SURFING SALT CREEK BEACH PRO-AM : Robinson Patiently Waits for Perfect Wave, Gets Perfect Scores

With six years of experience on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals world tour, Ted Robinson knows when to wait for just the right wave.

And Friday at Salt Creek Beach, he waited . . . and waited . . . and waited.

But Robinson’s chance finally came. He scored two perfect 10s and three 9.5s on a three-foot wave with eight minutes left to hold on for a win in his fourth-round heat at the Laguna Sportswear pro-am.

“I really had to take anything I could get and I was hoping for the best,” said Robinson, 26, of Manhattan Beach. “I had to grab what I could. It paid off to be patient, I guess.

“I was behind at first and I knew I had to do something. It was a real treat to get one that big.”

Under most circumstances, a three-foot wave isn’t considered big. But surfers have struggled with one- and two-foot waves all week at Salt Creek.

“This is a real challenge,” said Robinson, who has competed on 25- to 30-foot waves in Hawaii. “It’s so hard to stay in tune with the small waves.”

Others in the heat weren’t quite as fortunate. Robinson easily held off second-place finisher Ryan Keenan of Huntington Beach, who also advanced to today’s first round of the main event. Dwayne Maki of Daytona, Fla., was third and Christian Fletcher of San Clemente was fourth.

“These young guys come out here and have nothing to lose against me,” Robinson said. “Everyone’s dogging each other out there. We’re not nice to each other at all, at least not in the water.”

Robinson is ranked 32nd overall on the ASP world tour, with his best finish being a ninth at Narrabeen, Australia, in April. He competes in Professional Surfing Assn. of America events such as the one at Salt Creek during breaks on the world tour.

“The best is yet to come,” said Robinson, whose best finish on the PSAA tour is a third at Imperial Beach in June. “I want to win one of these badly, and I won’t stop surfing them until I do.”

He just has to be patient, though.

Dial a surfer: Oakland slugger Jose Canseco soon will have some competition on the 900 toll telephone number market.

Robinson and two Manhattan Beach pals have set up a 900 telephone number for fans who want to listen to top pro surfers on the ASP world tour.

“The kids can call in and punch in a code to pick the surfer they want to listen to,” Robinson said. “If they want to listen to Martin Potter talk about floater (maneuvers), they’ll dial one number. If they want to hear Derek Ho talk about surfing Pipeline, they punch in another number.”

Robinson will tape the interviews for the 1-900-PRO-SURF line, which begins operation Aug. 20.

Several Orange County surfers were eliminated in Friday’s fourth round, including Mike deNicola of Mission Viejo, Laka Burgess of Huntington Beach, Kasey Curtis of San Juan Capistrano, Joey Zintel of Huntington Beach, Scott Desidero of El Toro, Christian Fletcher of San Clemente, Matt Coleman of Dana Point, Kirk Tice of Huntington Beach, Darren Brilhart of Costa Mesa and Donavon Frankenreither of Mission Viejo.

Chuy Reyna of Oceanside continues to be the hottest surfer in the trials, winning his fourth consecutive heat Friday. Reyna edged Brock Little, one of the top big-wave riders in Hawaii, in their heat.

Surfing Notes

Competition resumes at 7 a.m. today with the main event first round of the surfing competition. The bodyboarding main event starts at 12:40 p.m., followed by the second round of surfing at 3:30 p.m.

Those scheduled to compete in the surfing event include Colby Outlaw of Huntington Beach, Pat O’Connell of Laguna Niguel, current points leader Charlie Kuhn of Indian Harbor, Fla., three-time U.S. champion Mike Lambresi of Oceanside, and Dino Andino, Shane Beschen and defending champion Jim Hogan, all of San Clemente. Bodyboarders scheduled to compete include three-time U.S. champion Mike Stewart, a native of Anaheim now living in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and Ben Severson of Wahiawa, Hawaii.

Results

Round 4

(Top two advance to today’s main event round one)

Heat 1--Matt Archbold (San Clemente), Kaipo Guerrero (Laguna Niguel). Heat 2--Chuy Reyna (Oceanside), Brock Little (Haleiwa, Hawaii). Heat 3--Kelly Gibson (Hermosa Beach), John Sawvell (Oxnard). Heat 4--Chris Frohoff (Redondo Beach), Taylor Knox (Carlsbad). Heat 5--Rick Irons (Ocean Beach), Craig Bechtloff (Huntington Beach). Heat 6-- Todd Jacobs (Manhattan Beach), Mike Cruickshank (Costa Mesa). Heat 7--Hans Hagen (Laguna Beach), Kasey Curtis was disqualified, won’t advance. Heat 8--Chris Billy (Dana Point), Josh Mulcoy (Santa Cruz). Heat 9--David Eggers (San Diego), David Giddings (Corona del Mar). Heat 10--Sean Yano (Kaneohe, Hawaii), Shane Stoneman (San Juan Capistrano). Heat 11--Adam Replogle (Soquel), Ross Williams (Haleiwa, Hawaii). Heat 12--Ted Robinson (Manhattan Beach), Ryan Keenan (Huntington Beach). Heat 13--Darren Tatsuno (Honolulu), Juan Ashton (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico). Heat 14--Rainos Hayes (Sunset Beach, Hawaii), Scott Farnsworth (Huntington Beach). Heat 15--Michael Ho (Waimanalo, Hawaii), Ty Cukr (El Segundo). Heat 16--Chris Wells (Manhattan Beach), Rick Schaffer (Woodland Hills).

Bodyboarding

Round 1

(Top two advance to today’s main event round one)

Heat 1--J.P. Patterson (El Toro), Kainoa McGee (Honolulu). Heat 2--Curtis Payan, Kevin Baker (San Clemente). Heat 3--Jim O’Connell, Stephanie Pettersen (Haleiwa, Hawaii). Heat 4--Henry Long (Dana Point), Hiromi Ogawa (Huntington Beach). Heat 5--Terry McCord (Huntington Beach), Cameron Steele (San Clemente). Heat 6--Chris Tennberg (Kalaheo, Hawaii), Mike Libudziewski. Heat 7--Heath Erickson (Arroyo Grande), Paul Roach (Encinitas). Heat 8--Joey Vieira (Haleiwa, Hawaii), Greg Doss (South Laguna).