Photos by Kim Kumpart
Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club has hosted many polo players that are considered “polo royalty” such as Adolfo Cambiaso and Gonzalito Pieres, but on Saturday, July 9th the Club hosted genuine titled royalty, as the club was the site of a polo match featuring the heir to the British Crown, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Prince William competed in an exhibition polo match on the Royal Salute team. The round robin match between Royal Salute, Audi and American Express was held to raise funds for the Prince’s charity America Friends of The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry in addition to the Polo Training Center Santa Barbara.
Royal Salute: Santiago Trotz, Prince William, Andy Busch and Jeep Holden.
The three teams competing in the match were Royal Salute (Jeep Holden A, Andy Busch 3, Santiago Trotz 5, and Prince William 1), Audi (Wes Ru A, Marc Ganzi 1, Juan Bollini 5, and Scott Devon 3) and American Express Centurion (Melissa Ganzi A, Glencito Holden 1, Nic Roldan 8, and Pat Nesbitt A). Each team played four chukkers of the six chukker rond robin.
First up was American Express Centurion against Audi. American Express got the scoring started with a goal from Glencito Holden, but Audi won handily 7-3 after dominating the second chukker with 3 goals from Marc Ganzi in addition to goals from Juan Bollini and Scott Devon.
The middle segment of the round robin featured Royal Salute against American Express. The score was tied 2-2 after the first chukker, but a flurry of goals from Santiago Trotz sandwiched around a goal from Andy Busch in the second chukker gave Royal Salute the lead 6-4.
This set up a true final for Royal Salute against Audi. In the most competitive match of the afternoon, the score was tied 2-2 again, after the first chukker. Both goals for Royal Salute came from Prince William, much to the delight of the crowd. Prince William, who was riding horses loaned to him by Ambassador Glen Holden and Melissa Ganzi, scored two more goals in the final chukker, this combined with a final goal from Andy Busch was enough to give team Royal Salute the 5-3 victory for the match and as well the overall round robin victory with an undefeated record.
The Foundation Polo Challenge was a wonderful way to kick off the Club’s Centennial High Goal Season and the Club will continue celebrating on August 12 with an evening extravaganza focused on the Club’s History, Visitors and Members with dinner, dancing and entertainment.