San Clemente’s Patrick Gudauskas is still in the hunt at the Billabong Pro and moving to the quarterfinals, after winning his heat against Damien Hobgood.
Gudauskas pulled an early 9.07 on the scoreboard, then was able to back it up with a 7.83 as a solid barrel came through. Waves are in the 2-to-3 foot range.
“I’m stoked,” he said in a post heat interview on the webcast. “I got lucky to get those waves.”
He also had a bit of help from Damien, who he ended up taking out. He’s been staying with the Hobgood brothers, and they’ve been helping the rookies on tour read the waves and giving them tips on how to surf them.
“I say thanks to those guys – even though Damien might be kicking himself,” he said.
Gudauskas threw a Rodeo flip two days ago to advance, making history for being the first surfer to pull that move during competition.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ASP
“For the conditions, I felt stoked to throw that. It’s a spectator sport, you want to get people excited,” he said.
The San Clemente surfer is the sole surfer left who was threatened by a mid-year cut, but make it through and now advances to the quaterfinals.
The quarterfinals are underway now, with Damien’s brother CJ up against Tiago Pires. Heat 2 will see Fredrick Patacchia against Jeremy Flores, followed by Kelly Slater against Australia’s Adrian Buchan. The last heat of the quarterfinals will see Andy Irons up against Gudauskas.
O.C. surfer moves to quarterfinals at Billabong Pro is a post from: OC Beach Blog
