailey. Finishing in a tie for fifth place were the teams of Arizona’s Wendell Herbison, Las Vegas’ Devonna Golden and Long Beach’s Susie Jones along with Las Vegas’ Danny Leach, Arizona’s Alice Arredondo and George Gray.

On a high note Arizona’s Linda Meyer generously donated a weight case for a raffle to benefit the survivors of Hurricane Katrina with a net result of $825 to be donated to the Red Cross.

Anna Brunskill, America Ugarte, Juanita Alvarez, Marie Coulter, Erika Worley, Allan Snow and Ernie Alvarez provided food for the Billy Chiles tournament. Anna Brunskill prepared the evening snacks on Friday with the help of Denise Bailey, Jan Manes, Bonnie Trumbo and Hope Weber.

The tournament organizers would like to thank Linda Churchman and Terry Leahy for help during tournament bracketing and also to Jan Manes and Susie Jones for the collection of tournament monies. Also thanks to the many players who traveled from Arizona, Nevada and San Diego to compete.

A special thanks goes out to Rich “Bubba” Warren and Bob Brunskill for running a great tournament.