Fifty years at the Pier began in 1959, when the West Coast Surfing Championships (WCSC) became the biggest surfing event in the country - if not the world. HB local Jack Haley won the first event while the legendary Linda Benson took women's. This was the beginning of a long tradition of competitive drama along the 300-yard stretch known as the "South Side."
With interest on the rapid rise, the WCSC transformed into the United States Surfing Championships in 1964. Jim Craig and Linda Benson (again!) won that year, as the USSC remained the marquis surfing event of the summer. There were no professional contests at this time, so the event showcased the best talent the U.S. had to offer. During perhaps the most memorable USSC moment of the 1960s, David Nuuhiwa blew minds during the Junior final with his baffling nose ride clocked at 21 seconds. The ride today remains one of the most talked-about rides in US Open history.

The event became a victim of the culture in the 1970s, shutting down and vacating the premises during surfing’s decisively “anti-contest” decade. Advocates of the US Open call this period the “Dark Ages.”

The sun burst through again brighter than ever in 1982, when clothing brand Ocean Pacific founded the Op Pro. It fit the times perfectly, with its fluorescent colors, huge crowds, bikini contests and top surfers battling it out just yards from the masses. That first event’s final, won by Cheyne Horan with a backside 360 next to the Pier, soon became an event legend.

The legendary stories continued through the ’80s, with game-changing performances from surfers like Tom Curren, Mark Occhilupo, Tom Carroll, Richie Collins, Damien Hardman, Brad Gerlach, Sunny Garcia and Barton Lynch. While the performances in the water were undeniably five-star, the viability of the event on land came into question in 1986 when beach riot broke out.

The Op Pro never fully recovered after the riots, but that left the door open for even grander ideas in the future. The idea that made it —creating a US Open in the tradition of golf or tennis for surfing, couldn’t have been a better call for HB. Founded in 1994, the US Open of Surfing became the ultimate stop for a “stadium-style” surf competition. Fifteen years later, the US Open of Surfing still thrives as one of the most watched surf events every year. The US Open is to surfing what Augusta is to golf or Flushing Meadows is to tennis. It’s that big, and the world’s best surfers flock to it every year to prove their worth not only to the fans, but to themselves. Because if you can’t make it at Huntington, chances are you’re not going to make it.

July 18-26, 2009
View the LIVE webcast July 23-26 at http://www.usopenofsurfing.com/