2020 USPA Gold Cup®
Tournament History
The USPA Gold Cup® is the second 22-goal tournament of the Florida high-goal season and the second leg of the GAUNTLET OF POLO®. Established in 1974 at Oak Brook Polo Club in Oak Brook, Illinois, in its first edition it featured four teams. Inaugural winners Milwaukee (Tom Hughes, Tommy Wayman, Joe Barry, Robert Uihlein III) bested Houston 9-8, with a thrilling overtime victory. Wayman scored the golden goal three minutes into the sudden death chukker. The following year, the USPA Gold Cup® was moved to Milwaukee Polo Club where it was played from 1975 to 1978. In 1979 it moved to Florida and became the crown jewel of the winter season. It its heyday at the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, during the 80s and early 90s, the USPA Gold Cup® was the tournament to win, attracting anywhere from 11 to 20 teams.
After a 17-year stretch at the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, the tournament was hosted by several clubs over the years including Royal Palm Polo Club (Boca Raton, Florida), Greenwich Polo Club (Greenwich, Connecticut) and New Bridge Polo & Country Club (Aiken, South Carolina), before landing at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida, where it has remained since 2007.
In 2015 Audi defeated Orchard Hill 16-15 in the highest-scoring final in USPA Gold Cup® history. Notable contemporary winners include Valiente (2018, 2017, 2014, 2013, 2012), Audi (2015, 2011) and Crab Orchard (2010, 2007). White Birch holds the all-time record wins with 12 titles spanning three decades. Record wins by an individual player is held by 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso with 14 total victories beginning in 1991 and including his most recent win in 2018 with Valiente.
In 2019, Pilot outwitted their opponents one by one in bracket play, landing themselves in the final to face Aspen. With tensions high and the chance to knock off the prospective GAUNTLET Champions, the game came all the way down to the wire forcing an overtime chukker. Pilot managed to seal yet another title and an additional $125,000, narrowly preserving their undefeated streak 12-11. History was made during the first GAUNTLET OF POLO® in 2019, when Pilot captured all three events to win the $500,000 bonus and earn $1 million over the course of the series.
The 2020 USPA Gold Cup® was postponed on March 17, 2020, due to rising health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic and was unable to be completed in 2020. Rescheduled in 2021, the semifinals feature Daily Racing Form returning with their 2020 line-up of Constancio 'Costi' Caset, Agustin Obregon, Tommy Collingwood and Jared Zenni, while the other three teams feature new rosters. La Indiana and Pilot will compete with their 2021 line-ups as a warm-up to the 2021 GAUNTLET OF POLO® season. La Indiana’s Michael Bickford, Polito Pieres and Jeff Hall, will be joined by newcomer Nico Escobar, while Pilot replaces Lucas Escobar with Kristos 'Keko' Magrini to play alongside Curtis Pilot, Gonzalito Pieres and Facundo Pieres. The final semifinalist, Las Monjitas, features an entirely new and thrilling team including Melissa Ganzi, the only woman represented at this stage in the tournament, playing alongside 10-goalers Pablo Mac Donough and Juan Martin Nero. Represented by the pink arm bands of all participating players, the 2020 USPA Gold Cup® tournament will be dedicated to Melissa Ganzi who is now free of breast cancer. The tournament will be in honor of her strength and endurance throughout her fight.
2020 USPA Gold Cup Champions: La Indiana - Polito Pieres, Nicolas 'Nico' Escobar, Jeff Hall, Cacu Marcos. ©David Lominska
