Smirnoff World Pro-Am Surfing Championships
Former 1968 world champion surfer Fred Hemmings, began his career as an event promoter in 1969 and ran the Smirnoff World Pro-Am Surfing Championships between 1969 and 1977. Originally held at Santa Cruz, California, later events were held at various locations in Hawaii.
Due to the International Surfing Federation being unable to establish a format or sponsorship, no official amateur championships were held between 1973 and 1975, so The Smirnoff World Pro-Am became known by some as a de facto professional World Championship. Laura Lee Ching became the first woman to compete in the Hawaiian Smirnoff World Pro-Am contests in 1973.
| Year | Men's | Women's |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Corky Carroll (USA) | Margo Godfrey (USA) |
| 1970* | Nat Young (AUS) | |
| 1971 | Gavin Rudolph (RSA) | |
| 1972* | Paul Neilsen (AUS) | |
| 1973 | Ian Cairns (AUS) | |
| 1974 | Reno Abellira (USA) | |
| 1975 | Mark Richards (AUS) | |
| 1976** | Mark Warren (AUS) | Jericho Poppler (USA) |
| 1977** | Reno Abellira (USA) | Jericho Poppler (USA) |
The Smirnoff World Pro-Am Surfing Championships were superseded by the International Professional Surfers (IPS) in 1976.
- *ISA world surfing champions were Rolf Aurness in 1970 and Jimmy Blears in 1972.
- **IPS (later ASP/WSL) world surfing champions were Peter Townend in 1976 and Shaun Tomson / Margo Oberg (Godfrey) in 1977.