GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND (Wednesday 28 September, 2022) – The Australian Open of Surfing (AOS) Tour is set to return to the Sunshine Coast on Saturday 1 October. This year the AOS Tour will have an exciting new look and much more at stake for some of Australia’s elite open surfers.
The AOS Sunshine Coast Open Qualifier Two, presented by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will inaugurate a single-wave format, where surfers’ final heat placing will be made up of their best one wave, rather than the traditional two-wave total.
Not only will the tour implement a new format, the 2022 tour has seen a significant increase in prize money, with $50,000 equal prize money up for grabs across the three event series.
Surfing Queensland Chief Executive Officer, Adam Yates said the AOS is a great opportunity for athletes looking to qualify for the Championship Tour (CT) and win decent prize money to help fund their qualifying efforts and progress their competitive surfing.
“Surfing Queensland is proud of the new look for the 2022 AOS tour,” said Yates. “This single wave format will push the boundaries of progressive surfing in a competition setting, with competitors only requiring one score compared to the traditional two-wave format. Allowing athletes to focus on wave selection and make sure their waves have a ‘wow’ factor to get an excellent score. The huge prize money is not only an incentive for the athletes to push their surfing but a great opportunity for professional and aspiring surfers to earn some decent cash to fund their careers in the sport.”
The AOS tour includes two qualifying events, The Bonsoy Coffs Harbour Open (completed) and the Sunshine Coast Open, with the top qualifiers from the two events invited to compete at the Bondi Grand Final, to be held at Bondi Beach, Saturday 15 October.
Fresh off a win at the Coffs Harbour Open, Cooper Davies (Noosa) is fired up for the Sunshine Coast Open and looking to go back-to-back.
“It’s definitely left me with a nice confidence boost going into this weekend’s event, especially with the event being so close to home,”said Davies. “I really enjoyed the single-wave format at Coffs. It makes things really exciting and it’s cool that you’re always in the mix because all it takes is one wave to turn the heat around. The prize money is also a huge incentive – making a career in this sport is not cheap with all the travel involved so it will certainly help me on my quest to qualify in 2023.”
The prize pool for the AOS Tour is $50,000, which includes $10,000 equal prize money for the men’s and women’s winners at each qualifier and then $15,000 equal prize money for the men’s and women’s winners at the Bondi Grand Final.
The 2022 Australian Open of Surfing Tour, presented by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is proudly supported by Gage Roads, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Mad Mex.
In addition to a larger prize purse, thanks to Mad Mex, the Australian Open of Surfing Tour will be webcast live through the Australian Open of Surfing Facebook.
Surfing Queensland would also like to thank the Sunshine Coast Council, The Point Coolum, QMS Media, We Are Feel Good Inc and Queensland Government for their support.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Australian Open of Surfing Tour, presented by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
Qualifier One
Bonsoy Coffs Harbour Open, presented by Gage Roads 24 – 25 September 2022
Register via https://surfingnsw.com.au/events/
Prize Money Breakdown: Equal Men and Women
1st Place $2,000.00
2nd Place $1,500.00
3rd Place $1,000.00
4th Place $500.00
Qualifier Two
Sunshine Coast Open, 1 October 2022
Prize Money Breakdown: Equal Men and Women
1st Place $2,000.00
2nd Place $1,500.00
3rd Place $1,000.00
4th Place $500.00
Grand Final
Surfboard Empire Bondi Grand Final Open, 15 October 2022
Prize Money Breakdown: Equal Men and Women
1st Place $10,000.00
2nd Place $1,000.00
3rd Place $750.00
4th Place $500.00
$250 for all Grand Final competitors who do not place
Media Contact
Lucy Callister | Media and Communications Manager | 0468 430 759 | comms@surfingqueensland.com.au
