Chambord Vodka Classic 2014 Recap

Sunday, June 29th was another beautiful day here at the San Diego Polo Club– a bright, breezy polo-filled afternoon.  With our fantastic sponsor Chambord Vodka in attendance, we had a festive purple and pink theme to the tents to match their blackberry flavored liqueur and vodka.  Patrons enjoyed tastes of Chambord Vodka & Liqueur while watching the action on the field.

The PEERS Network & Challenged Athletes Foundation were also in attendance as proud supporters of Sunday Polo.

The first match at 1pm between Starmeadow/MonteVerde and Twin Palms/San Judas, started of with a bang when Jennifer Alexy scored the first goal for her team, Twin Palms/San Judas.  Colton Bancroft also scored for Starmeadow/MonteVerde.  The match ended with at Twin Palms/San Judas at 9 and Starmeadow/MonteVerde with 10, taking the win.

 

 

 

Guests of all ages attended the Sunday Polo event, from tailgating to the VIP tent!

At intermission we had a fun and informative polo demonstration by Diego Velarde and Diego Larrreglia.  They showed us all some great moves and demonstrated the basic hitting positions and rules, while announcer, Steve Lewandowski broke down the line of the ball and a bit about strategy.

Anthony Ballard, a long time polo fan and a San Diego resident with 20 plus years of singing, locally and abroad, sang our national anthem beautifully.

 

 

 

A representative of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, Jeffrey Odom, did the honor of throwing in the first ball. Jeffrey is a former F-16 Crew Chief for the United States Air Force and Captain of Team USA Wheelchair Rugby. The Challenged Athletes Foundation also have a space at the event that showcased how they help those with physical disabilities.

It is the mission of the Challenged Athletes Foundation® (CAF) to provide opportunities and support to people with physical disabilities so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics. CAF believes that involvement in sports at any level increases self-esteem, encourages independence and enhances quality of life.

The second match of the day at 3pm was an exciting one with San Fernando vs Team Chambord.  San Fernando dominated, scoring the first 3 goals of the match in the first chukker. The talented John Eicher scored 4 of the 9 goals for his team, Team Chambord.

 

However, San Fernando was still able to capture the win. The match ended with San Fernando at 11 and Team Chambord at 9.

 

 

San Fernando wins Fernando Gutierrez Memorial Tournament!

Fernando Gutierrez once played polo on the lush fields at the San Diego Polo Club with his brother-in-law, Roberto Estudillo.  After his passing, the Gutierrez and Estudillo families created a memorial tournament in his honor.  Roberto Estudillo has since named his team San Fernando, meaning “Saint Fernando.”  Fernando’s wife, and sister to Roberto, Monique Estudillo and son, Fernando (Fernandito) Gutierrez support this wonderful event annually.

The entire Estudillo Family was present, including their 101 year old Grandmother.  We are honored to welcome the family and friends of the Gutierrez & Estudillo families each year.

Senora Estudillo had the honor of throwing in the first ball to begin the final match of the Fernando Gutierrez Memorial Cup.

Things started off hot in the first chukker with Nick Mathers scoring 2 and Mariano Fassetta scoring 1 for Hanalei Bay/Sycamore.  Diego Velarde of Twin Palms/San Fernando scored 1.  By half time, the score was even 5 to 5.  Chris Maloney played a great game, scoring two on the afternoon for Twin Palms/San Fernando.

After half time, things really started heating up with back and forth goals throughout the last chukkers.  The 6th chukker proved to be an exciting one with Diego Velarde and Gaston VonWernich scoring 3 for Twin Palms/San Fernando and Ashton Wolf, Mariano Fassetta, and Krista Bonaguidi scoring 3 for Hanalei Bay/Sycamore.  The crowd was loving the cat and mouse game, each team chasing each other down the field.  The game went into over time.

In overtime, Twin Palms/San Fernando’s number 2 position, Diego Velarde took the ball to the goal and scored the winning team for Twin Palms/San Fernando!

Chris Maloney’s horse in the 4th chukker won Best Playing Pony.

During intermission earlier in the day, John Brokenshire of the Free Wheelchair Project introduced this fantastic charity.  The San Diego Polo Club was honored to welcome the Free Wheelchair Mission to our Sunday polo event.  After learning about the Free Wheelchair Mission and the inexpensive cost to literally lift spirits and lives, we knew we had to promote this charity in front of a large group of people.

Having Vietnamese wheelchair recipient, Lihn Nguyen in attendance was truly special for our audience and tugged on the heartstrings of many.  When you see the enthusiasm and passion behind the charity’s volunteers and staff, you know their mission is true and important.  We are thrilled the San Diego Polo Club helped save the lives of over 100 disadvantaged individuals and families across the globe.  There are some things you just know to be true in your heart, and this charity is one of them.

Through live and silent auction, we are able to donate 115 wheelchairs to those in need!

In addition to this absolutely fantastic day, Land Rover of San Diego display their luxury vehicles throughout the event.  Visit them and say hi to owner, Jason Puga for us!

We also had a HUGE crowd of Ivy League Alumni in attendance, especially from Harvard and MIT.  If you’d like to host an alumni mixer or event at SDPC, comment and let us know!

Thank you for a wonderful start to our season!  We’ll return on August 18 with Aloha Sunday, a fun, island-inspired family event.  If you can believe it, the best has yet to come!

Father’s Day

The sun shined brightly on Father’s Day at the San Diego Polo Club, and families of all ages celebrated this fantastic day with their loved ones.  Son of our founding father, Willis Allen, flew in 8 antique biplanes and the Wavecrest Woodie Club drove out their prized automobiles for guests to enjoy.  San Diego European brought out Aston Martin to lead the parade of teams with their 2013 Vantage Coupe.

From the east side of the polo field, the huge crowd enjoyed tailgating festivities along with picnic lunches in the foreground of the biplanes and Woodies.

On the west side of the field, VIP  and Player’s Club guests were treated to Woodford Reserve Bourbon tastings and specialty cuisine from The Wild Thyme Company.  Special that day was a steak sandwich with caramelized onions and creamy aoili spread.

But the main attractions of the day were the exciting polo matches. The 1:00pm match featured Sycamore-Monteverde versus Star Meadow-Adeptus. The match ended with a score of 11-8 with Star Meadow-Adeptus taking home the trophies. 3 goal professional polo player Ashton Wolf led his team in scoring with 5 goals and his teammate 5 goal professional Martin Ravina tallied up 4 of his own.

To celebrate Father’s Day, we asked father of Roberto Estudillo, Bobby Estudillo to throw in the first ball!

Our 3:00pm match between Hanalei Bay-San Judas and Twin Palms-San Fernando was a nail biter from start to finish. Hanalei Bay-San Judas began the match with a 2 goal handicap but Twin Palms/ San Fernando hit the field on all cylinders, scoring 3 unanswered goals in the first period to take the early lead. Things leveled out in the second period by offsetting goals from Hanalei Bay-San Judas’s 6 goaler Mariano Fassetta and Twin Palms-San Fernando’s 5 goaler Gaston Von Wernich.

Billy Steta, president of the Mexican Polo Federation was the high scorer of the match chalking up 5 goals, the last of which was the game winner.

Father’s Day Cup trophies were presented by Donald Wade, Operations Manager of Aston Martin and wife of the General Manager, Francesca Canales.

Local musicians and brother band, Ottopilot performed for our 7^th Chukker After Party!

Meet Roberto Estudillo.

Was born in San Diego, California and was raised in Baja California Mexico. Both his paternal and maternal heritage comes from prominent ancestry. The Estudillo family was one of the first European settlers in southern California and have been in this land for over 200 years, since it was New Spain, then Mexico and today, United States. They lived in Casa de Estudillo, considered the finest house in Mexican California; it is located in Old Town San Diego and is now a Museum and National Historic Landmark. Roberto is the seventh generation Estudillo in California. His maternal lineage comes from Yucatan, were the family was well known in the region for owning land and cultivating henequen plant. His grandfather was a very distinguished, award winning Civil Engineer and also served as Governor of Baja California.

Roberto’s first years of grade school were coursed in San Diego and later he went to Tijuana to continue his studies; he entered law school and earned his Juris Doctor degree.   He studied Polynesian martial arts in the style Lima lama. He also enjoys and practices tennis, golf, wind surfing, and traveling.  Roberto has visited over 100 countries in the world.
Roberto’s professions are Attorney at Law, Entrepreneur, and Real Estate Developer. He is currently assembling Charity Donor, a non-profit organization, whose sole purpose is to facilitate people to donate to their individual cause.

He was introduced to polo by his brother in law Fernando Gutierrez Barron. His polo career started in Rosarito, Baja California, where they played polo at Rancho San Fernando, and this is the reason why Roberto’s team name is San Fernando.  He currently owns over 20 polo ponies and they are distributed amongst San Diego, Mexico City, and Rosarito. He has been a member of the San Diego Polo Club for 15 + years.  He is one of the very few members that have remained playing continuously for the last 15 years.

Roberto’s philosophy in life is that we are all here for a purpose, we each have our own mission to fulfill; we must find it, accomplish it, and when we leave this world, we would have made it a better place.

Second Wind of the 2011 Season!

Jesse and Graham Bray
Jesse Bray of Starmeadow went home on Saturday afternoon after playing a practice game with his teammates, Joy Bancroft, Jessica Bailey and his father, Graham Bray.  He massaged his shoulders and complained to his mother he needed ice packs for his upper back.  When his mother asked why his shoulders were so sore, he responded, “I’ve been carrying the old man all day,” insinutating he played better than his father and led the team to victory.  Graham didn’t take it lightly.

Graham Bray

The following day, Graham Bray played spectacularly on field one in front of the Sunday crowd.  Scoring a total of 9 goals, he showed his son that the “old man” is still the boss.  Jessica Bailey, straight in from Indio, scored 2 goals for Starmeadow, and Jesse Bray scored 3 (only 6 less than his father).  Joy Bancroft played a strong defense, keeping the goals in favor of Starmeadow.

Tritech/Princeps scored their first two goals in the fourth chukker, starting things off slow.  In the 6th chukker, each teammate scored a goal, bringing the total up to 9.  Unfortunately for Tritech/Princeps, Mr. Graham Bray of Starmeadow stole the show and the game.

Diego Cossio

Diego Cossio of Monteverde kicked off the feature match with style, knocking in 2 goals.  Teammates Ellen Greenhill and David Samaniego each scored one, blowing San Fernando/San Judas out of the water in the first chukker.  Diego Cossio admits he had a horrible 2nd chukker, letting Guillermo Li and Charly Cendoya of San Judas/San Fernando score, tying up the match.

Charly CendoyaGuillermo Li

Each team scored another goal in the fourth chukker keeping the tied game, but in the 5th chukker, Matt Walker scored one and Diego Cossio scored two pushing Monteverde into the lead.

Matt Walker

Both Ramon Richard and Charly Cendoya of San Judas/San Fernando scored, but it wasn’t enough to take the win.  Monteverde came out on top 12 to 8.

David Samaniego and Roberto Estudillo

The San Diego Polo Club celebrated the day with TERI Inc, a non-profit working hard to make the lives of special needs children better.  They spoke about their therapeutic riding program and sold artwork done by their students.  Teri also received a check for $10,000 from Canon Business Solutions!

 

Check out the video below!