• To bid farewell to Patty Brake, who was moving back home to south Georgia, the Hovaters host a barbeque and Rook Tournament similar to the 1989 event.
• James Simmons finishes in first place from a field of sixteen players.
• Pat Stagner, who moved from Cincinnati three months earlier, plays her first Rook games in Atlanta.

• Larry Smith, maternal patriarch of the Hayes and Hovater families, and an avid Rook player, passes away.

• The first annual Larry Smith Invitational Rook Tournament is played on the weekend of his widow Masel's birthday.
• It is first Tournament to be held indoors.
• Patty Brake visits from Cordele and captures first place.
• In presenting Patty with her trophy, Masel quizzes Grady Walker on when he was going to marry Patty.

• Grady Walker and Patty Brake are married.

• A computer scoring system is introduced, reducing the delay between rounds, and making it easier to follow the tourney leaders.
• Matt Caudill emerges as the champion.
• Part of Matt's fabulous prize package includes a caller-ID phone that was kidnapped from David Williams several weeks earlier . . .

• Anne Underwood, who had scarcely played a game of Rook in her life, wins the third annual Tournament. She defeats 39 other (mostly veteran) players.
• Anne's husband Tip finishes in last place.

• A more competitive method of reteaming players between rounds is introduced, based on the computer scoring system.
• Pat Stagner, in the midst of moving to Jacksonville, finally captures a Rook Tournament championship.

• The Rook Tournament Web Site is launched.

• Masel Smith celebrates her 80th birthday.

• A seeding system is introduced to speed up initial team assignments, and to provide a tie-breaking mechanism.
• In part because of the seeding system, the Tournament runs for six rounds, instead of the traditional five.
• Trophies are awarded to the top three players, replacing the "cup" for first place, and ribbons for second and third.
• Joe Phillips takes home the first place trophy.

• Pat Duff, whose best finish in our Tournament was second place in 1997, passes away.

September 21, 2001

• In Pat's honor, the 2nd place trophy is named the Pat Duff Award. One of Pat's good friends, Patty Walker, wins the first Pat Duff Award by finishing second.
• Holly Turner captures first place.
• Since the kitchen at Hovater Farm is under renovation, the Tournament is held at the Orchards at Crabapple Community Center.

• The Tournament returns to Hovater Farm and its beautifully expanded kitchen.
• Mary Broadwell not only takes first place, but sets a new Tournament Record for Best Round Score (710 points) with some help from her first partner, David Williams.
• After missing the 2001 Tournament, and after never earning more than 2000 points the previous six years, Rod Hovater wins the Pat Duff Award for second place.
• June Guyton, one of the few players to have joined us every single year, wins her first trophy for third place.

• In the second round, Pam Duff and Buddy Meyer break the Tournament Best Round Score Record with 745 points.
• But despite Pam's early lead, Tournament newcomer and out-of-towner Carole Sanders surges in Rounds 5 and 6 to come from behind and win the first place trophy. Carole continues the "Anne Underwood" tradition of rookies winning first place.
• Laura Johnston bounces back from her next-to-last-place finish in 2001 to capture the Pat Duff Award for second.
• Despite earning 290 points more than his second-place 2002 finish, Rod Hovater takes third place.

• In six prior appearances, the tournament championship has eluded Paul Griffin, though he has finished third twice and second once. In impression fashion, Paul takes the 2004 title and sets a new all-time record for total score with 3240 points. Paul is also the only player ever to finish with more than 3000 points.
• Masel Smith claims her first prize in our tournament, taking second, and Danny Ingle takes third place in his first appearance in the contest.
• After winning second and then third place in the last two tournaments, Rod Hovater sinks to the very bottom to finish in 42nd place.

• David Williams and his family move to England for a six-month work assignment.

• In David's absence, Jason Reynolds assumes the role of Tournament Scorekeeper.
• Four and half years after her husband's passing, Pam Duff achieves her goal of winning the Pat Duff Award for second place.
• Masel Smith continues her winning ways with a third place finish.
• Defending champ Paul Griffin finishes in last place.

• Masel Smith celebrates her 85th birthday.

• After taking a year off from tournament play while in the UK, and after ten prior consecutive years with only a third-place showing in 1995, David Williams returns to win his first tournament.
• Renee Murray comes down from Kentucky to capture the Pat Duff Award for second place.
• Jim Jonas finishes his third and final tournament as an Atlanta resident by taking third place.

• Fending off two previous champions in the final round, Alisha Burke hangs on to win first place by 20 points. While Alisha's parents have both placed third in the tourney before, her victory is the first time any of the Guyton clan have won it outright.
• Joe Phillips (our 2000 champion) has a strong finish, but falls short, and takes the Pat Duff Award for second place.
• Pat Stagner (our 1999 champion) slips to finish in third place.

• "Grandmother" Masel Smith passes away at age 87.