The 2020 Port Macquarie Open got underway in Town Beach today with an elite field of surfers putting on a show in two-foot waves.
Oscar Berry (Palm Beach, Qld) claimed a scalp for the Queenslanders taking a win ahead of recent Volkswagen Cronulla Open champion Kalani Ball (Stanwell Park, NSW). Berry found a handful of long righthanders in the heat to nail an array of powerful forehand snaps and carves to finish the heat with a decent 15.27 two-wave heat total and get the win ahead of Ball by a 0.37 margin.
After a second-place finish at the recent Gold Coast Pro, Chris Zaffis (Angourie, NSW) appeared to carry a similar momentum into his first-round heat at Port Macquarie nailing a massive 16.50 heat total. Zaffis hammered a series of sections in the heat to post the aforementioned total and leave his closest rivals chasing two-wave combinations of scores to take away his lead.
Sheldon Simkus (Tweed Heads, NSW) and Cooper Chapman (Narrabeen, NSW) both showed why they were two of the top seeds powering through a handful of beautiful and powerful snaps. Both surfers finished the heat with heat totals in excess of 15.00.
Molly Picklum (Shelly Beach, NSW) and Rosie Smart (Sawtell, NSW) both made their presence felt in the second round of the women’s division as both surfers posted near-perfect wave scores in excess of 9.00. The heat wound up with Picklum gaining the win in the heat ahead of Smart. Both surfers will meet again in tomorrow’s semi-finals.
Freya Prumm (Merimbula), Bodhi Leigh-Jones (Avalon) and Sasha Baker (Sunshine Coast, Qld) all surfed solid heats, taking wins in their respective quarterfinals and booked their position into tomorrow’s semis.
The key locations for the Port Macquarie Open are Town Beach and Lighthouse Beach with backup locations of Flynns Beach, North Haven and Bonny Hills.
All competitors are advised to ring the event hotline (0458 247 212) by 6.45am on the days of competition to confirm location and running order.
Each event in NSW will see a total $7000 prize purse with $1500 going to the winner of the Men’s and Women’s divisions.
In addition to a larger prize purse, all events on the series will be webcast live through surfingnsw.com.au and the Surfing NSW Facebook.
This event in Port Macquarie will be the first Surfing NSW event hosted here in close to five years.
The 2020 Australian Open of Surfing Tour will see events in:
Sunshine Coast, Qld – 19th – 20th September 2020
Gold Coast, Qld – 31st October – 1st November 2020
Cronulla – 8th – 9th November 2020
Port Macquarie – 14th – 15th November 2020
Kiama – 22nd – 23rd November 2020
Coffs Harbour – 29th – 30th November 2020
Far South Coast Open – 5th – 6th December 2020
Northern Beaches – 13th – 14th December 2020
All events will adhere to strict COVID-19 policies and regulations outlined by the Australian Government and council protocols.
For more information, check out Surfing NSW webpage over the course of the event.
The 2020 Australian Open of Surfing NSW Series is proudly supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. The event is also supported by Destination Kiama, Coffs Harbour City Council, Sutherland Shire Council, Port Macquarie Hastings Council, Eurobodalla Shire Council and Northern Beaches Council.
