Two-Foot Lowers Is Still High-Quality Entertainment

And finally, finally the Hurley Lowers Pro (men’s edition) got its start.

Five days of northwest windswell plagued the Lowers lineup, turning (would-be) split-peak walls into a short, mushy, beachbreak over cobble. But today, by virtue of calm trades and a newly approaching south swell, the waves went from D- to C+ and for that we are thankful. Let’s discuss the nitty and the gritty from day one.

The turf
Technically part of San Diego county, Trestles is a decidedly Orange County locale. This can be discerned through the locals’ transportation of choice (motorized bicycles), the Lowers surfboard of choice (the …Lost fun shape of the week), and the spot’s foremost local celebrity (Kolohe Andino (though Chris Ward remains a close second)). 

The surf
Two-to-three foot, soft and disjointed. With hardly a walled-up wave in sight, most keepers were bagged with one big turn pump pump pump, two big turn pump pump pump, finish. A few outliers include: Jordy, John, Frederico, and Seabass, all of whom made chop-suey of right-hand walls en route to victory.

Filipe’s controlled flight

Heading into the backend of his round one heat, Filipe found himself in need of a near-excellent score. Taking an inside runner without priority, Filipe sped down the line and launched into one of his signature full rota– wait, what? A straight air? Landed in the transition and linked with a searing turn (and another and another)? This 9.4 was an act of competitive brilliance. Filipe — who is infinitely aware of his ability to garner big scores with one maneuver, but also a brilliant tactician — saw more points in a controlled flight followed by a series of turns rather one hail mary (can we even call it a ‘hail mary’ if his make rate is 90%?). This act proves that not only is Filipe physically peerless, but he’s getting smarter by the day — a fact that should petrify anyone remaining in this event.

Wilko gets exposed, Hiroto defeats Goliath
So I’ve got Evan G. on my Fantasy team, and I must say, when I saw he’d drawn Wilko in round two, I was damn near ecstatic. In three-foot, jumbled, split-peak surf, Evan is a straight-up better surfer than Wilko. Maybe it’s the Florida thing, maybe it’s the air thing, or maybe it’s the fact that Evan has superior fundamentals in anything that’s not a right-hand point, but either way I knew Wilko would be exposed by Evan’s speed and technical brilliance. Once Wilko realized the long, strong right wasn’t coming, he resorted to last(fin)-ditch efforts that looked flimsy and junioresque, so he lost.

In the same vein, Hiroto used his impeccable form (that bottom turn!) and diminutive stature to blitz a long, lanky Owen, whose backhand surfing has become metronomically boring. 

Josh Kerr refuses to lose (and for good reason)
I’ve been trying to get an interview with Josh for a month now. The topic? His inexplicably dismal 2017 season. Some of my texts have been answered with “not today’s” and “how about next week’s”, but others, well, let’s just say the thread is a lot more blue than white. So is Josh dodging my ego-deflating questions, or is he really just that busy? Maybe, just maybe, it’s a stalling technique… If I just wait long enough, he might be thinking, I’ll start winning again, in which case the story will no longer hold any value! Or maybe he’s just busy.

Josh had a big W in round two (that carving 3!), but I still want my interview.

Parko’s demise
Can we have a moment of silence for the surfer that was once Joel Parkinson? I would say Joel is a shell of his former self, but to be perfectly frank, today’s version of JP retained no structural resemblance to the Parko of yore. After two less-than-ten-point performances at the world’s most rippable wave, Joel is but a kernel of his former self.

But, really, who gives a fuck? He’s got a title, he’s positively influenced a generation, and most importantly, he’s (likely) escaping the circus with one of those “lifetime” Billabong contracts. It’s all gravy!

Hurley Pro Round One Results:

Heat 1: Adriano de Souza 14.50, Miguel Pupo 9.67, Wiggolly Dantas 6.90
Heat 2: Julian Wilson 13.27, Caio Ibelli 10.90, Jadson Andre 10.84
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores 14.40, Owen Wright 12.63, Josh Kerr 11.17
Heat 4: Bede Durbidge 13.43, Matt Wilkinson 10.20, Ethan Ewing 6.33
Heat 5: John John Florence 16.07, Italo Ferreira 15.90, Hiroto Ohhara 12.40
Heat 6: Jordy Smith 13.23, Ian Gouveia 10.70, Evan Geiselman 9.76
Heat 7: Gabriel Medina 13.67, Nat Young 13.03, Adrian Buchan 9.30
Heat 8: Conner Coffin 14.67, Stu Kennedy 6.67, Joel Parkinson 4.66
Heat 9: Filipe Toledo 17.60, Leonardo Fioravanti 15.86, Joan Duru 14.07
Heat 10: Sebastian Zietz 16.83, Connor O’Leary 9.26, Kanoa Igarashi 7.90
Heat 11: Frederico Morais 14.90, Jack Freestone 12.34, Kolohe Andino 8.13
Heat 12: Mick Fanning 14.10, Ezekiel Lau 13.43, Michel Bourez 13.00

Hurley Pro Round 2 (Heats 1 – 4) Results:
Heat 1: Evan Geiselman 15.50 def. Matt Wilkinson 12.96
Heat 2: Hiroto Ohhara 15.73 def. Owen Wright 15.43
Heat 3: Ethan Ewing 11.03 def. Joel Parkinson 9.07
Heat 4: Josh Kerr 16.50 def. Connor O’Leary 13.00
 
Hurley Pro Remaining Round 2 (Heats 5 – 12) Match-Ups:

Heat 5: Kolohe Andino vs. Jadson Andre 
Heat 6: Michel Bourez vs. Miguel Pupo
Heat 7: Joan Duru vs. Nat Young 
Heat 8: Adrian Buchan vs. Stuart Kennedy
Heat 9: Wiggolly Dantas vs. Leonardo Fioravanti
Heat 10: Caio Ibelli vs. Kanoa Igarashi 
Heat 11: Italo Ferreira vs. Jack Freestone 
Heat 12: Ian Gouveia vs. Ezekiel Lau