Grand Champions Polo Club Kicks Off Eighth Winter Season On Saturday

Arianna Delin, Sharon Robb for Grand Champions Polo Club 

Twenty teams will usher in the eighth winter season of polo this weekend at Grand Champions Polo Club.

The Limited Edition 12-Goal and 6-Goal Metropolitan Cup get under way on Saturday with three games. The 8-Goal Aspen Valley Cup begins Sunday with one game.

Grand Champions, with five well-manicured fields and turnkey facility, is one of the busiest and most innovative, cutting-edge clubs in North America catering to men, women and youth polo players of all ages at all levels.

There is a huge international field of players from all corners of the world converging on Grand Champions including Sayyu Dantata of Nigeria. India, Ecuador, Mexico, England, Canada, Argentina and the U.S. are all represented.

Maureen Brennan. Photo by Alex Pacheco

Ten teams will compete in the Limited Edition 12-Goal Tournament that begins Saturday with the featured game at 3 p.m. pitting Postage Stamp Farm against SD Farms. The team lineups are:

Dutta Corp.: Tim Dutta, Timmy Dutta, Carlitos Gracida, Pike Alberdi.

Flexjet: Melissa Ganzi, Juan Bollini, Leo Mandelbaum, Stuart Armstrong.

Goose Creek: Maureen Brennan, Marc Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Mariano Gonzalez.

High Ground: Joe Meyer, Matias Magrini, Henry Porter, TBA.

Mt. Brilliant/Faraway Polo: Bo Goodman, Hutton Goodman, Julian Daniels, Juan Monteverde.

Palm Beach Equine: Agustin Arellano, Ezequiel Zubiaurre, Gringo Colombres, Scott Swerdlin.

Postage Stamp Farm: Annabelle Gundlach, Brandon Phillips, Wes Finlayson, Chris Nevins.

SD Farms: Sayyu Dantata, Peco Polledo, Diego White, Santos Bollini.

Travieso: Tony Calle, Teo Calle, Pedro Falabella, Felipe Viana.

Valiente: Rob Jornayvaz, Juan Martin Obregon, Facundo Obregon, TBA.

Annabelle Gundlach. Photo by Alex Pacheco.

In last year’s season-opening Limited Edition 12-goal final, Northern Trust (Maureen Brennan, Peke Gonzalez, Mariano Gonzalez, Steve Krueger) defeated Catamount (Rodolfo Ramos, Scott Devon/Angel Torres, Patrick Uretz, Memo Gracida) 14-6 in the final to finish undefeated at 5-0. Peke Gonzalez, at 15 the youngest player in the tournament, was named Most Valuable Player.

Four teams are playing in the 8-Goal Aspen Valley Cup that begins on Sunday with SD Farms playing Odosan at 11 a.m.

The teams are:

Altair: Ashley Van Metre, Leo Mandelbaum, Brandon Phillips, Marc Ganzi.

Odosan: Joe Chai, Nick Manifold, TBA, TBA

SD Farms: Sayyu Dantata, Peco Polledo, Juanse Olivera, Bautista Micheletti.

Travieso: Tony Calle, Teo Calle, Pedro Falabella, Lucas Arellano.

Six teams will compete in the 6-Goal Metropolitan Cup that begins Saturday with two games. Pony Express is defending champion. The six teams are:

Escue /Tanakhanda: Tanvier Khan, Shamir Quraeshi, Sahir Quraeshi, Vincent Mesker.

Grand Champions: Santos Bollini, Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Will Jacobs.

Patagones: Joaquin Avendano, Santiago Avendano, Benjamin Avendano, Tavi Usandizaga.

Pony Express: Bob Daniels, Benji Daniels, Justin Daniels, Tomas Goti.

Shamrock: Frank Evans, John Walsh, Max Secunda, Adrian Wade.

The Polo School: Juanse Olivera, Riley Ganzi, Juan Olivera, Juan Bollini.

Tim Dutta. Photo by Alex Pacheco

ChukkerTV, leaders in polo broadcasting, will live stream the action worldwide with polo broadcasters Toby Wayman and Dale Schwetz.

ChukkerTV’s state-of-the-art technology will also feature team challenges and instant replay which made their debut in Grand Champions in January 2014.

Grand Champions is also home to The Polo School, dedicated to teaching polo, particularly grass roots youth. Its mission is to provide individuals from all walks of life opportunities to learn and play polo. The Polo School operates in Wellington January through June and September through November.

GRAND CHAMPIONS 2016 WINTER SCHEDULE

16-Goal: March, Santa Rita Abierto; April, John T. Oxley Memorial Trophy.

12-Goal: January, The Limited Edition 12-Goal: Saturday, Postage Stamp Farm vs. SD Farms p.m.; Jan. 11, Monday, Flexjet vs. Goose Creek, 1 p.m.; Jan. 12, Tuesday, Mt. Brilliant/Faraway Polo vs. Travieso, 1 p.m.; High Ground vs. Dutta Corp., 3 p.m.; Jan. 14, Thursday, Valiente vs. Goose Creek, 10 a.m.; Jan. 15, Friday, Mt. Brilliant/Faraway Polo vs. Dutta Corp., 11 a.m.; Travieso vs. Palm Beach Equine, 3 p.m.; Jan. 16, Saturday, Postage Stamp Farm vs. Valiente, 11 a.m.; SD Farms vs. Flexjet, 3 p.m.; Jan. 19, Tuesday, Flexjet vs. Postage Stamp Farm, 11 a.m.; High Ground vs. Palm Beach Equine, 3 p.m.; Jan. 20, Wednesday, SD Farms vs. Goose Creek, 3:30 p.m.; Jan. 21, Thursday, Dutta Corp. vs. Travieso, 3 p.m.; Jan. 22, Friday, High Ground vs. Mt. Brilliant/Faraway Polo, 11 a.m.; Flexjet vs. Valiente, 3 p.m.; Jan. 23, Saturday, Postage Stamp vs. Goose Creek, 3 p.m.; Jan. 24, Sunday, High Ground vs. Travieso, 10 a.m.; Palm Beach Equine vs. Dutta Corp., noon; Jan. 26, Tuesday, Valiente vs. SD Farms, 3:30 p.m.; Jan. 27, Wednesday, Palm Beach Equine vs. Mt. Brilliant/Faraway Polo, 2 p.m.; Jan. 30, Saturday, Championship Final, 3 p.m.; February, USPA Sieber Memorial Trophy; March, $50,000 National 12-Goal Tournament and Top Pony 12-Goal Series; April, Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame Challenge Cup.

8-Goal: January, Aspen Valley Cup: Sunday, SD Farms vs. Odosan, 11 a.m.; Wednesday, Jan. 13, Altair vs. Odosan, 3 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 17, Travieso vs. SD Farms, 11 a.m.; Tuesday,  Jan. 19: Travieso vs. Odosan, 3 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 24: Altair vs. SD Farms, noon; Tuesday, Jan. 26, Travieso vs. Altair, 3 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 31, Championship Final, 10 a.m.; February, USPA Cyril R. Harrison Trophy; March, The Limited Edition 8-Goal Series and USPA Regional President’s Cup; April, USPA Association Cup.

6-Goal: January, Metropolitan Cup: Saturday, Patagones vs. Grand Champions, 11:30 a.m.; Grand Champions vs. Shamrock, 1 p.m.; Jan. 16, Saturday, Escue /Tanakhanda vs. Grand Champions, 10 a.m.; Patagones vs. Shamrock, noon; Jan. 20, Wednesday, Pony Express vs. The Polo School, 4 p.m.; Jan. 23, Saturday, Pony Express vs. Escue /Tanakhanda, 11 a.m.; The Polo School vs. Grand Champions, 1 p.m.; Jan. 27, Wednesday, Shamrock vs. The Polo School, 3:30 p.m.; Patagones vs. Pony Express, 4 p.m.; Jan. 30, Saturday, Championship Final, 1 p.m.; February, Halo Polo Trophy; March, Madelon Bourdain Memorial; April, Las Acacias.