INSIDE POLO with Ron Allen

Bill Ylvisaker,   Robert Orthwein,   Stevie Orthwein.

 

 

Fourteen teams have lined up to play the third 20-goal tournament of
the winter season in south Florida. Houston’s ERG and the antediluvian
La Herradura teams are not playing this time around. A new entry will
be brothers Stevie & Robert Orthwein’s Port Mayaca 19 goal team.

There are three roster changes; 20 year old Mariano Gracida (3) will fill
in for his older brother Carlitos (3) who broke his foot in last Sundays
game playing for Audi. Lucchese has replaced Jason Crowder with Kris
Kampsen (6) and Valiente will have Santi Torres (6) playing for Alfredo
Capella who was dropped from the team after the USPA raised his
handicap from 6 to 8 goals.

The Ylvisaker Cup is named after William T. Ylvisaker a hard-charging,
polo-playing executive who, in 1978, converted acres of strawberry and
cane fields into the largest polo mecca in America. The expansive new
club had 14 polo fields and he was one of the highest rated patrons in
the modern day history of the game with an impressive 7-goal handicap.
Ylvisaker was a three-time winner of the U.S. Open and he was admired
by many as the Bill Veeck of polo with highly successful celebrity and
society driven promotions that todays polo clubs can only envy.

Mr. Ylvisaker died three years ago at the age of 85. His vision for high
goal polo has never been duplicated.

Ron Allen is the polo commentator for ESPN Television

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