After topping his opening heat, Kehu Butler (Ngāi Te Rangi) has been knocked out at the second stage of the US Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach in California on Wednesday (local time).
He finishes in 33rd place, from a field of 96 surfers in the WSL men’s challenger series.
Butler got off to a flying start, winning his first-up Round of 96 heat with best waves of 8.17 (out of a possible 10) and 5.30 for a heat total of 13.47 points.
He progressed to the Round of 48, along with second-placed Kolohe Andino of the United States (12.86) who is ranked no. 18 on the championship tour.
But it is there that the Kiwi came unstuck, unable to improve on waves of 5.03 and 4.37 and finishing bottom of his Round of 48 heat with 9.40 points, behind heat winner Hawaii’s Imaikalani deVault (10.0).
Butler will next compete in Portugal in October.