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$50,000 National 12-Goal Tournament Begins Monday At Grand Champions Polo Club
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| The third annual $50,000 National 12-Goal Tournament gets under way Monday at Grand Champions Polo Club.
One of the nation’s most important and competitive tournaments offering major prize money has attracted some of the sport’s top players including several up-and-coming young athletes.
The single-elimination tournament features six teams. The team lineups are: Casablanca: Grant Ganzi 1, Leo Mandelbaum 2, Juancito Bollini 3, Mark Tomlinson 6 5 Star Builders/Tackeria: Kristos Magrini 1, Matt Coppola 4, Joaquin Panelo 4, Michel Dorignac 5 Palm Beach Equine: Agustin Arellano 2, Ezequiel Zubiaurre 4, Gringo Colombres 6, Scott Swerdlin 0 Palm Beach Illustrated: Todd Thurston 0, Jared Zenni 3, Geronimo Obregon 4, Jesse Bray 5 Pony Express: Bob Daniels 0, Justin Daniels 0, Bautista Urbina 6, Tomas Goti 6 Wildcat: Ryan Gilbertson 0, Nick Johnson 2, Steve Krueger 3, Jason Crowder 6
The four-day tournament begins Monday with Casablanca playing Wildcat at 3:30 p.m. The championship final is Sunday at 10 a.m. Defending champion is Aspen Valley Polo Club which defeated Newport, 8-7, in the final. In front of a good crowd and worldwide ChukkerTV.com audience, Audi (Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Mark Tomlinson, Wes Finlayson) turned in one of its best games of the season to win the much-anticipated winner-take-all final. Newport (Gene Goldstein, 1, Joaquin Panelo, 4, Michel Dorignac, 6, Agustin Arellano, 1) mounted a late rally but Audi, which led from start to finish, never lost its composure. Tomlinson, 32, one of England’s top polo players and rated seven goals in his homeland, was named Most Valuable Player.
In 2014, Palm Beach Equine won the inaugural tournament. In the final, the team of Dr. Scott Swerdlin, Alejandro Gonzalez, Tommy Collingwood and Luis Escobar came from behind to defeat Casablanca, 11-9. The Casablanca team featured Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Carlitos Gracida and Nic Roldan. Grand Champions is the nation’s busiest and most innovative polo club with tournaments ranging from six to 20-goal. Grand Champions Polo Club also features The Polo School, dedicated to teaching polo, particularly grass roots youth. Its mission is to provide individuals opportunities in polo. The Polo School operates in Wellington January through June and September through November. |
