The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
Even the face of Women’s Polo could not stop the run of Pheasant Hollow. Sunny Hale, the best female polo player on the planet and the reason this segment of polo is growing so fast, was not enough to turn the tide. The foursome of Deb Vermoch just never agreed to stop. They just never quit. Despite two awesome goals by Paige Beard, it looked like it was over, but it was not. The Pheasant Hollow combo of Dayelle and Abby always had an answer to stay close. With less than 3 minutes to go following a pressure packed goal by Paige to take the lead, they tied it back up. In the last minute they put it away with a great 1 -2 play that even Sunny could only smile and say WELL DONE. I am sure she did as she is the Lady making Ladies Polo one of the fastest growing sports in the horse world.
It was a fun day and the women showed up well and organized by Mrs Doreen Ladin, who made it that way. It was a fun week for all who came from Canada to Florida. Gauthier Jewelry, a Santa Barbara shop, made it very special for the winners with some fine trophies that you would love to wear.
MANY THANKS TO SUNNY HALE, DOREEN AND PAIGE. A special thanks to GAUTHIER JEWELRY FOR MAKING THIS A GREAT WEEKEND. Claudia Uretz organized much of the donations for the gift bags, the gift bag assembly, co- organized a team in the upper flight, helped set up the horse rental for the majority of the players in the tournament, obtained discounted hotel reservations for out of town players, brought dessert for the Friday night BBQ for everyone, and kept us all in tune her with her big smile and generous personality. Alison Hansen was invaluable in planning the parties, coordinating RSVP’s, helping make the silent auction in support of Girls Inc a success, boosting PR by coordinating TV interviews, liaison with sponsorship, and fine tuning the myriad of details that go into making such a large event well run. An last but not least, Melanja Jones for her hard work in juggling polo manager duties with the 8-goal coaching league, club chukkers and all of the game duties for the ladies tournament. It was truly a group effort.
The teams in the upper bracket were :
Pheasant Hollow 16
Debra Vermoch 1
Abby Riggs 6
Dayelle Fargey 7
Jessica Hartley 2
World Gym/ Cotterel 14
Claudia Uretz 3
Jenny Luttrell 3
Malia McCoy 5
Jessica Bailey 5
Alt Anna Brereton 1
Film Finance 16
Paige Beard 3
Leigh Brecheen 3
Molly Agee 1
Sunny Hale 9
In the 8-goal it was Klenter Ranch putting the brakes on Coterell without the Colorado cowgirl and taking home the big cup. Down South at Party Central I have not heard the results yet as they were partying as it is Sunday night after polo. San Diego has the big one next week as the finals of the Spreckles Cup is on. I guarantee you it will be FUN.
Farther South like Buenos Aires it was La Dolfina starting off as they finished last year winning the Jockey Cup finals. They may be the first 40-goal team to win it. I have not heard how the new rules are working down there, but it seems two goal rule did not make it from score. Not sure on the others with throw ins and penalty shots.
see ya