Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club

First weekend of USPA La Martina Intra Circuit ends with a battle of the brothers 

 

 

The 2016 12 Goal Season at the Santa Barbara Polo Club culminates with the USPA Intra Circuit tournament which has been played at the Club for over 80 years. The six teams have proven to be evenly matched with a large percentage of the games being decided in the final chukker of play. As an added bonus, June gloom has left Santa Barbara early this year and the club has been drenched in sunshine with cloudless blue skies for the past week. The USPA La Martina Intra Circuit is off to a great start! 

 

Ivan Weiss joined for the final tournament of the summer taking Geoff Palmer’s place on the team now called Novis Insurance. Weiss comes to Santa Barbara from Slovakia and has been a great addition to the tournament.  The team took the lineup change in stride, swiftly defeating Film Finances in their first match on Friday. Novis Insurance now faces Mokarow Farms in their next game on Tuesday. 

 

Twin Palms doubled down this past weekend winning both their Friday match against Mokarow Farms and their Sunday match against Klentner Ranch. On Father’s Day, son Jesse Bray led the Klentner Ranch team for five chukkers over his father’s Twin Palms team, but Twin Palms got the best of them in the final minutes of the sixth chukker to give them a perfect 2-0 record heading into their final game against Film Finances. 

 

The main Sunday match on Father’s Day featured both a father/son combination and a battle between the Walker brothers. Lucas Escobar replaced an injured Charlie Walker on Farmers and Merchants Bank, and played alongside his father, Luis, Felipe Viana and Henry Walker. Henry’s brother, Dan Walker, played on the opposing Film Finances team and helped lead them in the upset against Farmers and Merchants Bank. Mariano Fassetta of Film Finances played an incredible offensive game. “I knew the game was going to be in front of a big crowd and that always adds pressure, but I decided to go in calm like it was a practice game. We had a few good plays and bumps go our way and our system started to work. Gaston [von Wernich] told me before the game he was ready to play and win and I think things worked out because we didn’t put too much pressure on ourselves.” Fassetta and the Film Finances team will play Twin Palms on Friday.