MACAULEYS BEACH, COFFS HARBOUR (SATURDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2022): The inaugural 2022 Bonsoy Coffs Harbour Open, presented by Gage Roads – The first qualifier event on the Australian Open of Surfing Tour. presented by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles – got underway in at Macauleys Beach, Coffs Harbour, with punchy 3 to 4 foot conditions on offer for the opening rounds of competition.
Today kicked off an exciting new single-wave format, where surfers’ final heat placing will be made up of their best one wave, rather than the traditional two-wave total. Proving no challenge for surfer Cooper Davies as he dominated both first and second round heats posting near excellent scores in both (7.83 & 9.67). Davies, residing in Noosa Heads, brought his A game today and embraced the clean left hand waves on offer. Davies had a great start to the year finishing 2nd at the C A R V E Great Lakes Pro QS1,000 and taking a 5th at the Mad Mex Maroubra Pro QS1,000. He seems to be in great form coming into finals day Sunday.
Dom Thomas (Swansea Heads, NSW) was another stand out competitor who brought his energy to Macauleys today. His round 1 heat had plenty of waves as he tried to find his groove in the new 1 wave format however it was his 6th wave of 8.17 that solidified the win. Thomas went through to win the final heat of the day putting him straight through to round 3.
The super heat of the day was round 2 heat 3 with Joshua Stretton (Anna Bay, NSW) matching up against Jamie Thompson (North Narrabeen, NSW). Stretton took a while to find his feet however secured a good range score in the later part of the heat. The pair went wave for wave however it was Thompson who locked in a 7 point ride and took out the heat. Thompson is coming off the back of a good run where he won the Krui Pro Junior JQS1,000 back in June.
Wave of the day was from none other than the local Sawtell surfer Rosie Smart. Smart has been a stand out performer over the last few years and went into the excellent range posting a 9.83 in her round 1 heat. Two judges gave it the desired perfect score of 10 points however it was not unanimous across the panel. Smart even managed to score a 7.27 on her 4th wave which would have also won the heat for her.
Smart will go up against fellow local Carly Shannahan (Wooli, NSW) and Coolangatta’s Raya Campbell in tomorrow’s round 2 clash.
The entire Australian Open of Surfing Tour features two qualifying events that will provide aspiring QS and world tour surfers with the opportunity to win a share in a $50,000 prize pool and gain momentum going into 2023.
Each event in NSW will see a total $10,000 prize purse with $2,000 going to the winner of the Men’s and Women’s divisions.
In addition to a larger prize purse, all events on the Australian Open of Surfing Tour, presented by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will be streamed live on Surfing NSW and Mad Mex Facebook Page. Tune in daily to catch all the action.
The Coffs Harbour NSW Open is proudly supported by Bonsoy, Gage Roads, Volkswagen, Mad Mex, Coffs harbour Council & Coopers Surf
The 2022 Australian Open of Surfing series will see events in:
– Qualifying event 1. Bonsoy Coffs Harbour Open Presented by Gage Road, 24th-25th September 2022.
– Qualifying event 2. Sunshine Coast Open, 1st of October 2022.
– Grand Final. Bondi Beach Open, 15th October 2022
View Day 1 photo The Australian Open of Surfing Bonsoy Coffs Harbour Open Presented by Gage Road
