South Africa’s Matt McGillivray has powered his way through four rounds of world class competition in California to clinch victory in the Men’s Trials and earn the coveted wildcard into the QS10,000 Vans US Open of Surfing.
In his debut appearance in the Huntington Beach, Calfifornia event, the 20-year-old from Jeffreys Bay defeated Parker Coffin (US), Mexicos’s Jhonny Corzo and Flavio Nakagima of Brazil after opening strongly with a 7.50 to gain early control of the heat.
Despite lulls and challenging 1-1.5 metre conditions throughout the 30-minute final, McGillivray continued to post solid scores and increase his lead over the field.’
‘It’s incredible to win today. This is the first time I’ve tried to surf in this event and it’s one of the biggest in North America, so I’m just really happy to be in it,’ said McGillivray. ‘I tried to get a quick start and I managed to get that 7.50 early which took the pressure off and it left me the rest of the heat to just try to find another good score.’
McGillivray, currently ranked 142nd on the Qualifying Series leaderboard, will get his campaign underway at the Vans US Open of Surfing Men’s QS 10,000 in the first heat of the event.
This was McGillivray’s second victory on debut in a trials event, adding to his win in the QS6,000 Maitland and Port Stephens Toyota Pro in Australia in February last year. He also finished third, and the highest placed South African, in the trials for the QS10,000 Ballito Pro pres. by Billabong in June 2015.
Meanwhile, another top South African, Bianca Buitendag (Victoria Bay) finished ninth in the WSL Women’s QS6,000 Paul Mitchell Neon Supergirl Pro at Oceanside Beach in California.
Buitendag was eliminated by eventual winner Courtney Conlogue (US) in the first round of one-on-one competition, pocketing US $1,000 and 1,550 rankings points which saw the South African move 13 places up the rankings leaderboard to No26.
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Tanika Hoffman, the only other South African in the event touted as the largest for female professional surfers, finished equal 73rd overall and has slipped eight places on the rankings to No74.
Picture of McGillivray in California action courtesy of WSL/Morris