The third tournament of the spring polo season begins Friday at Grand Champions Polo Club.
By Sharon Robb
The Casablanca Spring Challenge, featuring three teams, begins Friday at 4:45 p.m. with a round robin between last week’s Santa Rita Abierto champion Newport (Gene Goldstein, Fred Mannix, 7, Pablo Spinacci, 6, Tommy Collingwood, 5), SebiLion (Sebastian Mandelbaum, Sugar Erskine, 6, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 7, Leo Mandelbaum, 2) and Santa Rita (Rebecca Cohen, Jason Crowder, 5, Nic Roldan, 8, Juan Bollini, 3). Opening day scores carry over to Sunday’s final at 10 a.m.
The Just For The Love Of It Cup will start Friday’s doubleheader with Grand Champions taking on Aspen in a four-chukker round robin at 11 a.m.. The scores carry over into Sunday’s final at 12:30 p.m.
In last year’s final, Casablanca (Melissa Ganzi, 0, Riley Ganzi, 0, Nic Roldan, 8, Grant Ganzi, 3) held on for a thrilling 14-13 victory over Newport (Gene Goldstein, 0, Tomacho Pieres, 6, Marc Ganzi,1, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 7). Riley Ganzi was named Most Valuable Player. Mother and daughter combined for 12 of Casablanca’s 14 goals.
Title sponsor Casablanca is recognized as the world’s foremost producer of leading edge polo equipment and luxury clothing, worn by polo players around the world. Whether it’s on the polo field or beyond the sideboards, its’ goal is to have you look and feel your best through each of life’s many chukkers. Grant Ganzi is Brand Ambassador for Casablanca, one of Grand Champions most supportive sponsors.
Casablanca’s distinctive logo is the flight of two pony’s tails, charging the field in pursuit of victory, a true symbol of the joy and exhilaration experienced by both players and spectators.
Several top and up-and-coming players and patrons are competing during the fun and competitive spring league.
During the spring season, amateur polo players get the chance to play with and against some of the world’s top professional polo players including 8-goaler Nic Roldan and 7-goalers Fred Mannix and Alejandro Novillo Astrada. It is geared towards improving polo skills and having fun.
The spring league is also a great opportunity for younger players to develop and hone their skills against their peers and more experienced players.
The remaining spring schedule (subject to change because of weather) is: May 17-19, Eastern Challenge and May 24-27, The Memorial.