Bushwood Captures Metropolitan Cup at Grand Champions

On a sun-drenched afternoon at Grand Champions Polo Club, Bushwoos rallied to win the Metropolitan Cup. Bushwood (Nick McClelland, -1, Mike Davis, 0, Santi Merlos, 1, Kris Kampsen, 6) came back in the second half to defeat Altair Polo (Ashley Busch, 0, Leo Mandelbaum, 2, Brandon Phillips, 4, Kylie Sheehan, 0), 7-51/2, to win the League 6-goal title.

Mike Davis was Most Valuable Player after rallying his team. Perez, 9, played by Phillips and bred by Los Machitos, was Best

Playing Pony.

But the day belonged to Nick McClelland, who not only made his 6-goal tournament championship debut but won his first career polo tournament in front of family and friends.

“This was a blast,” McClelland said. “I thought we had a good shot to win but Altair is well-mounted and has great players. It was a hard-fought battle.

“I think the key was a team effort,” said McClelland, who moved to Palm Beach from New York City two years ago. “I think we had sort of a strategy going into it. Kris is our captain. He got us organized and Sebastian Merlos is our coach and he had a strategy.” It was Kampsen who got McClelland into the tournamentlevel competition.

McClelland started playing polo a few years ago at Mashomack (N.Y.) Polo Club and started competing this year in tournaments.

Bushwood started reeling in Altair Polo at the mark when Kampsen banked a goal off the goal post to trail 3.51/2 and then blocked Phillips penalty-four attempt in the air. Davis scored to give Bushwood the lead for the first time, 4-31/2. Merlos added another goal for a 5-31/2 lead at the end of the third chukker.

The teams played evenly in the fourth and final chukker, 2-2, with Bushwood keeping the lead. Brandon Phillips led Altair Polo with four goals. Leo Mandelbaum added one goal. Altair received half goal on handicap rating.

During the winter season in Wellington, Grand Champions hosted 19 tournaments, the most of the club in the U.S. The highlight of the schedule is the second season of the 26-goal World Polo League featuring at least 11 teams and most of the best players in the sport.

The club attracts a large international field of players from all corners of the world including Australia, Chile, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Argentina, Canada, Ecuador, Brazil, Switzerland, France, Germany, Uruguay, Venezuela, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Nigeria and England.