Danny Walker’s Farmers & Merchants Bank team capped off its summer high-goal season with an exciting double overtime victory in the historic Pacific Coast Open.

The Farmers & Merchants Bank team came away with two wins, including the season finale, but they didn’t come easy. The team began preparing six years ago and this year, went to the mat to bring home the top prize, fulfilling Walker’s lifetime dream.

The Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club in Carpinteria, California, offers polo at a variety of levels, truly something for everyone, from April through October. The high-goal series is the highlight of the season, running from July through August.

The first event in the high-goal series was the Belmond El Encanto Polo Classic. It had two entries: defending champion Klentner Ranch and newcomer Santa Clara. Justin Klentner brought back the same team as last year, including brothers Facundo and Geronimo Obregon and Jesse Bray, which gave it an edge.

Santa Clara included Francisco Escobar and his son Luis joining Mariano Obregon and Joaquin Panelo.

Klentner Ranch flexed its muscle early, taking a 2-1 lead after the first seven minutes. The team just got stronger, tallying eight times in the next two periods while holding Santa Clara to two, ending the half 10-3. Santa Clara regrouped at the half and managed to hold Klentner to one goal in the next two periods while splitting the uprights twice. But, it was unable to make up any more ground. The teams traded goals in the last period, leaving Klentner Ranch the 13-7 winner.

Jesse Bray was named MVP and his horse Curly was Best Playing Pony.

Four more teams joined the fray for the remaining tournaments, beginning with the Karma Automotive Robert Skene Trophy. Klentner Ranch advanced to the final with an undefeated record. Santa Clara, Farmers & Merchants Bank and RH Polo ended the preliminaries in a three-way tie, broken with a penalty shootout. Santa Clara’s Luis Escobar was the only one to find the mark each time, earning his team the other finalist position.

With Klentner Ranch facing Santa Clara, it would be a rematch of the previous final. And it was played with similar results. Klentner didn’t have the frenzy of goals seen in the first half of the earlier tournament, but it still led 5- 2 at the half. A strong fourth chukker saw Klentner jump ahead 9-2. Santa Clara matched Klentner’s two goals in the fifth and outscored it 2-1 in the sixth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the early deficit. Klentner went on to win easy 12-6.

Geronimo Obregon was named MVP and Joaquin Panelo’s Andrea was Best Playing Pony.

The third tournament was the Engel and Völkers Santa Barbara USPA America Cup. Santa Clara took no chances and went undefeated in bracket play to advance to the final. Farmers & Merchants Bank took on Klentner Ranch in the last game of the preliminaries. Both teams had 1-1 records, while the remaining three teams had 1-2 records. The Klentner vs. F&MB match would advance the winner to the final. F&MB sent Klentner packing and readied itself for its first final.

In an email, Walker explained his team’s weakness was patience while it had many strengths. “Horses; best players in the U.S. as a team; compatibility, honesty & integrity; patience, confidence in each other as teammates and that we could win. Never stop pushing; our best two ½ chukkers recorded, we scored 11-1 goals. An amazing moment in an earlier game.”

The Walker family have been staples at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club for 50-some years. Walker’s grandfather, Gus Walker, won his first tournament at the club in 1958. Danny began competing 10 years later.

The final match saw three generations of polo players on the same field. Santa Clara’s father-and-son duo would face F&MB’s 17-year-old Nico Escobar, Luis’ son and Francisco’s grandson, playing the No. 1 position. Still, both teams were eager for a win. From the sidelines, Georgette Escobar was rooting for both teams, her husband and father-in-law on one side and her son on the other.

Santa Clara was hoping the phrase “third time’s the charm” would prove true, while F&MB was looking for its first win of the season. The teams managed to match each other in the first two periods in a tight race. Costly mistakes by the F&MB team gave Santa Clara two chances from the penalty line. Luis Escobar capitalized each time, giving the team the edge it was looking for.

F&MB, however, was not ready to concede. Walker jumped on passes, sending the ball to goal twice to tie the score. Santa Clara fought back with Luis Escobar and Panelo hammering in goals. Criado responded with a goal but Luis Escobar added another to keep Santa Clara in the lead by two going into the final chukker.

Nico Escobar sunk a pair of goals to knot the score early in the chukker. Panelo broke the tie in Santa Clara’s favor but Nico Escobar’s third goal of the chukker leveled the score once again. Criado tipped the scales after pushing the ball over the goal line for the hard-fought win.

Nico Escobar was rewarded for his efforts with MVP honors. “Winning the final was a great experience for me. Playing against my father and grandfather at the club I grew up at was mentally tough for me because of everything they have done for me,” he explained. “I challenged myself to focus and channel everything that I was thinking about and put it out on the field. In the last minute, I was not nervous because we had just tied the game. We used the momentum to go and score the winning goal.”

Lucas Criado’s Bandana earned Best Playing Pony honors.

The teams then shifted their focus to the crown jewel of the season, the Gulfstream Pacific Coast Open. The tournament dates back to 1909 when it was played at the Coronado Polo Club in California. In 1924, it was played at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena. It was not played for again until 1928, when it was held at the Midwick Polo Club in Alhambra. It was played there until 1941. It reemerged after the war at the Beverly Hills Polo Club in Brentwood from 1948-1951. It was not played again until 1962 when it was played at Santa Barbara. It has been played there ever since, with the exception of 1968-1974 when it was not played for.

Walker has played in the Pacific Coast Open since the late 1970s, but it is the only high-goal trophy at Santa Barbara that has eluded him. He explained polo has not changed all that much since he first began competing. “Always competitive, always teams with the best possible horses, the winning team typically had the best strategy and teammates, supported by the polo horse strings. The difference, the horses have become Thoroughbreds and the players have become athletes. The best horses available to each player was supplied, the weekly team meetings, the horse care and teams of grooms for each set of horses is at a higher level than ever before.”

Eight-goal Lucas Criado began playing with F&MB in 2012. “[It was] our worst year. We lost 15 out of 16 games. We decided that year [to make] the appropriate changes, [finding] the best players available with the best horses available,” wrote Walker. “Compatibility between the players [was] important, [as was] the desire to create an environment that allowed the team the best chance to win.”

This season, Walker started with 14 horses, 10 of which came with him to the final. “Each of them did their part in each of the games in order for the team to win. Half of the horses came from Lucas Criado’s farm in Argentina, the other half were horses I raised from birth or from [yearlings],” wrote Walker.

F&MB carried its momentum from the America Cup into the first round of the Pacific Coast Open, edging Sol do Agosto 11-10 in a spirited overtime match. Later in the day, Lucchese stomped Santa Clara 16-7 while Klentner Ranch got the best of RH 14-7.

The second round had F&MB topping RH 13-9, Lucchese slipping Sol do Agosto 13-12 and Klentner Ranch handing Santa Clara its second loss 13-12.

Four days later, Klentner won its third match with a 10-5 defeat of Sol do Agosto. F&MB also won its third match with a 13-9 drubbing of Santa Clara. The preliminary rounds ended with Lucchese getting the best of RH 12-9. Klentner Ranch and F&MB both finished preliminary play undefeated and moved on to the semifinal round. Klentner would face defending champion Restoration Hardware, while F&MB took on Lucchese.

Klentner Ranch advanced with a 12-8 defeat of Restoration Hardware, while F&MB advanced after downing Lucchese 13-8. The final promised to be an exciting match.

The F&MB team had a solid strategy for the final. “1. Win the throw-ins and control the best men across from you with the ball going to [No. 1] Nico Escobar. 2. Defending set plays, Danny against the hitter, Felipe against Geronimo, Lucas against Jesse and Nico against Justin. 3. Offensive set players, Danny against Facundo (I did a poor job and ultimately changed with Lucas who went against Facundo), Felipe against Geronimo, Lucas against Jesse, although he changed to Facundo and Nico alone to receive the ball,” explained Walker.

“Our focus for all the tournaments was a high level of communication between the FMB players, back the ball and utilize our quickness to move past the other team, to shoot on goal inside the 60-yard line if there was an opening, control our fouls, quiet with the umpires, win the game,” wrote Walker. “We entered the game and each chukker never in doubt that FMB was going to win the PCO. Lucas Criado as our captain was relentless with encouragement for each of us. Another reason we were able to outlast the opponent and win all games.”

The final had an anxious F&MB catching the umpires’ whistles, which ended in a pair of penalty conversions for Klentner Ranch early in the match. Lucas Criado put F&MB on the board, but Jesse Bray responded for Klentner. Nico Escobar knocked in a Penalty 2 to keep F&MB close, 3-2. Filipe “Pipe” Vercellino traded goals with Bray in the second. F&MB jumped out front in the third chukker after capitalizing on three open-goal penalty conversions and Criado hammered the ball through the uprights to take a comfortable 7-4 lead at the half.

Both teams were trying hard and the players were marking each other closely. Nico Escobar was unseated after a hard bump and landed on the ground. Later, he was bumped hard again, but this time Geronimo Obregon was the one to come off his horse.

“The first two chukkers we played well. It was really only the third chukker we lost badly. We just fouled a lot in the third chukker,” said Bray.

Fouls continued to be the name of the game in the fourth. First Facundo Obregon knocked in a Penalty 2, then F&MB was awarded a Penalty 1. Klentner converted a Penalty 2 to end the chukker with F&MB ahead 8-6. Facundo Obregon found the mark early in the fifth with a Penalty 6, then he tied it up with a run to goal with 1:55 left in the chukker. Thirty seconds later, Nico Escobar broke the tie.

In the sixth chukker, a Penalty 2 put F&MB ahead by two, 10-8. Geronimo Obregon was fouled in front of the goal, and came off his horse. Klentner Ranch was awarded a Penalty 1, bringing it within a goal. The teams kept battling as the time was ticking away.

Geronimo Obregon headed to goal but was ridden wide, still he managed to neck the ball out of the air, scoring what seemed like an impossible angle shot to level the score with just under three minutes left. Klentner Ranch shot to goal again with 2:05 left, but it went just wide, letting F&MB’s fans breath a sigh of relief.

The teams volleyed the ball back and forth. Walker grabbed a pass and carried the ball on his nearside, but Klentner Ranch stopped his drive and sent it to Bray. That drive was stopped by Criado. Finally, with just five seconds on the clock, Criado was in scoring position with the ball just outside the goal, but was blocked by a Klentner Ranch player. The final horn sounded, sending the game into overtime.

The teams came back out for the seventh chukker and before long, Klentner was awarded a spot hit. Before the penalty was taken, Geronimo Obregon was off his horse with a cramp and Bray was given time for a tack issue. The time out seemed to break up the team’s momentum. With the ball back in play, F&MB was awarded a Penalty 5 from midfield, but a Vercellino drive bounced off a horse. Walker got a hold of the ball and shot for goal, sending it just outside the posts.

A minute later, Geronimo Obregon sent the ball to Bray who shot to goal, but it too went wide. Geronimo made another attempt but Walker hooked him and the ball rolled wide yet again. After a brief time out for a horse injury, F&MB took the knock-in, sending the ball to Escobar. He made beauty of a nearside, but the ball rolled wide by a few inches. Despite the valiant effort, he put his hand over his face in frustration. It seemed no one could find the goal.

With time ticking away, and the players and horses tired, F&MB got a spot hit. Once again, the ball was sent over the backline wide just ahead of the bell to end the chukker.

The tired teams remounted for an eighth chukker in one of the most exciting games in recent memory. The umpire threw in the ball to start the chukker with Criado taking possession, but it was stopped by Geronimo Obregon. Seconds later, Klentner was cross hooked, giving it a chance from the 60-yard line. Facundo Obregon’s shot had the distance but not the direction, rolling wide. Vercellino knocked in, firing the ball far left, but no one was there. Bray took advantage, racing to the ball. Escobar, hot on his heels, hooked him before he could launch the ball. Klentner followed up, backing the ball but Criado was there. He took control of it and forcefully necked it through the goal for the hard-fought victory with 5:51 left on the clock. The F&MB teammates and fans burst into celebration. Despite the disappointing loss, Klentner Ranch could hold its head high after a remarkable effort and a 2-2 season overall.

Lucas Criado was named MVP of the final, as well as the Robert Skene best player of the season. Jesse Bray’s beautiful gray mare, Disney, a 12-yearold Canadian Thoroughbred, was Best Playing Pony. Bray relied on her for a couple of minutes in each of five chukkers. “Disney has a huge heart and never quits. That’s what makes her so special,” said Bray.

Walker was happy with his horses’ performance throughout the game. “Four amazing horses that contributed maximum to the team were Santiago, Josefina, Garapinada and Falucho. Each of these horses either played a full chukker or played three times within the eight chukkers. Santiago and Josefina are siblings and have been recognized for many years as my two best. Garapinada and Falucho arrived from Argentina this year and were large contributors/good horses for our future. They were truly winners as they competed in the PCO,” wrote Walker.

The team’s years of preparations and hard work paid off. “This win was a lifetime dream, a moment that is now a memory. I say to my friends, you need to take moments in life and turn them into memories,” said Walker. “This PCO win in now one of my lifetime memories.”

“I’m so happy, because we have never made it to the final in this tournament,” said Criado. “Finally, we made it to the final and to win in second overtime is crazy! I think both teams deserved it, we made a difference in the beginning, but the game was really tied from the fifth until the very last goal.

“The other team, I’ll tell you, they played tough and they are big fighters, but finally we were lucky today. I’m really happy for Danny too, this is my sixth season with him. So to make it to the final with him and win in second overtime, it was great. I hope it was a good game for everyone to watch.”

Walker reminded me that a few years ago, I asked him for the best team he ever played on. His response was the team that won the PCO with him. We now know his best team!

Having won every high-goal trophy in Santa Barbara, Walker now has his sights set on another Pacific Coast Open victory. “The strategic changes we made this year allowed us the chance to win the PCO ... therefore you should expect the FMB team will again make a run at the PCO. ... we will concentrate on winning each and every tournament played in California, remembering that SBP&RC is Polo in Paradise,” wrote Walker

by Gwen Rizzo