At Meadow Brook

As a prelude to next summer's triennial matches with England for the Westchester Cup, polo's No. 1 trophy, the U. S. Open polo championship, played at Long Island's Meadow Brook Club last week, took on added importance. Facing one another in the final were two of the best teams this generation of polo enthusiasts has ever seen. One was Cornelius Vanderbilt ("Sonny") Whitney's Old Westbury four, last year's winner. The other was Greentree, last year's runner-up, backed by his cousin, John Hay ("Jock") Whitney. Old Westbury had two of the three ten-goalers in the U. S.: tactical Yaleman Stewart Iglehart and hard-riding Cowboy Cecil Smith. Greentree had the other ten-goaler, 38-year-old Tommy Hitchcock Jr.,* generally considered the perfect No. 3 player, combining fearless riding and peerless field generalship.

Aided by Pee-Wee Pete Bostwick (called by visiting Argentine players "Leetle man, beeg bump") at No. 1, blond Argentine Roberto Cavanagh (and his Irish brogue) at No. 2, and Jock Whitney at Back, Tommy Hitchcock had demonstrated this summer that he is still the best poloist in the world, despite the fact that he is playing his 26th season of competitive polo. In Meadow Brook's turquoise-blue stands, filled with 36,000 fans last week, there was many a rooter who had staked Tommy Hitchcock against the field.

When word swept around that Old Westbury's young Mike Phipps, playing at No. 1, had come onto the field, directly from a doctor's office, with his mallet wrist strapped to keep a loose tendon in place, it looked bad for Sonny Whitney's side. A few moments later it looked even worse when Sonny was cracked on the forehead by Cousin Jock's mallet, carried to a first aid tent to have the gash stitched together. But, like most poloists who refuse to be downed unless they are out, Westbury's Back was back in the game, after a rest of 20 minutes, with a bandage around his head, carrying on like the spirit of '76.

Although the admirers of Tommy Hitchcock had plenty to crow about (he played his usual slam-bang game), the teamwork of the Greentree side faded under the brilliant strategy of Old Westbury's Stewart Iglehart and the aggressive, precise team play of his mates. From the fourth chukker on, they peppered the Greentree goal--Mike Phipps scoring six times, Cecil Smith eight, Stewart Iglehart two--in a display of well-balanced polo that has seldom been matched anywhere. Greentree, conspicuously outmounted but making exciting play of it until the final gong, scored only seven goals. Experts wondered whether, in the rich kingdom of polo, the great Tommy Hitchcock might soon be dethroned.

* In the half century of U. S. polo, only 15 players have ever attained handicap ratings of ten goals, the game's highest rank. One of the first ten-goalers was Thomas Hitchcock Sr. (1894, 1900, 1901), who captained the first U. S. team that challenged England for the Westchester Cup. Tommy Jr. has been ranked at ten goals for 16 years--greatest feat in polo history.

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