Baggies Surf Pro

3A rated ASP Africa Pro Surf Tour (PST) Pro Men and Pro Women event
Warner Beach, KZN Upper South Coast – South Africa
March 17, 18 & 19, 2006  

 “Patto” Beats Local Star at Baggies Surf Pro

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 20 March, 2006 : - - Dane “Patto” Patterson (Berea) defeated local hero Frankie Oberholzer (Warner Beach) to win the inaugural Baggies Surf Pro in Amanzimtoti. The 3A rated ASP Africa Pro Surf Tour (PST) contest was the first event on the 2006 pro surfing calendar and the first time a pro surfing event has been held in Amanzimtoti.    

Patterson didn't waste any time in the pro men’s final when he opened up with a strong 7.5-point ride. The entire final was closely contested with the lead changing hands numerous times between Patterson, Oberholzer and Warwick Wright (Durban).  

A great exchange of rides from all surfers marked the end of this nail-biting final, Patterson never lost focus and snatched victory on his last wave just one point ahead of Oberholzer who enjoyed the support from his home crowd. After winning his semi-final clash Ricky Basnett (Bluff) was forced to settle for fourth overall. 

“I only decided to enter the Baggies Surf Pro on Wednesday, so I lost my seeding and had to surf from round one all the way through to the final. It’s great to have an event at Amanzimtoti and we've had some fun waves throughout the weekend,” commented Patterson. 

Not only did Patterson win the event he was also handed the Zigzag Blowing Up Award for his outstanding, consistent performance and he was even more pleased about pocketing another R1, 000 which took his weekend’s earnings up to R7, 000. 

An upset occurred in the second women’s semi-final when Warner Beach’s Sarah Johnston-Maritz fell short by only 0.2-points of advancing to the final. 

In the pro women’s final the top seed Rosanne Hodge (East London) took control early on by posting two good scores (5.0 and 5.5). Stacey Guy (Melkbosstrand) came within striking distance, posting a 6.33 in the second half of the final but wasn’t able to back it up with another high scoring ride. With only 45 seconds left Guy took off on a promising looking wave; unfortunately for her she fell which left Hodge to catch her last wave with only seconds to go, posting a 6.67 and sealing victory.

“I'm really happy but also surprised that I won because everyone was getting waves in the final. The conditions were pretty hard with the wind picking up during the day, so it was tricky to find the right waves. Winning the Baggies Surf Pro is a great start to the year and a confidence booster for upcoming events,” said Hodge. 

Mike Varikas (Durban) won the Seabreeze Home and Builders Expression Session for boosting a spectacular massive air-reverse; he pocketed R2000 for the radical manoeuvre. 

The R30 000 Baggies Surf Pro was deemed to be a major success by event organizer Frank Horn who is looking forward to staging the contest again in 2007.  

2006 Baggies Surf Pro Results  

Men's final:
1. Dane Patterson (Durban)
2. Frankie Oberholtzer (Warner Beach)
3. Warwick Wright (Durban)
4. Ricky Basnett (Bluff)

Men’s semi-final one:
Dane Patterson (Dbn)
Warwick Wright (Dbn)
Antonio Bortoletto (Dbn)
Matthew Kruger (Queensburgh)  

Men’s semi-final two:
Ricky Basnett (Bluff)
Frankie Oberholzer (Warner Beach)
Gavin Roberts (Scottburgh)
Daniel Redman (Dbn)  

Women’s final:
1. Rosanne Hodge (East London)
2. Stacey Guy (Cape Town)
3. Penny Robarts (Somerset West)
4. Sacha Moller (Bluff) 

Women’s semi-final one:
Rosanne Hodge (EL)
Sacha Moller (Bluff)
Nikita Robb (EL)
Tasha Mentasti (Dbn) 

Women’s semi-final two:
Stacey Guy (Melkbosstrand)
Penny Robarts (Somerset West)
Sarah Johnston (Warner Beach)
Chantel Rautenbach (Melkbosstrand)

Amanzimtoti is situated on the Strelitzia coast and boasts two world class beach breaks next door to each other at Warner Beach; depending on the wind and swell direction event organisers will utilise the best spot on each of the three days. For more information on Amanzimtoti please visit www.amanzimtoti.info and to find out more about the city of Durban, South Africa’s playground go to www.durbansouthafrica.co.za   

The Baggies Surf Pro was made possible by Durban Africa, Ferox Investments - the developers of the Blue Bay Winkelspruit shopping complex, South Coast Motors, Sandcastle Guesthouse and the eThekwini Municipality.

Previous reports:
# 1 : Amanzimtoti proudly hosts Baggies Surf Pro PST event
# 2 : Shark sighting interrupts Baggies Surf Pro in Sth Africa
# 3 : Toti delivers good swell for the Baggies Surf Pro finals.

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Olivia Jones Communications
olivia@atomgate.com

Frank Horn
Baggies Surf Pro Event Organiser
frank@amanzimtoti.info

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