Collins Enjoys Day at the Beach

Richie Collins of Newport Beach hasn’t forgotten how to perform in Professional Surfing Assn. of America events.

Collins, who was contending for the PSAA overall title when he left two years ago to join the Assn. of Surfing Professionals World Tour, held off a challenge Thursday from Juan Ashton of Puerto Rico to take a close third-round heat in the $35,000 Del Taco/Naugles Surf tournament at San Clemente.

Collins, 20, who made a record seven consecutive PSAA finals before winning his first PSAA event at the Malibu Pro-Am in 1987, was second in the overall standings that year with two events remaining when he also joined the ASP World Tour.

“I’ve had to surf a lot harder since joining the ASP tour,” he said. “I learned a lot from the PSAA, but once I was advancing to the finals with regularity the way I was doing in 1987, I felt the need to surf against far stiffer competition, and the ASP provided just that, so after I won at Malibu, I left the PSAA to join the World Tour.”

Collins, who has traveled thousands of miles to compete in ASP events worldwide, hasn’t fared badly the past two years. Collins, who was 14th overall among World Tour competitors in 1988, is 19th in the ASP standings going into the Op Pro championships July 31 to Aug. 6 at Huntington Beach.

Collins won the only other PSAA event he has entered this year, May 21 at Santa Cruz.

Notes

Shane Beschen of San Clemente, the PSAA’s highest-rated amateur (he’s ranked 21st through four events) defeated highly regarded Mitch Thorsen of Australia in a third-round heat. In a second-round heat, Thorsen finished second to another amateur, Bob Baum of Corona del Mar. Baum, whose brother, Bill, advanced to today’s fourth round by winning the 15th third-round heat, was eliminated when he came in third in a third-round heat. . . . Other Orange County surfers who advanced to today’s fourth round were brothers Joe and Terrence McNulty of Capistrano Beach, Craig Melia of San Clemente, Gary Clisby of Huntington Beach, Mark Lindblad of San Clemente, Justin Cook of Irvine, Josh Palmateer of Costa Mesa, Scott Desiderio of El Toro, Dan Kennedy of San Clemente, Jason Houghey of Laguna Niguel, Bobby Lockhart of Huntington Beach and George Hulse of San Juan Capistrano.