The highly anticipated Billabong Oz Grom Cup presented by SmoothStar kicked off in the early hours of this morning with offshore two to three foot conditions on offer from the groms. To kickstart this prestigious event, day one’s location at Gallows Beach allowed for perfect spectator watching, with two banks working all day.
As the day progressed, the northerly winds increased, cleaning up the faces and providing amplye opportunities for competitors to score. A total of 64 heats were run across the day with the Under 18’s and 14’s Male and Females and Under 14s Females Round One completed.
Eliza Richardson (Sunshine Beach, QLD), opened the Under 14 Females Round One Heat One with a massive heat total score of 16.34 putting the other competitors into a combination situation.
In the Under 16 Male Round One Heat One saw an epic battle between the Sydney Northern and Sutherland Shire Beach locals Kash Brown (Cronulla) and Ben Zanatta Creagh (Northern Beaches). Ben opened strong with a 6.50 and backed it right up with a 7.50. Soon after, Kash responded with an 8.67. The pair went wave for wave and it was Kash who took it out with a heat total of 15,.90 to Ben’s heat total of 14.00.
There was just as much action on the shore as there was in the water with the SmoothStar activation displaying their world class demo boards of which the winners of every division will walk away with once the final heats are completed this coming Wednesday.
Day two is expected to see similar conditions with ample waves on offer and another massive day of competition with the re-qualification rounds of all divisions will be decided.
This event would not have been made possible without the support of Billabong, SmoothStar, Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour City Council, Club Med, Coffs Harbour Boardriders, Coopers Surf Australia and the local Coffs Habour community.
