COPA DE THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT
Nov. 27th and 28th, 2009
By Susan Stovall
Costa Careyes Opens Polo Season 2009 – 2010
The beautiful Costa Careyes resort and polo fields, located in Mexico on the Pacific Ocean, opened its pristine fields to four teams for the Golden Banana and Copa de Thanksgiving tournaments on November 21st through the 28th. Players from California – Scott Lean, the Falk family of Herb, Will, Kate and Chris, Dave Buller from Atlanta and Gabe Fernandez from Sayulita– plus several players from Guadalajara, Jorge Garciarce, Joel Acosta , Jorge Suarez, Diego Gonzalez-Diaz and Martin Vidrio to enjoy the two weekends of tournament play. The 78 degree water, fishing and great fun and sun. Giorgio Brignone, owner of the resort and polo fields, and Raul Ramirez, resident professional, complemented the visitors.
The Golden Banana Teams.
The Golden Banana was a one day tournament with the players divided into 4 teams. Scoring in the first of the 2 games was led by Gabe Fernandez(A) of the Falk 40 team with 4 goals and followed by Will Falk(1) with 3. The losing team of the first game was led by Chris Falk with 2 goals. The Guadalajara team won the second game with Joel Acosta(2) leading the scoring with 6 goals and Diego Gonzalez-Diaz(1) led the losing Careyes team with 2 goals. The two winning teams were honored with the Golden Banana.
Thanksgiving Teams.
The Copa de Thanksgiving was a traditional four team tournament played over the holiday weekend. Play was fast-paced and very competitive. The young guns came in from Guadalajara – Diego Gonzalez-Diaz(1), Martin Vidrio(A) and Manuel Matos(A) with Chris Falk(2) completing the Quinto Sol foursome. Fresno fielded the family of Herb (A) and Kate(A) Falk, Manuel Rios(A) and Sebastian Dawnay (4)visiting from Ireland and son of famed polo instructor, Major Hugh Dawnay. All the Fresno players were on local horses while the QuintoSol team had shipped their horses in and that seemed to turn the tide for the young foursome with them winning the game 6-4. Dawnay scored all four goals for the losing team. Falk and Gonzalez-Diaz each had 2 goals for the winner. Vidrio had one and one on handicap. The other first round pitted Careyes – Giorgio Brignone (1), Scott Lean (A), Raul Ramirez (2), and local player Manne Yerena (1) against the seasoned Guadalajara team which included Jorge Garciace (1), Jorge Suarez (1), Joel Acosta (2) and Will Falk (1). The Guadalajara team was the victor over the locals 5 to 4. Acosta scored 3 goals for the winners and Ramirez had 2 for the Careyes team.
The final was an excellent show of very good polo – open and running every chukker. The team of Quinto Sol came to beat their fellow club members of Guadalajara. The Quinto Sol team had led all the way until the lastchukker when Will Falk and Jorge Suarez each put in a goal to tie the score. The game went down to the last 30 seconds when Martin Vidrio put in the winning goal. The consolation round was won by Fresno with Sebastian Dawnay again leading the scoring with 3 goals. The winners received Tequila especially distilled for the Careyes Resort and Polo Club – a trophy that all polo players seem to enjoy.
The beauty of Careyes.
The next tournament will be during the holiday season – Copa Careyes – 8 – 10 goals – with players already committed from the UK, Saint Tropez, USA and other clubs in Mexico. For more information visit WWW.CAREYES.COM.