Y E S T E RY E A R S
Memory fields Players reminisce about their PCO victories By Megan Kozminski for the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club
Vic Graber, John Stringer, Dick Walker and Hershall Banham compete in 1954.
In honor of 110 years of polo in Santa Barbara, we uncover some undocumented memories behind the prestigious Pacific Coast Open tournament. The memories from the field, the team dynamics, the opponents, the ponies, and ultimately, the win. Based on interviews with past winners, we shed new light on the exciting unwritten memories of players who battled in tournament finals to win the ultimate: their names forever etched onto the prestigious PCO trophy.
58 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N
A Polo Passport A native of Hawaii, Ronnie Tongg caught the polo bug at a young age from his father Ruddy, who had a vision of polo as a passport to the world. The 1962 PCO was one of Tongg’s first big wins alongside his mentor Billy Linfoot, the legendary Bob Skene, and Ronnie’s childhood friend from Hawaii, Harold Merck. Later that same year, the team of Ronnie, Billy and Bob traveled to Chicago and won the U.S. Open—with Roy Barry Jr. playing
