Each year, Huntington Beach lives up to its “Surf City” nickname when the big U.S. Open of Surfing comes to town.
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Drawing top surfing talent from all over the world, it is one of the largest and most attended surfing events around. During the nine-day competition, there are a number of side events that take place, one of which is the yearly induction ceremony for the Surfers’ Hall of Fame.
This has always been one of my favorite happenings to attend, and I always recommend it to anybody who has an interest in surfing and might be anywhere in the area. It’s free, and it is one place where tons of surf legends, top names and cool people from the surf industry are gathered up close and personal. You can walk right up to people such as Kelly Slater or Gerry Lopez and say, “Hello, what’s up, dude?” It’s all good.
This year’s SHOF ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. July 31. It is held in the plaza on the corner of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, directly in front of Huntington Surf & Sport and across the street from Dukes Restaurant and the pier.
Two local surfers got the nod for induction this year: the amazing Courtney Conlogue and well-known O.C. coolster, Jay Larson. Even though many local surfers have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, this will be the first time that Orange County surfers have totally dominated the honorees’ list. I will tell you all about Jay Larson in a following column. Today, I wanna tell you about Courtney Conlogue.
This is a great choice; Courtney is a fantastic surfer and human being. She richly deserves the honor. She was born in Santa Ana and grew up in the Huntington Beach area. Her surfing began at only 4 years of age, and she was full-on competing by the time she was 9. By any standards, this is a very young start.
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She made the United States Junior Surf Team at age 11 and would go on to claim a slew of National Scholastic Surfing Association titles. Courtney took the gold in both the individual and team events at the 2009 International Surfing Association World Surfing Games. And that very same year, she won the U.S. Open of Surfing for the first time.
Conlogue competed on the World Championship tour for more than 10 years, taking home 13 wins. Her top rating was No. 2 in both 2016 and 2018. Not only is she a top surfer, but she’s also a noted paddleboard racer, having raced on the winning team at the Molokai to Oahu World Paddleboard Championships in 2023. Now in her early 30s, Courtney is still charging the waves not only locally but around the world and is a beloved member of the Orange County surfing community.
Courtney Conlogue joins an elite list of legendary female surfers who have been honored by induction into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame. This list includes the likes of superstars such as Linda Benson, Joyce Hoffman, Margo Godfrey Oberg, Freida Zamba, Lisa Anderson, Bethany Hamilton, Stephanie Gilmore, Sharon Webber, Candy Calhoun, Marge Calhoun, Layne Beachley, Rell Sun and the forever outrageous and wonderful Jericho Poppler.
As I mentioned earlier, I highly recommend making it out to be a part of this ceremony. You might want to get there early as it’s a small area and you will want to score a good vantage spot. Also, put on some sunblock and maybe bring a hat. It’s outside and in summer. Maybe I will see ya there — you never know.