Santa Barbara Polo Club’s 1st Women’s Polo Tournament
Text by Paige Beard, Photos by David Lominska
Calcutta and cocktails
This past weekend (July 8- July 11) Santa Barbara polo club had the pleasure of hosting its first annual WCT Women’s Polo Qualifier tournament with the help of numerous horse donors, Paige Beard (Tournament Director), Melanja Jones and many others the tournament was a great success. There were two levels of play with 4 WCT (3-6) goal level and 4 entry level teams. Thursday night marked the Calcutta and Cocktail party in the clubhouse where teams were sold from each division.
On Friday the WCT flight (3-6) goal level started with a bang as the Eldorado team of Jessica Bailey (1), Gina Padilla(0), Angela York(1), and Kate Weber(1) took on a very strong Tresor DeVintage team which consisted of; Claudia Uretz (-1), Paige Beard (0) Sunny Hale (3) and Natasha Baecher(1). Tresor de Vintage hit the ground running and never looked back scoring 3 goals in the first chukker and then padding their lead with great defense winning the game by a commanding 5 goals with the high scorer Sunny Hale.
A sunset ride on the beach to relax before the final games.
The WCT level game which followed had the same point spread as the first however, it featured a much more fluent score line. In this game was Jaeger LeCoultre which consisted of; Leigh Breechen(0), Tiffany Busch(1), Karen Reese(1) and Cybele Jordan(1) against the very attack minded Los Banditos who were made up of; Roxy Keyfauver(1), Erica Ganomacar(1) Carla Garichotte(0) and Abby Riggs(1). This game started off fast and furious with six goals being scored in the first chukker alone. From there the scoring frenzy continued however, the Jaeger LeCoultre team could not keep pace loosing by a score of 10-5. The high scorer of this game was Abby Riggs. The Friday night barbeque was graciously hosted by Pat and Ursula Nesbitt and featured a challenging game of Polo Jeopardy where the high-goal men challenged the WCT teams on their player knowledge and prowess. Some of the categories included Celebrity Swingers, polo history, embarrassing moments and are you smarter than a 5th grader. Kate Weber Emceed and fun was had by all!
On Saturday the Entry Level flight began with excitement and anticipation in the air because for a few of the girls this was their first tournament and for many more it was their first time on the Santa Barbara fields. The action began with Team Cone: Ashley Cone, Daisy Winter, Gabby Questal and Danielle Travis taking on Holiday Inn Express; Stephanie Preston, Roseanna Elordi, Karen/Kelly Shaw and Madelyn Cobb. This game started out close with only 1 goal separating the Team Cone from the Holiday Inn Express; however that quickly changed as Team Cone expanded their lead to 3 in the second and then never looked back winning 7-2. The high scorer was Gabby Questal.
The last game of the first round of the Entry level division was Oldman & Cooley; Therese Volmer, Kim Garsed, Alice Zegers, Susan Cooley/Nancy Louie vs. Blanco Texas/Film Finance; Chloe Bourgeois, Connell Erb, Kerstie Allen, Michelle Myers. This game was by far the more exciting of the first round as it started the same way as all the other games had with Blanco Texas/ Film Finance holding a commanding lead over their opponent; however in the last chukker Oldman & Cooley woke up and out scored Texas by 3 goals sending the game to overtime. In overtime the girls adamant about not having a penalty shoot out went into sudden death. Unfortunately the heroics of Oldman & Cooley weren’t enough as Chloe took the ball right out of the lineup and put it through the up rights to end the game. The high scorer was Chloe Bourgeois. The fun continued as many of the girls headed to the beach for a sunset ride and photo shoot where the girls sported their dav pink leopard muck cowboy boots and then headed over to the Golden Nugget for cocktails and dinner.
A check presentation was made to officers of Girls Incorporated Carpinteria and Greater Santa Barbara as a portion of sponsorship dollars and all proceeds from the Final Day event were granted to Girl’s Inc. to inspire girls to be strong smart and bold!!
On Sunday the games started bright and early at 9:00 am at Summerland Field with the consolation final of the Entry Level flight which featured Holiday Inn Express vs. Oldman & Cooley. Unfortunately for Oldman & Cooley this time the script was flipped as they jumped to a quick lead and then were peppered in the fourth chukker by Holiday Inn Express losing by a score of 4 to 3. The high scorer was Therese Volmer.
Next at 10:00 am was the consolation final of the WCT level which was Eldorado vs. Jaeger LeCoultre. Both of these teams were obviously looking for redemption after their Friday losses and they both played very well with a slight edge going to Jaeger LeCoultre wining 5-4. The high scorer was Karen Reese.
While the top flight consolation final was going on at the Summerland field the entry level flight Final was happening at the club. In this game it was Team Cone vs. Blanco Texas/ Film Finance. From the second this one started you could tell it was going to be hard fought. Team Cone took a one goal lead in the first chukker and kept it all the way until the fourth. However in the last few minutes of the fourth the Cone team had enough and scored 4 goals making them the champions with a comfortable 9-6 win. The high scorer was Gabby Questal. Chloe Bourgeois won a beautiful antique horse coin from Nancy Louie and Horsecoinjewelry.com for MVP and her 1st and 4th chukker horse Fiona owned by Tom Sikes won BPP sponsored by Santa Rosa Ranch. Ashley Cone won the Best Sportswomanship award.
Finally on the main field at Santa Barbara Polo Club in front of hundreds of screaming fans the defense minded Tresor De Vintage team took on the offense minded Los Banditos. In the first chukker it looked as if the offense of Los Banditos was going to be too much for Tresor De Vintage as they went down 3-1. However Tresor De Vintage was not about to let their screaming fans down as they matched Los Banditos 2 for 2 in the second thanks to a goal scored by Claudia Uretz. In the third Vintage got a great goal from Paige Beard to narrow the gap to one. Then in the last chukker Sunny Hale took over scoring 3 goals in the last. Even though Erica Ganomacar scored one to make a last charge but it ended up being too little to late as Tresor De Vintage was crowned the champions with a final score of 7-6. Sunny Hale was the high scorer. Abby Riggs was awarded MVP and a beautiful reverso Jaeger LeCoultre watch presented by Seth Braent of the Jaeger LeCoultre Beverly Hills Store. Paige Beards 3rd chukker horse McGhee won Best Playing Pony and Claudia Uretz won The Best Sportswomanship Award.
Tresor DeVintage team which consisted of; Paige Beard (0), Claudia Uretz (-1), Natasha Baecher(1) and Sunny Hale (3).
The Tournament was a huge success and all for a very worthwhile cause. A check presentation was made to officers of Girls Incorporated Carpinteria and Greater Santa Barbara as a portion of sponsorship dollars and all proceeds from the Final Day event were granted to Girl’s Inc. to inspire girls to be strong smart and bold!!