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hurlinghampolo.com
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R A I S I N G T H E S T A K E S
Changes to American high-goal tournaments mean more teams playing for higher
prize money and greater excitement all round, writes Alex Webbe
U S PA , D AV I D LO M I N S K A
Although it’s not an historic move, the United
States Polo Association has opted to
lower the handicaps of the country’s three
top tournaments, the CV Whitney Cup, the
USPA Gold Cup and the US Open Polo
Championship, from 26-goals to a 22-goal
maximum for at least the next three years.
It should be noted that the last time the US
Open was played at the 22-goal level was
in 1979. In 1980, it returned to 24-goals
then back to 26-goals in 1981.
In 2018, the US Open attracted only
six teams, with two of them coming from
Jornayvaz (Valiente and Colorado) and two
from the Ganzis (Audi and Flexjet). A fourth
team was sponsored by U.S. Polo Assn. (the
official licensed apparel of the USPA) and
featured two Ganzi regulars, Juancito
Bollini and Grant Ganzi. The sixth team,
The Daily Racing Form (Agustin Obregon,
Mariano Obregon, Hilario Ulloa and Jared
Zenni) under Jim Zenni, took the trophy.
With a desire to keep high-goal polo
alive, Bob Jornayvaz and Marc and Melissa
