SURFING : SURF BOUT IV AT LOWER TRESTLES : Booth Takes Time Off World Tour for a Local Victory, Then Apologizes

After winning the $50,000 Body Glove Surf Bout IV Sunday, Laguna Beach’s Jeff Booth accepted his $20,200 check and offered an apology to the crowd at Lower Trestles.

“I’m feeling a bit guilty right now,” he said.

With the victory, Booth, a regular on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ world tour, became the first surfer to win two events on the California-based Professional Surfing Assn. of America tour. He was the only one of 10 world-tour competitors to reach the four-man finals Sunday.

“I feel guilty because I’ve won so much money on the tour this year,” said Booth, who won a PSAA contest in Oceanside in June. “Being on the ASP, then coming to California, it’s sort of like I came into town and Robin-Hooded the other guys.”

It was hardly a case of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Booth’s victory pushed his PSAA earnings to $26,000, the highest on the tour.

“I think this was the most competitive contest in PSAA history,” Booth said. “Having guys like Richie Collins, Derek Ho and Brad Gerlach here made it a tough contest. And the local guys were laying down the law, too.”

But the final was somewhat anticlimactic.

Booth, who won the 1988 Surf Bout, caught five waves early in the heat and easily held off runner-up Todd Chesser of Honolulu.

Trestles, which usually features glassy, four- to six-foot conditions, turned into a lake in the finals. Booth, who was scored on five of the six waves he caught, was the only competitor to catch a wave in the final 16 minutes of the 40-minute heat.

“My strategy going in was to catch a wave every eight minutes,” Booth said. “But everyone else jumped out quickly, so I figured I had better stay up to par.

“My last wave helped me because it knocked out one of my lower scores. When I took off on it, I thought it might have been a mistake.”

Chesser earned $5,100 for second place, Vince De La Pena of Laguna Niguel won $3,450 for placing third and Santa Barbara’s Chris Brown received $1,450 for fourth.

The PSAA point leaders were eliminated in the quarterfinals Sunday morning. Leader Mike Parsons of San Clemente was knocked out along with San Clemente’s Matt Archbold and Dino Andino and Terence McNulty of Capistrano Beach. Parsons, however, maintains his top ranking.

Ben Severson of Kalaheo, Hawaii, earned his fourth victory of the season in the bodyboarding division. Severson, who won $1,450, edged Kyle Maligro ($850) and Chris Tennberg ($450) of Kalaheo, Hawaii, and Tim Ross ($250) of Cypress.

Notes

The next stop on the tour is Atlantic City, N.J., Sept. 24-29, followed by Sebastian Inlet, Fla., Oct. 2-6.