San Diego Club’s Season Finale
Polo in San Diego where the Surf meets the Turf is well and alive as the Club featured the season’s finale in an 8 goal Spreckels Cup match in front of another decked out sellout crowd this last Sunday October 2nd to honor the tradition of the Cup and to benefit .the Club’s charity partner, Dress For Success, a non-profit that empowers women to succeed in the work place and improve the quality of life for their families.
Team BMW Encinitas with Nour-Dean Anakar in the 1 position, Nicholas Ramos playing 2, Rodrigo Salinas playing in the 3, and Doug Blumenthal at the 4, took on Roseville Motors with Topo Mendez at the 1, Juan Jose Gonzales at the 2, Ashton Wolf at the 3, and Eric Hammon at 4. The match was a hard fought battle from start to finish with Roseville Motors jumping out to a fast 3-1 lead in the first chucker with two goals from Topo Mendez and one by Juan Jose, but Team BMW Encinitas came roaring back with 5 consecutive goals with Anakar and Ramos knocking in two each and Salinas adding one. The second half was a tight defensive battle with neither team able to score until the last chucker with Wolfe and Mendez able to score two in a row to force overtime. Anakar knocked in a penalty 3 in the extra time to bring home the win for Team BMW. in an exciting fast and well played match.
The 107 year old Spreckels Cup was presented to Team BMW by USPA Governor Scott Walker and members of the Spreckels family followed by both teams soaking each other with champagne. After the Spreckels Cup presentation, the Club celebrated the season finale with a members barbecue party and Club delegate Anakar and Club manager Wolfe announced that after renovations to the fields and construction of the new arena and new barns over the winter months by Surf Cup Sports, the Club will resume full scale polo operations with a year around polo arena and polo school and stabling program and a summer and fall grass playing program with pro pool league play and tournaments and special events each week.
Anakar also announced that Surf Cup Sports was fully committed to polo operations continuing at the facility for 26 more years under the newly executed property lease with the City of San Diego. So here is to 26 more years of polo where the Surf meets the Turf !