Ray Shines in Fury Carolina Tour Finale

By Bill Rosenberger and Steve Jennings 

If there is o­ne thing to be said about the Fury Carolina Tour, it's that the talent is evenly spread throughout the field.  Robert Ray, o­ne of many talented players who competed this year, returned his name to the top of the final bracket o­n Saturday, November 20 at Shooter's in Garner, NC.

Ray finished off his undefeated weekend but squeaked through some close matches to do so.  He earned a spot in the hot seat match with two tough 7-5 wins over Chris Vollmar and Bernie Kirby but barely struggled the rest of the way. 

In the hot seat, Ray faced a familiar face in Eddie Little.  According to tournament director Steve Jennings, the two have met many times in the past two years o­n tour.  Ray, who holds a slight edge in wins, added another tally to his win column with a 7-2 victory.

In the o­ne-loss side, Shooter's owner Marshall Beasley was doing his best to protect his home.  After a 5-3 win over Kirby, he earned a shot in the semifinals, where he faced Little.  The close match reached 3 apiece, but some costly errors by Beasley allowed Little to clean up the last two games for a 5-3 win.

The final match again saw Ray and Little battle for top honors in the o­ne-day tournament.  Ray, the official 2004 tour points champion, was determined to end his season o­n a championship note with o­ne last victory.  Little was no match against Ray's strong defense and wise offensive play, as Ray took the final stop of the year 9-2.

Results:

1st Robert Ray $405

2nd Eddie Little $245

3rd Marshall Beasley $165

4th Bernie Kirby $85

5th Dale Russell, Johnny Griffin

7th John Carson, Jeff Pruitt