EXCERPT from the SUNDAY JOINT
EXCERPT from the SUNDAY JOINT Seventeen-year-old Pam Burridge lost the 1983 world title to Debbie Beacham by a mere 40 points, and I’m not totally sure, but that may be the closest finish in pro tour history, male or female. A year after that, near the end, just as Pam pulled down a big win at Cronulla, the final two women’s events of the year were suddenly dropped from the schedule—leaving Pam stuck at #3 for the year, without a major sponsor, and just pretty much sick of the whole thing. Which brings us to 1984. Burridge does not mince words when talking about how burned out she was. “I was very anti-surfing at that stage of my life,” she recalled. “I didn’t want to be called a surfer.” In another interview, Pam said she “hated everything about surfing except surfing.” This was the beginning of her short but intense King’s Cross nightclub period, which may not have been as hard rocking and alcohol-soaked as legend would have it, but was nonetheless—and very much intentionally—well re...