Lisle Nixon Memorial
Santa Barbara Polo Club
Grants Farm Manor won the Lisle Nixon Memorial, the first of the Santa Barbara 12 goal tournaments, 8-6 over Long Beach/ Palm Desert on Sunday May 15th.
Grant's Farm from left to right: Justin Klentner, Santiago Wulff, Artie Cameron and Andy Busch. Photo by K. Kumpart.
An an unusually low scoring game for these two teams, the defensive efforts of the players was notable. Both teams marked the man closely in a defensive battle, and with 7 of the 8 players standing over six feet tall and riding big strong horses it was a battle indeed. Santiago Wulff on Grants Farm made the defensive efforts of his teammates pay off, converting four first half shots from the penalty line as his teammates forced the other team to foul and adding a field goal in the 4th chukker. Luis Escobar rallied the troops on Long Beach/ Palm Desert to come back from a 5-1 deficit early in the 4th chukker, LB/ PD tied it up at 6 all after some big runs by Escobar on his speedy mare Envy. But at the start of the 6th chukker, Wulff once again converted a penalty 2 to reclaim the lead for Grants Farm.
Grants Farm’s Artie Cameron put the game out of reach by sacrificing his body to stop a LB/ PD back shot, then jumped on the loose ball and shot for goal to make the final tally 8-6.
High scorers were Wulff with 7 goals and Escobar with all 6 of the goals for LB/PD.
MVP was Santi Wulff and BPP was Escobar’s mare Envy.
Luis Escobar's horse named Envy won Best Playing Pony. Photo by K. Kumpart.