Annual William ‘Bill’ Carter Jr. Memorial Tournament
July 24th-25th, 2010 – 5th
By Megan Judge
Trailers and RV’s started showing up on Thursday for this 2-day tournament. The local beaches and famous Thursday night San Luis Obispo Downtown Farmer’s Market are two big draws for this beautiful Central Coast city. In total over 55 horses and 34 players were on hand for what Ardeshir Radpour jokingly called ‘Meganpalooza’. Beach rides were the highlight for Friday, as a group of 7 from Poway Polo, 6 from CCPC and 9 riders from Orange County Polo spent Friday galloping thru the surf and swimming in the Pacific Ocean next to Morro Rock in Morro Bay, CA. I think it was Diego (a groom from OC polo) and Karen Shaw (a CP player) who couldn’t stay on their galloping/swimming mounts but everyone had a good laugh and the horses enjoyed the cool ocean waters.
Polo players relax with a ride along the beach.
Saturday at 10am featured the up and coming student players… from 19 to 40 years old players that had picked up a mallet for only a few months jumped into the arena for their first chance at a polo tournament trophy. It was obvious that the Clautiere Vineyard/ArenaPlayer.com team had their hands full with Patton Granada the high scorer for Hawaiian Island Surf and Sport. Patton scored 8 goals, and even scored one for the opposing team (good sportsmanship!). The OC team eagerly supported their rookies: Kelli Newton, Peter Schlosser, Chrise Brumby and Jake Brumby.
The first game of the B-flight (-2 to 0 goal) teams was Martinelli’s (featuring you know who… those always friendly Shaw twin sisters who play for Cal Poly) with their partner Julie Empey versus Dos Perros who boasted Anya Hein, Dave Schuberth, Elaine Rivest and Laura Hansen. Laura didn’t feel great so some of her Horsepark/Stanford teammates stepped in. Those alternates were the magic touch because Kasi and Katy (Stanford gals) were able to secure the win and allowed Dos Perros to move to the finals on Sunday.
The second game of the B-flight teams matched up CCPC/Cheval Polo vs. HJ Construction. The magic of Orange County Polo club manager, Heather Perkins (formerly Schuberth) along with her newest polo converts, Natalie Brumby and Becky Borders, allowed Cheval Polo to overcome the HJ Construction team and they advanced to the finals to face Dos Perros on Sunday… uh oh, father vs. daughter… that was sure to be fun.
As the afternoon weather improved… from 70 degrees to 75 degrees (did I mention how wonderful the Central Coast is?) the Flight A games began. The first of which was fast and furious, TackZone.com was clearly in sync… Ardeshir Radpour sent back shots and forward shots to teammate Kate Cappe, and basically Copy Spot, comprised of Heather Lake, Russell Fields and Tristan Smith had their hands full. The game was close but TackZone.com beat out Copy Spot for a seat in the finals on Sunday.
The second A flight game matched up Coldwell Banker, with the mother daughter duo of Lyn Cobb and Madelyn Cobb and Manny Rodriguez versus State Farm, with the Pacific Coast Governor Denny Geiler, David Teater and Hollie Boggess (both from Poway Polo Club). The match was fast, and wow what a player that Hollie Boggess is (any college team that gets her is going to be stoked, of course I am hoping she chooses Cal Poly, wink, wink). So with Madelyn Cobb and Hollie Boggess battling it out… the game came down to the mallet and horse skills of Manny Rodriguez who led the team to a victory and the chance to meet fellow 4 goaler Ardeshir Radpour in the finals on Sunday.
After a long day of polo all participants headed over to Kate Cappe’s house for a bbq, and of course being in a college town, a keg of Coors Light… yummy.
Sunday began with a good marine layer, and with a rematch for the student flight. This time Patton Granada and his Stanford cohorts, Kasi McLenaghan and Katy Peaslee really controlled the game and dominated. They played fast and well together… definitely going to put all of them in the ‘b’ flight next year! Patton Granada took home MVP, and Katy’s horse took home BPP.
The consolation match of Martinelli’s and CCPC was action packed, even Kelly Shaw decided to wake-up the crowd with a slide, crash and burn into her goal. She and the horse were fine (she drank her apple that day) and they finished the game. Unfortunately a late goal with 30 seconds left gave John Swift, Molly Skrdla and Susan Harris the win, but Kelly Shaw got MVP (amazing playing on her part for sure) and Molly’s horse took BPP.
CCPC TEAM - John Swift, Molly Skrdla, Susan Harris.
The final match for the ‘B’ Fight championship was a father/daughter match-up with some Anya Hein(z) sauce tossed in. The game was split at the beginning, with Dos Perros 3 goals ahead of the Cheval/CCPC team… but some of that Heather Perkins 1 goal magic came out and at the sound of the final horn, we had a tie. Umpires Ardeshir and Manny must not have been wearing their glasses when they gave a high flying (but wide right) goal to Dave Schuberth to give Dos Perros the win. MVP went to Natalie Brumby and tough ‘rookie’ who wasn’t afraid to ride-off, hit the ball and hook all game long. BPP went to Dave’s horse.
Dos Perros Team - Elaine Rivest/Dave Schuberth, Anya Hein, Katy Peaslee, Kasi McLenaghan, Laura Hansen
The consolation for the ‘A’ flight was also fast, furious, and hard fought leading to a tie! I couldn’t believe it! So it came down to girlfriend, Hollie Boggess vs. her boyfriend and opponent Tristan Smith… and oh yeah, the girl won, with a galloping approach to the ball she slammed it into goal… for the WIN! You go girl and the State Farm team was victorious over Copy Spot. Which goes to show age (Denny Geiler) and beauty (Hollie Boggess) can beat a young team! Copy Spot did get BBP to take back to Horsepark/Stanford polo.
The finals were not as close as I had hoped, partly because Manny Rodriguez is the craziest 50 year old non-arena player I have ever seen… oops 49. Plus you have to hand it to Madelyn Cobb and Lyn Cobb for riding some the best polo ponies around. Kate Cappe tried her best on my school horses to get it done but just came up a little short in the first chukkar, but boy did they figure it out by the second chukkar. If we forgot the first chukkar the score would have been 10-7… Ardeshir Radpour (Tackzone.com) definitely played well with Kate Cappe, and all the light-hearted elbow-throwing made for hilarious pictures! Congratulations to Coldwell Banker for winning the 5th Annual William ‘Bill’ Carter Jr. Memorial Tournament!
Coldwell Banker Team - Lyn Cobb, Madelyn Cobb, Manny Rodriguez.