Ocean Grove surfer Josh Johnson-Baxter has claimed the opening round of a TOLL Victorian Open Series at Gunnamatta.
The 27-year-old won his first open state round with a mixing of progressive and power manoeuvres in challenging one to 1.5m waves on Saturday.
“I’m just really stoked. It has taken a fair few years to get a win in an open state round, but I finally made it,” Johnson-Baxter said.
“It was a good day. Everyone was ripping, it was really hard to get through most heats.”
The open men’s final feature multiple high-scoring rides for an exciting climate to the event. Runner-up Carl Wright, of Phillip Island, finished .4 of a point behind Johnson-Baxter.
Flinders’ Georgia Fish, a World Surf League qualifying series competitor, won the open women’s division from runner-up, Jemima Hutchings from Barwon Heads, and Jan Juc pair Rebecca Morgan and Ella Sweeney in third and fourth respectively.
The series’ next round is at Phillip Island in February before concluding at Bells Beach in September.
