Smith, Col (Newcastle) (1956 – 1987)

Hard-charging Australian goofyfooter from Newcastle, New South Wales, described by two-time Pipeline Masters winner Rory Russell in 1977 as the "most underrated surfer in the world." Smith was born (1956) in Newcastle, the son of a commercial fisherman, raised in nearby Redhead, and began surfing at age eight. By 1969 he was winning local schoolboy events, and not long after that was vying for junior national titles with future Aussie stars Mark Richards and Peter McCabe. Frustrated with his ...