Along the Sideboards
By Alex Webbe
October 5, 2009
The 20-goal season is in full swing at the 302 Polo Club in Aiken, South Carolina as Barrington scored a convincing 13-10 win over Goose Creek in the finals of the 2009 USPA Monty Waterbury Cup.
Tommy Biddle led the field with eight goals in the finals and was named MVP while his 11-year-old bay gelding Manu received Best Playing Pony honors.
Gillian Johnston’s Bendabout team scored an opening 12-11 overtime win over MavOffice.com to start the USPA Silver Cup competition with Gillian scoring the winning goal just 28 seconds into the extra period.
Silver Cup play continues on Wednesday when Barrington faces Pony Express.
The Villages opened its season to a packed house of over 1,500 enthusiastic fans as Ft. Knox scored a convincing 14-5 win over Fross & Fross while Citizens rode past Morgan Stanley 14-9.
A full season of activities will be highlighted by the WCT World Cup that will feature some of polo’s top women players, including Sunny Hale, in a tournament that will also serve as The Villages WCT Qualifier.
The Villages will wrap up its fall season with the 12-goal Morse Cup in December.
The Port Mayaca Polo Club will be kicking off the season in November with club member practices before opening up tournament play in its Annual Holiday Family Tournament, December 29-January 3rd. Ten-goal to 18-goal competition will take place throughout the winter season, ending with a two week long 14-goal tournament March 30 to April 19.
Phil Heatley has been drafted by the Hobe Sound Polo Club to assist manager Vincent Mesker in staging a home for the Outback Polo League. In an effort to keep the regulars together and to promote the Hobe Sound Polo Club, Heatley will attempt to revive the success the Outback League enjoyed for so many years in Wellington.
The Grand Champions Polo Club completed its first fall tournament with the Grand Champions team of Greg Keough, Marc Ganzi, Carlos Gracida and Joey Casey scoring an 11-7 win over the Quantek team of Javier Guerra, J. J. Celis, Charlie Muldoon and Stevie Orthwein.
The Grand Champions fall season will continue for another six weeks, ending with the Pedro Morrison Memorial Cup on November 18th.