Winston Oregon’s, 99 Tavern and Willees, hosted their 6th Annual Labor Day Weekend Tournament successfully. They exceeded the previous year’s records having 109 total registered players. Even better, an impressive $35,000 in Entry and Calcutta to be won! Then, topping off the tournament with the induction of Doug Buhl into The National Hall of Fame completed the weekends schedule for the players and tournament directors involved. Danny Holland couldn’t have asked for much of a turn out than what was received.

The kick off event was an A/B Draw beginning on Thursday with 34 teams, and $1,700 in entry to be played for. The 1st place team was Dan Hitt and Von Thomas, prevailing through a seemingly never-ending bracket of teams. The 2nd place team of Glen Redding and Paulette McKinney played very strong to get as far as they did.

Another A/B Draw occupied players not involved in the Open Singles. They had 23 anxious teams ready to play for the Entry money total o f$920. The 1st place team in this A/B Draw was Jim Foran and Brandon Glasscock, and the 2nd place team of Mike Waters and Kathy Thomas right behind them.

Last but certainly not least of the Friday event was the Open Singles. With 30 players stepping up and playing for $5,100 total in Entry and another $7,200 total in Sponsor money. Having 17 of the 30 players were pros on the minus side and it made for a lot of interesting matches! Every player had their work cut out for them. In the end it was a split between 1st and 2nd place. Dave Keithahan was on the winner’s side. The star of the show, Doug Buhl, came back from the loser’s side. The sponsor of Dave was Dudley Hutcherson and Gary Thompson sponsored Doug. The 3rd place player was Nick Chaffin, bought by Al Pease. 4th went to Loren Lampley, sponsored by Jim “the pirate” Cockrell. The 5th and 6th place was an even pay between Dudley Hutcherson and Gary George.

Saturday morning we held off starting any new events until Doug Buhl was officially inducted into The National Hall of Fame. But the Pacific Northwest had some unfinished business to take care of first. Last summer our good friend, Steve Fisher, was inducted into the Pacific Northwest Hall of Fame at this tournament. Due to unavoidable circumstances, we were unable to present him with the official plaque at that time. So, first things first, Steve got his overdue plaque. Doug’s ceremony immediately followed, and was an emotional roller coaster. People laughed, people cried, people reminisced, but mostly, people laughed! The beautiful trophy that goes along with a person being inducted into The National Hall of Fame was awarded to Doug by Frank Mako. Several players got up and congratulated Doug and/or told their favorite story involving him. Marilyn Buhl got the most amazing cake I’ve ever seen made in Douglas County, let alone Winston! It was huge and had a great shuffleboard drawn on the top of it, accented by custom made wates tops by Lorraine Olson’s Son, Jason. What a surprise bonus to an already great ceremony. Nobody even wanted to cut into it, so Marilyn had to take initiative, and be the first to slice into this beauty!

While the Open Singles continued their games from yesterday, the B-Singles and C-Singles were just starting their events. The B’s had a grand total of 28 players with $700 in entry money and around $3,600 in Sponsor money, making it even more worth the battle then just the glory of victory. In the end though, it was a decision to split for 1st and 2nd place by Gary Thompson, on winner’s side, and Don Stallsworth coming back from the loser’s side. Frank Mako was Gary’s sponsor and Ruth Miles was Don’s Sponsor. The 3rd place player went to Israel Ochoa, 4th to Dino Mako, and 5th and 6th paid the same to Paulette McKinney and Frank Mako.

In the C-Singles there was 20 players signed up to do battle. Having $500 in Entry money and another $1560 in sponsor money reminded everyone it was time to get your game face on. Putting it all on the table, Brandon Glasscock was the 1st place Winner in the C-Singles and in 2nd place, was Bobbie Arndt .Both Brandon and Bobbie were sponsored by Lorraine Olson. The 3rd place went to Susan Preston, a new player who’s not even rated! Norman Hall was her lucky sponsor! Warren Mann, from the Medford area, got 4th place with Lorraine Olson sponsoring him.

The Open Doubles and B-Doubles were the last events scheduled for the weekend. Coincidently, both the divisions had 21 teams ready for 1 last chance at some money. I can honestly say that the Open Doubles had some of the longest most entertaining matches in shuffleboard history. In the end the worn out 1st and 2nd place teams agreed to a split. Bill Maxwell and Dudley Hutcherson on the winner’s side, and Darrol Nelson and Doug Buhl back from the loser’s side. Both teams were happily sponsored by Lorraine Olson. Loren Lampley and Ken Simmons came in 3rd, bought by Gary Thompson. 4th place went to Al Pease and Mike Keevil, sponsored by Eddie “Brains” Brayman. Both 5th and 6th were evenly paid to the teams of Gary George and Jeff Kersting, as well as Rick Gindt and Mike Waters.

To conclude the list of event results are the B-Doubles. As with the Open Doubles, there were 21 teams playing for $1050 in Entry money, and $2400 in Sponsor money. After a long, physically demanding weekend of shuffleboard Bob Crum and Brandon Glasscock, and their sponsor Steve Fisher, went home with a 1st place victory prize. The 2nd place team was Paulette McKinney and Jeanette Hohn, who both shot exceptionally well the whole event. Their buyer was Kathy Keevil. 3rd place went to Kathy Keevil and Israel Ochoa bought by Jeanette Hohn. And the 4th place goes to some Winston locals Randy Foster and Sue Thomas. This team was sponsored by Steve Fisher.

We hope to see everyone again next year and want to thank everyone for spending their Labor Day Weekend with us. Thanks again to Eddie “Brains” Brayman for answering our questions and helping with our problems. You Computer Peas Program are a fundamental tool at our tournament. Hope everyone enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed you.