Pismo Beach Open surf contest back for another year. This time there's a women's division

The World Surf League is coming back to San Luis Obispo County in 2018 with the return of the WSL Pismo Beach Open.

Event organizer Andy McKay confirmed Thursday the event will take place Oct. 11-14.

This year, the Qualifying Series 1,000 event will feature both a men's and a women's division after an all-male field participated in the inaugural event last year. The event will also be four days instead of three like last year.

McKay said it doesn't appear the Pismo Beach pier will be open in time for the contest, but added he expects the event to be better than last year.

"We learned a lot last year about what works and what doesn't," McKay said.

Ventura surfer Cory Arrambide scored his first QS tour win when he defeated Ian Gentil in the final heat last year.

According to McKay, last year's event drew hundreds of spectators to the beach and around 40,000 viewers to the live webcast.

McKay said he is still working to bring another WSL QS event to Morro Bay in 2019, but nothing has been finalized.

This story was originally published April 26, 2018 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Pismo Beach Open surf contest back for another year. This time there's a women's division."