2006 USPA Gold Cup Polo Championship in Aiken, South Carolina @ New Bridge Polo Club.
About the Teams . . .
Five teams have so far entered for this year’s 2006 USPA Gold Cup Polo Championship at New Bridge Polo and Club including players from as far afield as Argentina, Canada and Belgium.
Local favorites include Aiken’s Adam Snow, Tommy Biddle Jr., Julio Arellano, Kris Kampsen and the home team of New Bridge featuring the ‘world’s greatest player’ Adolfo Cambiaso.
Millarville won the trophy last year and while they will not be back in the same guise, the Zenas team also comes from Calgary, Canada and includes 2005 USPA Gold Cup winner Daniel Roenisch.
David Wigdahl who has a farm on the east side of Aiken will also be popular with Aikenites and is launching a Gold Cup campaign with the hope of putting his name on a trophy that he first won in 1978.
Belgium’s Peter Michaels is likewise a relative newcomer to Aiken and has his own polo operation off Highway 302. This will be his first Gold Cup appearance and he has brought significant talent in to help him win the trophy. His captain will be Michel Dorignac – whose uncles were both 10-goal players and won the coveted Argentine Open many times.
Adam Snow brings a new face to the Aiken polo scene with the introduction to the Goose Creek line up of Argentina’s eight-goal Mariano Gonzalez. Having recently finished playing in Santa Barbara in the Pacific Coast Open, Gonzalez said: “I am looking forward to playing in Aiken. Adam and I have played a lot together and we are both analysts of the game.” Goose Creek will be a strong line up but will have their work cutout against their four opponents all of whom look to have a realistic shot at being in the finals.
The teams at this year’s Gold Cup are as follows:
Zenas – 22
John Rooney – 1
Nacho Novillo Astrada – 9
Daniel Roenisch – 5
Tommy Biddle – 7
New Bridge – 22
Russ McCall – A
Matias Magrini – 9
Adolfo Cambiaso – 10
Gonzalo Garcia del Rio – 3
Goose Creek – 22
Maureen Brennan A
Adam Snow – 9
Mariano Gonzalez – 8
Martin Zegers – 5
Stella Artois – 22
Peter Michaels – 1
Marcello Frayssinet – 7
Michel Dorignac – 7
Guille Aguero – 7
Dahlwood – 22
Dave Wigdahl – 3
Alan Martinez – 4
Julio Arellano – 8
Kris Kampsen – 6
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USPA GOLD CUP SCHEDULE
USPA Gold Cup Hotline 803-349-5349
Aiken Opener Tournament:
Sunday, September 10, 2006 – 5 pm
New Bridge defeated Dahlwood 13-10
September 10, 2006 – 10 am
Zenas defeated Goose Creek 12-7
USPA GOLD CUP:
Friday, September 15, 2006 – 3 pm
Dahlwood defeated Zenas 20-9
Friday, September 15, 2006 – 5 pm
New Bridge defeated Goose Creek 13-11
Sunday, September 17
4 pmNew Bridge vs. Zenas 13-8
Thursday September 21
10 am Goose Creek vs. Stella Artois
5 pm Dahlwood vs. New Bridge
Saturday, September 23
10 am Zenas vs. Stella Artois
Sunday, September 24
4 pm Goose Creek vs. Dahlwood
Tuesday, September 26
12 noon New Bridge vs. Stella Artois
Thursday, September 28
10 am Zenas vs. Goose Creek
Dahlwood vs. Stella Artois
New Bridge will also offer a consolation match, time and date TBA
Sunday, October 1
4 pm Finals
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USPA Gold Cup is Polo at Its Best . . .
The USPA Gold Cup, first played in 1974, is a symbol of professionalism, good sportsmanship and high goal polo at its finest. This tournament was introduced at Oakbrook Polo Club in Illinois, then headed north to Milwaukee Polo Club in 1975 and remained there until 1978. After moving south in 1979, the USPA Gold Cup continued a seventeen-year stretch at Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, only to move down the road to Boca Raton at Royal Palm Polo & Sports Club in 1996.
In 2002, the USPA Gold Cup headed back up north to Greenwich Polo Club where play resumed until 2004.
In 2005 the USPA Gold Cup was held in Aiken for the first time. It stirred much interest on a local, regional, national and international level. The media’s take on the tournament was that the USPA Gold Cup had found a new home, with a new following and a continued status as one of the world’s leading polo tournaments.
For the second year in a row Aiken will play host to the prestigious Gold Cup Polo Championship. The tournament is one of the top three polo tournaments played in the United States and will feature many of the top rated players, including several 10-goalers, in the world. Top players and their exceptional horses will converge on Aiken for a fall season of high goal polo at its best.
Spectators will be treated to an afternoon of dynamic on-field sporting action complemented by the relaxation of social activities on the sidelines as well as exciting shops to browse through creating a fun filled package for all who attend. Children will be captivated by an area designed especially for them with age appropriate activities for children under 12.
All feature Sunday games will be played on the #1 field of the New Bridge Polo and Country Club. The club is located just east of Aiken in a picturesque polo community with a beautiful rolling landscape. The fields are among the best in the country, if not the world, as rated by the top polo players from the 2005 event.
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