On a rather blustery Sunday afternoon at Southern California’s Eldorado Polo Club that featured sunshine, wind, rain, more sunshine, more rain, and then more wind, Chris Maloney led his Twin Palms 12 goal team (Maloney 1, Graham Bray 3, Santiago Wulff 5, Remy du Celliee Muller 3) to a convincing 9 – 5 victory over pro pool graduate Ryan Robertson and his Bush League aggregation (Robertson, Jason Crowder 6, Ulysses Escapite 4, Matthew Walker 2).
In a harbinger of things to come, Twin Palms started quickly as Maloney opened the scoring by converting a penalty number three. The early pressure continued and Maloney scored his second of the contest from the field and the first was over with Twin Palms leading 2 – 0.
The success of period number one continued in the early second as Maloney was allowed another 40 yard free shot that he easily made and his lead was now three. Bush League came back later in the frame with Jason Crowder counting a field goal and the second was over with Twin Palms continuing to lead at 3 – 1.
Rain started to fall in the third chukker and Maloney and Co. continued to hassle Bush League as du Celliee Muller scored and Maloney notched his third penalty three to now lead by five. Bush League came back somewhat as Crowder converted a penalty two attempt and Escapite scored from the field and the half was over with Twin Palms again leading by two at 5 – 3.
Halftime saw the rain subside and with the wind increasing footing wasn’t really a concern as Maloney scored his fifth goal on an aggressive move in the middle of a goal mouth scramble. Escapite grabbed his second of the afternoon for the Bush Leaguers and the fourth was over with Twin Palms leading again by two at 6 – 4.
Perhaps tiring of leading by two goals after each frame, Twin Palms jumped out in the rainy fifth period and controlled throughout allowing Wulff to score twice to nothing for the Robertson crew. As a result, the lead was now four at 8 – 4.
The sixth started with the rain once again gone, the sunshine back, and those in attendance snapping pictures of polo in the sunshine with a background of an extremely picturesque rainbow to the east. However, the beauty of the late afternoon didn’t change anything on the field of play as the wind reached difficult levels and each team was able to score but one goal each – Bray for Twin Palms and Crowder for Bush League – and it was over with a final count of 9 – 5. As a result, Maloney and his Twin Palms group had won the 12 Goal Coachella Valley Cup.
Based on his very aggressive and inspiring play, Maloney was selected as the Leisure Society MVP and Parka, owned by and played by Wulff in the fourth was chosen as the Best Playing Pony.
Tony Gregg
Twin Palms Wins Eldorado 12 Goal Coachella Valley Tournament
On a rather blustery Sunday afternoon at Southern California’s Eldorado Polo Club that featured sunshine, wind, rain, more sunshine, more rain, and then more wind, Chris Maloney led his Twin Palms 12 goal team (Maloney 1, Graham Bray 3, Santiago Wulff 5, Remy du Celliee Muller 3) to a convincing 9 – 5 victory over pro pool graduate Ryan Robertson and his Bush League aggregation (Robertson, Jason Crowder 6, Ulysses Escapite 4, Matthew Walker 2).
In a harbinger of things to come, Twin Palms started quickly as Maloney opened the scoring by converting a penalty number three. The early pressure continued and Maloney scored his second of the contest from the field and the first was over with Twin Palms leading 2 – 0.
The success of period number one continued in the early second as Maloney was allowed another 40 yard free shot that he easily made and his lead was now three. Bush League came back later in the frame with Jason Crowder counting a field goal and the second was over with Twin Palms continuing to lead at 3 – 1.
Rain started to fall in the third chukker and Maloney and Co. continued to hassle Bush League as du Celliee Muller scored and Maloney notched his third penalty three to now lead by five. Bush League came back somewhat as Crowder converted a penalty two attempt and Escapite scored from the field and the half was over with Twin Palms again leading by two at 5 – 3.
Halftime saw the rain subside and with the wind increasing footing wasn’t really a concern as Maloney scored his fifth goal on an aggressive move in the middle of a goal mouth scramble. Escapite grabbed his second of the afternoon for the Bush Leaguers and the fourth was over with Twin Palms leading again by two at 6 – 4.
Perhaps tiring of leading by two goals after each frame, Twin Palms jumped out in the rainy fifth period and controlled throughout allowing Wulff to score twice to nothing for the Robertson crew. As a result, the lead was now four at 8 – 4.
The sixth started with the rain once again gone, the sunshine back, and those in attendance snapping pictures of polo in the sunshine with a background of an extremely picturesque rainbow to the east. However, the beauty of the late afternoon didn’t change anything on the field of play as the wind reached difficult levels and each team was able to score but one goal each – Bray for Twin Palms and Crowder for Bush League – and it was over with a final count of 9 – 5. As a result, Maloney and his Twin Palms group had won the 12 Goal Coachella Valley Cup.
Based on his very aggressive and inspiring play, Maloney was selected as the Leisure Society MVP and Parka, owned by and played by Wulff in the fourth was chosen as the Best Playing Pony.
Tony Gregg
Twin Palms Wins Eldorado 12 Goal Coachella Valley Tournament
On a rather blustery Sunday afternoon at Southern California’s Eldorado Polo Club that featured sunshine, wind, rain, more sunshine, more rain, and then more wind, Chris Maloney led his Twin Palms 12 goal team (Maloney 1, Graham Bray 3, Santiago Wulff 5, Remy du Celliee Muller 3) to a convincing 9 – 5 victory over pro pool graduate Ryan Robertson and his Bush League aggregation (Robertson, Jason Crowder 6, Ulysses Escapite 4, Matthew Walker 2).
In a harbinger of things to come, Twin Palms started quickly as Maloney opened the scoring by converting a penalty number three. The early pressure continued and Maloney scored his second of the contest from the field and the first was over with Twin Palms leading 2 – 0.
The success of period number one continued in the early second as Maloney was allowed another 40 yard free shot that he easily made and his lead was now three. Bush League came back later in the frame with Jason Crowder counting a field goal and the second was over with Twin Palms continuing to lead at 3 – 1.
Rain started to fall in the third chukker and Maloney and Co. continued to hassle Bush League as du Celliee Muller scored and Maloney notched his third penalty three to now lead by five. Bush League came back somewhat as Crowder converted a penalty two attempt and Escapite scored from the field and the half was over with Twin Palms again leading by two at 5 – 3.
Halftime saw the rain subside and with the wind increasing footing wasn’t really a concern as Maloney scored his fifth goal on an aggressive move in the middle of a goal mouth scramble. Escapite grabbed his second of the afternoon for the Bush Leaguers and the fourth was over with Twin Palms leading again by two at 6 – 4.
Perhaps tiring of leading by two goals after each frame, Twin Palms jumped out in the rainy fifth period and controlled throughout allowing Wulff to score twice to nothing for the Robertson crew. As a result, the lead was now four at 8 – 4.
The sixth started with the rain once again gone, the sunshine back, and those in attendance snapping pictures of polo in the sunshine with a background of an extremely picturesque rainbow to the east. However, the beauty of the late afternoon didn’t change anything on the field of play as the wind reached difficult levels and each team was able to score but one goal each – Bray for Twin Palms and Crowder for Bush League – and it was over with a final count of 9 – 5. As a result, Maloney and his Twin Palms group had won the 12 Goal Coachella Valley Cup.
Based on his very aggressive and inspiring play, Maloney was selected as the Leisure Society MVP and Parka, owned by and played by Wulff in the fourth was chosen as the Best Playing Pony.
Tony Gregg