DELEGATE'S CUP
Tournament History
Established in 1969, the Delegate's Cup (formerly known as the Eight Goal) has been a staple in the USPA National tournament calendar and was hosted uninterrupted for 45 years until 2015. The legendary Gulfstream Polo Club (now defunct) was the home of the prestigious tournament from the mid 1970s until it's unfortunate closure in 2016. During that time, only two teams, Brookfield and Bluestone Farm, were able to win the trophy more than once. In fact, Bluestone Farm owned by the Oliver family is the only team to have ever won back-to-back tournaments, having captured a total of four titles and three consecutive wins from 2005 to 2007, each team boasting at least two members of the Obregon family.
A highly-sought after national trophy, the competition relocated to the Houston Polo Club in 2016. In the contest's inaugural year at the club, 7 Bar W/Rocking P secured the win in a close final over BTA II 7-5. BTA once again advanced to the final in 2017, however were bested by Pegasus/Propaganda with the same two-goal margin from the previous year. After a two-year hiatus the Delegate's Cup has returned and 2020 will feature an astounding 10 teams vying for the honor to raise the trophy including the defending champions, with a single player substitution from their 2017 winning team.
Amongst the competition is Graduating Team USPA member, Cody Ellis (Sullivan Group/Vintage Polo), as well as Team USPA alumni Tiamo Huspeth (Rovers Romphouse), Mason Wroe (Pegasus/Propaganda) and Nicolai Galindo (CW Petroleum).
As the country emerges out of the COVID-19 crisis, the USPA established opportunities to support USPA Member Club events through the use of the COVID-19 USPA Polo Tournament Stimulus Package, which provides eligible USPA Member Clubs with waived tournament fees, trophies or reimbursements, one professional umpire and $2,500 in prize money per tournament at no extra cost. Offered to each club for the first two USPA tournaments of 2020 following the COVID-19 USPA Tournaments and Events suspension, Houston Polo Club will be taking advantage of the program for this tournament.
Photo: 2017 Delegate's Cup Champions: Pegasus/Propaganda - David Andras, Nick Cifuni, Mason Wroe, Paul Hobby. ©Kaylee Wroe Photography
