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Argentina, including Argentine Open mounts.
‘Having 16 teams this year instead of six last
year – five of which were made up of two
families – coupled with having $1 million
on the line, makes the level of play just that
much more intense,’ adds Gundlach.
David Cummings, president and CEO
of Global Polo Entertainment, created the
Gauntlet and its prize structure: $125,000
for each of the winning teams in the CV
Whitney Cup and the USPA Gold Cup®;
$250,000 for winning the US Open; and
a potential additional $500,000 bonus if one
team won the Gauntlet (all three games).
The prize money structure was different
in the 22- and 26-goal.The Gauntlet was
winner-takes-all, while WPL distributed prize
money among winners and runners-up:
$100,000 for the WPL Founders Cup ($60,000
TO N Y R A M I R E Z / I M A G E S O F P O LO
to the winning team; $40,000 to the
subsidiary winners); $125,000 for the Palm
Beach Open ($75,000 winner; $50,000
subsidiary); and $150,000 for the Triple Crown
of Polo ($90,000 winner; $60,000 subsidiary).
USPA chairman Chip Campbell was
among several first-time high-goal patrons at
IPC. He said the prize money was attractive,
but it wasn’t his primary motivation for
fielding a team.‘I’m 54 years old, on the tail
end of my career, and I wanted to participate
in high-goal while I still could,’ he says.
There were three female patrons –
Gundlach, Maureen Brennan and Gillian
Johnston – in the 22-goal. ‘Even more
fabulous,’ says Gundlach, ‘there were three
female subs, two of whom were subs for
men’ (Mia Bray for Curtis Pilot and Mia
Novillo Astrada for Jeff Hildebrand).
Both IPC and the WPL feel they
accomplished their goals, which were
similar in effect if not in approach. The WPL
preserved 26-goal polo, the highest level
outside Argentina, and made it accessible
to patrons and players who had never been
able to compete above 20 or 22 goals (see
our article on the WPL, page 62).
The USPA took a different tack. After
the 2018 US Open, the association asked
Cummings to explore ways to re-energise
high-goal polo. His answer: the creation of
a new 22-goal series, the Gauntlet of Polo ™.
‘In previous years, the 20-goal was always
flourishing, but the 22 was stagnant,’ he
says. ‘The Gauntlet concept, with the
additional $1 million in prize money, gives us
the opportunity to change the trajectory of
high-goal polo for the future.’
Opposite, from left:
David Cummings, Chip
Campbell and Mia Bray.
This page, from left:
Marc, Melissa, and Grant Ganzi, Rob,
Louisa and Bob Jornayvaz
