A Month of World Class High-Goal Polo
Underway in Aiken, SC
By Stephen D. Hale

AIKEN, S.C. --- A month of world class high-goal polo kicked off Sunday with an 11 to 2 rout by the Canadian team Millarville over local favorites Detroit Blues in the Aiken Community Cup tournament, a warm-up for the prestigious United States Polo Association Gold Cup to be played here over the next month.

Winners Aiken Community Cup: Millarville. Daniel Roenish, Frederic Mannix, Magoo Laprida, Eduardo Novillo-Astrada. Photo by David Lominska. Click here for more photos.

Canada’s highest rated player Fred Mannix, at 7-goals, dominated the match, scoring seven goals himself, and was named Most Valuable Player. Photo by David Lominska. Click here for more photos.

Best Playing Pony, Frederic Mannix. Photo by David Lominska. Click here for more photos.

Polo players are rated from –1 to 10. There are only twelve 10s in the world, and three of them will play in the 26-goal Gold Cup, which starts Thursday and runs through Sunday, October 2^nd. A 26-goal tournament is one in which the total of the four player’s ratings cannot exceed 26.

“The Gold Cup is part of our Triple Crown, along with the U.S. Open and C.V. Whitney Cup, all played at 26-goals, the highest level of polo in America,” said USPA Executive Director Peter Rizzo, a longtime member of the Aiken Polo Club at Whitney Field.

Also outscoring the entire Detroit Blues team was Magoo Laprida (5-goal), with three scores. Nine-goaler Eduardo Astrada of Argentina scored once for Millarville and Daniel Roenisch (5), childhood friend of Mannix and another stalwart of Canadian polo, failed to score but was highly active on defense.

Adam Snow, Eduardo Novillo-Astrada - Photo by David Lominska.
Click here for more photos.

Detroit Blues is the “other home team,” along with the New Bridge team. Detroit Blues is comprised of the team Merle Jenkins, team sponsor’s grandson Collin McCosh (2), Luis Escobar of Costa Rica, Aiken resident Adam Snow (one of only two American 10-goalers), and Aiken native Tiger Kneece (7).

It was the rookie McCosh, only 18 years old, who scored the first goal for Detroit Blues in the second chukker, and Kneece provided the powerful team’s only other score in the third.

The same two teams kick off the Gold Cup tournament Friday at 10 a.m., on New Bridge field #2. Chukkerage and favorite Skeeterville (which lost the 2005 U.S. Open in overtime) will play at 10 a.m., Saturday at New Haven Polo Field.

The New Bridge team, featuring 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso – widely regarded as the world’s foremost player – and New Bridge co-owner Matias Magrini (9), will begin play Sunday at 5 p.m., against Bendabout, which features 10-goaler Miguel Astrada and Aiken native Tommy Biddle (7).

Sunday’s match, played in perfect weather, attracted a paid audience of over 1,000, and organizers hope similar weather will bring out twice that many for the Gold Cup games. General admission is $10 and includes entry into a village of shops and food vendors.

For directions look to www.uspagoldcup.com or call the Aiken Downtown Development Association at (803) 649-2221.

 

More photos by Lominska. Click here to visit the Lominska Gallery.

New Bridge Polo Club Aiken, SC

Schedule '05

Results & News

Team Line ups

Game Schedule

Photos by Lominska

Contact Info: New Bridge Polo Club Tel: 803 215 6151 New Bridge Web Site www.newbridgepolo.com

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