Along the Sideboards

By Alex Webbe

August 17, 2009

The 2009 Mercedes-Benz Cup went to Dillon Bacon’s Great Oaks team as it upset previously unbeaten White Birch 13-12 at the Bridgehampton Polo Club Tuesday afternoon.

White Birch entered the competition with a perfect 5-0 record, including a 15-9 romp over Great Oaks just five days earlier, and looked to take the Cup home without a struggle, but Great Oaks (2-1) had other ideas.

The talent on the field was evident as White Birch superstar Mariano Aguerre scored ten times in the loss.

The strategy from the start had Great Oaks shutting down the White Birch Number 1, Santiago Torres. Sebastian Merlos settled the middle of the Great Oaks lineup while teammate Tomas del Rio positioned himself for nine of the team’s thirteen goals on the day.

Aguerre’s 8-year-old chestnut mare, Chomba, was named Best Playing Pony while Merlos received MVP honors.

Play began for the 2009 Hampton Cup on Friday, August 14 with Black Watch scoring a 14-7 win over Cinque Terre. Saturday saw Martin Pepa lead Certified to a hard-fought 8-7 win over Adam Lindemann’s Ikepod entry. Sunday’s Hampton Cup action had White Birch all over Equuleus in a 15-9 game. Getting back on the winning track, White Birch is going to be very disciplined if it hopes to escape a repeat of the let down in the finals of the recently played Mercedes-Benz Cup.

Audi has returned to its winning ways at the Santa Barbara Polo Club as it scored a 16-12 win over Lucchese in the 2009 USPA Lucchese America Cup. Kris Kampsen led Audi with nine goals on the day and was named MVP. Mike Azzaro’s 13-year-old grey mare Horizon was honored as Best Playing Pony.

The new USPA “American Rule” that was voted on and approved will go into effect in January of 2010. It is being accepted with mixed reviews. The rule will mandate that at least one U. S. citizens be included on teams in USPA eventsLive with an upper handicap limit of 22-goals or less (excluding the sponsor). The Canadians, which were previously excluded from an earlier program are now on the “foreign” list in spite of their receiving both rules and handicaps from the USPA.

The hopes are that it will allow young American players an opportunity to compete in higher levels of polo, allowing them to improve their games and increase their own handicaps.