Last Chance tournament at Santa Barbara
It was old school meets new school polo for the Last Chance tournament at Santa Barbara, as a wide ranging group of players of all ages and from all over California met to play polo in the last tournament of the year on the SBPRC grandstand field. A record 9 teams entered. Luke Klentner at 13 years old was the youngest player on the field, and three players over 70 who do not wish to be named but have a combined 200 years of polo experience between them tied for oldest player honors.
Four teams competed in the upper flight, Cruz N Kenga squeaked by 4B with a score of 5-4 in a thrilling OT playoff to face Klentner Ranch in the final. Klentner Ranch, with three Klentners and adopted son Tim Rudy, held off a hard charging Mansour team 7-6 in their playoff to arrive at the final. In the final, the double team of Doug Blumenthal and Juan Gonzalez proved that they have good teamwork in polo as well as DJ’ing, combining to run the field and power Cruz N Kenga to a 9-6 victory over Klentner Ranch. The Blumenthal/ Gonzalez duo earned co-MVP honors, and Madelyn Cobb’s mare “Mocha” ridden by Alison Mandriota, earned BPP.
In the lower flight, Charlie’s Angels escaped the round robin playoff to arrive at the final versus Gehache. Charlie’s Angels really represented what this tournament is about, with an interesting roster of players from 3 different clubs and team play of a young player from Santa Barbara (Cory Williams), Megan Judge from Central Coast Polo, Bill Davis from Will Rogers, led by native Charlie Petersen. But in the final, the might and experience of defending champions Gehache proved too powerful and Gehache ran away with the final score 8-4. BPP was Charlie Petersen’s “Rene” and MVP was Jeep Holden, who score 4 goals for Gehache.
The fun didn’t stop when the polo was over, as Cruz N Kenga treated the players to a great after party at the polo clubhouse. It was a wonderful ending to a fun season!