16th Annual C.D. LeBlanc Memorial Tournament

The finals of the 16th annual C.D. LeBlanc Memorial Tournament were held June 21st at the Will Rogers Polo Club in Los Angeles. C.D. LeBlanc founded the Will Rogers Polo Club in 1953: making it the thirteenth oldest polo club in the United States.

The preliminary round was held on June 20th, with 4 teams competing to advance to the June 22nd finals. The finals were a match-up of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (Domingo Questal, Bill Davis, Richie Merluza and Jeffrey Rewald/Sunny Sasson vs. Malibu (Andrew Bossom, Gina Padilla, Steven Sadler and Steve Wayda).

In the finals, the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, led 6-3 after 2 chukkars and won by a score of 8-5.  Over the 2 day tournament, Domingo had 6 goals, Bill had 5 goals, Sunny had 3 goals and Richie had 1goal.  Over the two days Andrew had 5 goals, Steve Wayda had 4 goals and Gina had 2 goals.  Sunny was the finals MVP and Andrew’s horse Mystic Princess received Best Playing Pony honors.

Will Rogers State Park was originally the private estate of Will Rogers: famed humorist, newspaper columnist, cowboy, author, movie star and polo player. In fact, Will Rogers landscaped the polo field in 1926, before he even built his home. Rogers and his family lived here between 1928 and 1935. During this period he and his friends (David Niven, Spencer Tracy, Hal Roach, Walt Disney and Clark Gable) played on this field on weekend mornings and then rode over to a nearby field to watch the “high goal” games.

After Will’s death in 1935, his family gave the property to the State of California on the condition that equestrian activities would continue at the park. The club has continued since 1953 and is the only remaining grass polo field in Los Angeles. Each year it hosts charity matches, fund raisers and private events. For more information about the polo club, or to host an event, please contact Felice Densa at 818-509-9965 or fdensa@adelphia.net.

In photo from left to right Domingo Questal, Sunny Sasson, Bill Davis, Richie Merluza.

11th Annual Ronald Reagan Memorial Tournament
The finals of the 11th annual Ronald Reagan Memorial Tournament were held May 17th at the Will Rogers Polo Club in Los Angeles, CA. President Reagan was a frequent spectator at Will Rogers up until shortly before his death. This was first tournament of the 2009 season and was a very exciting game.

The finals had Malibu (Domingo Questal, Hannah Taylor, Joanna Wyszecki and Leigh Brecheen) versus Santa Monica (Kevin Ittig, Steve Wayda, Alex Rabida and Richie Merluza/Paul Martinez).  Domingo stole the show, scoring all 5 of his teams goals in the finals and all 12 of their goals over the two day tournament.  Kevin Ittig had 3 goals for Santa Monica, Alex had 1 and Richie had 1.  Domingo was the tournament MVP and Leigh Brecheen’s horse Button was the best playing pony.

In photo from left to right: Hannah Taylor, Domingo Questal, Joana Wyszecki, Leigh Brecheen, Paul Martinez Alex Rabida, Richie Merluza, Kevin Ittig, Steve Wayda