Grand Champions Polo Club Winds Up Successful Spring Season

By Arianna Delin, Sharon Robb for Grand Champions Polo Club

Grand Champions Polo Club will end its spring season in style this weekend.

The Memorial, the final tournament of the club’s most successful season in its nine-year history, will get underway on Friday at Grand Champions Polo Club and finish up on Sunday at International Polo Club’s Stadium Field.

The final and subsidiary will be held at IPC, reminiscent of the early years when Grand Champions was founded and hosted its major finals and spring and fall parties at IPC.

Four teams will compete on Friday at Grand Champions. Flexjet will play Grand Champions at 11 a.m. and The Dutta Corp, one of the club’s hottest teams this season, plays Postage Stamp Farm at 5 p.m. Postage Stamp Farm is tuning up for its summer season debut at Greenwich Polo Club.

Annabelle Gundlach. Photo by Alex Pacheco

The team rosters for The Memorial are:

Flexjet (12): Melissa Ganzi, Tim Dutta, Juan Bollini, Tom DeBruin.

Grand Champions (13): Gene Goldstein, Juancito Bollini, Lucas Lalor, JJ Celis.

The Dutta Corp (14): Timmy Dutta, Marc Ganzi, Piki Diaz Alberdi, Kris Kampsen.

Postage Stamp Farm: (12) Annabelle Gundlach, Grant Ganzi, Brandon Phillips, Jason Crowder.

The championship final is 1 p.m. on Sunday followed by the Grand Champions Cup subsidiary game at 3 p.m. The public is welcome to attend the final polo tournament in Wellington until the fall. Admission and parking are free.

Food and beverage will be available for purchase at The Stadium for both games. The post-tournament award ceremonies will also be held after the games.

Gene Goldstein. Photo by Alex Pacheco

In last year’s The Memorial final, Travieso (Marc Ganzi, Hector Guerrero, Piki Diaz Alberdi, Teo Calle) became the first polo team to win three spring tournament titles with a 13-9 victory over Palm Beach Equine (Geronimo Obregon, Facundo Obregon, Lucas Lalor, Scott Swerdlin). Alberdi scored a game-high seven goals and was named MVP.

On Monday, youth polo players will be in the spotlight at The Memorial Kidz Polo Tournament at Grand Champions at 10 a.m.

Five spring tournaments are now in the books at the club.

In the spring season-opening Grand Champions Cup, Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Sebastian Merlos, Kris Kampsen) defeated Power Horse (Walter Scherb, Michael Bickford, Tincho Merlos, Nic Roldan),18-17. Kampsen was named MVP.

Casablanca won its second spring tournament the second week of the season in the Spring Challenge Cup. The team of Gene Goldstein, Grant Ganzi, Julio Arellano and Kris Kampsen defeated Team NR (Tim Dutta, Melissa Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Juan Bollini), 10-8. Melissa Ganzi was named MVP.

Tim Dutta. Photo by Alex Pacheco

The Dutta Corp (Timmy Dutta, Tony Calle, Piki Diaz Alberdi, Brandon Phillips) won the Sun Cup with an 8-6 win over Newport (Gene Goldstein, Grant Ganzi, Julio Arellano, Juancito Bollini). Calle was named MVP.

Casablanca won its third tournament of the season with Gene Goldstein, Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini and Julio Arellano in the inaugural Power Horse Invitational with a 10-7 victory over Flexjet. Goldstein was named MVP.

Audi (Timmy Dutta, Marc Ganzi, Jason Crowder, Brandon Phillips) rallied for an 11-10 overtime victory over Melody (Cesar Gueikian, Kris Kampsen, JJ Celis, Lucas Lalor) to capture the Polo Gear Challenge Cup, one of the oldest spring tournaments in the nation. Crowder was named MVP.

During Grand Champions’ spring season, amateur polo players had the opportunity to play with and against some of the world’s top professional polo players on pristine polo fields.

ChukkerTV is live streaming Grand Champions Polo Club games along with other games around the U.S. during the 2016 season with polo broadcasters Toby Wayman and Dale Schwetz calling the action.

Grand Champions Polo Club is the nation’s busiest and most innovative polo club. The USPA-member club hosts polo tournaments ranging from six to 20-goal in addition to special events.

The club also features The Polo School, dedicated to teaching polo to all ages, particularly grass roots youth. Its mission is to provide individuals opportunities in polo. The Polo School operates in Wellington January through May and September through November.

GRAND CHAMPIONS POLO CLUB 2016 SPRING SCHEDULE

Friday-Sunday, The Memorial, Friday at Grand Champions, 11 a.m. Flexjet vs. Grand Champions; 5 p.m. The Dutta Corp vs. Postage Stamp Farm; Sunday at International Polo Club Stadium Field, 1 p.m. Championship final, 3 p.m., The Grand Champions Cup (subsidiary).

Monday, The Memorial Kidz Polo Tournament, 10 a.m.