One of the closest heats of last week's Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast involved a round four match between Taj Burrow and Dane Reynolds. A controversial finish resulted in Burrow winning by less than a point. And Kelly Slater wasn't too happy about the judging that gave Burrow the win.

With time running out, Reynolds needed at score of 7.5 or better to beat Burrow. With just 20 seconds remaining, Reynolds dropped in on a right wedge that  appeared to close out on him. Amazing, Reynolds dropped in, turned a hard right, disappeared in the barrel, and came out unscathed.

“He was foam balling,” Benji Weatherly told Stab Magazine. “It looked like it closed out, he tried to doggy door it, then boom, there he was. In my books that was an 8.5 or 9.” Only the score didn't come even close. Five minutes after the heat ended, the judges revealed Reynold's score – a 6.67. And Kelly Slater was livid at the score the judges gave Dane.

“Those judges are fucking mad,” said Slater. Just a few moments later, Slater went further on the webcast. “I thought Dane's last wave was an 8.5 plus,” said Slater. “But sometimes they will give it to whoever they think won the heat overall.”

Part of the controversy surrounding the final score was the five minutes it took for the judges to score Dane's final wave. A video review system was introduced to the ASP a few years ago for the purpose of judges taking a second look at waves, or a first look if they missed it. The latter is what apparently happened, with the judges completely missing Dane's final, amazing ride.

The video crew hired by Quiksilver also missed the ride, and couldn't play it back for the judges in time. As a result, the judges spent five deliberating over a ride none of them actually saw. How or why they gave Dane Reynolds a 6.67, and thus giving Taj Burrow the win, remains a mystery.

Even head judge Perry Hatchett was upset over what happened, even going so far as to criticize his own judging panel. “I made a few comments and said it was better than Taj's 7.17,” said Hatchett. “But I had nothing to back it up with. I'm not sure what the Quiksilver web guys were doing. They didn't have a web feed for us at all, which was pretty sad. They didn't get Reynolds' 9.5 either.”

Whether the fault lies in the hands of the judges or Quiksilver, it's a shame that Dane Reynolds was robbed of a victory. And you know there was injustice when the even-keeled Reynolds was visibly upset. “That was the best barrel that came through all day,” said Reynolds.