Championship Sunday belonged to Catamount as Scott Devon’s team raised the bronze trophy in triumph following their victory in the historic first high-goal title game at the new International Polo Club Palm Beach. Mike Azzaro and Carlos Gracida combined for 11 goals to lead Catamount over Bendabout 13-10 to capture the 22-goal Joe Barry Memorial tournament championship. Azzaro, one of only two Americans playing at polo’s maximum 10-goal handicap, led the winners with six goals. Gracida finished with five goals, including two in the crucial fifth chukker when Catamount extended its lead from 8-7 to 11-8.

Catamount, which had outscored its opponents 49-29 in the four previous games coming into the final, took a 7-3 halftime lead. Bendabout dominated the fourth chukker as Miguel Novillo Astrada and his younger brother, Alejandro, scored two goals each to cut the margin to 8-7. That was as close as Bendabout got. “We came out a little relaxed and lost our momentum,” said Azzaro. Catamount quickly regrouped and controlled the final two chukkers, outscoring Bendabout 5-3 and never letting them get closer than two goals.

Ten-goaler Miguel Novillo Astrada led Bendabout with five goals, Alejandro Novillo Astrada scored three goals and patron Gillian Johnston added one goal. Catamount patron Scott Devon and 15-year-old Ulysses Escapite, playing in his first high-goal tournament, scored one goal apiece.

“They just beat us,” said Bendabout’s No. 4 Boone Stribling. “They beat every team in the tournament by five or six goals and we came within three goals. They’ve been stomping everybody.”

The tournament is named after American polo legend Joe Barry, who died on May 18, 2002 at the age of 58. Born and raised in Texas, he achieved a 9-goal rating and dominated polo in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. Barry won six U.S. Open championships, three Gold Cups, three Silver Cups as well as the Coronation and Camacho Cup trophies. Barry was a teammate of Carlos Gracida’s on the 1980 championship USPA Gold Cup team. One of the greatest No. 4s in polo history, Joe Barry was elected to the Polo Hall of Fame in 1999.

Sharon Barry, who flew in from Texas for the final, and her son, Joe Wayne, presented trophies to both teams in the post-game ceremonies. High-goal polo action continues on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the International Polo Club Palm Beach stadium. Brigadoon, led by 10-goaler Adam Snow and 7-goaler Tiger Kneece, plays C Spear, which features 9-goalers Matias Magrini and Paco de Narvaez, in an important 22-goal Ylvisaker Cup match.

The Ylvisaker Cup is named after William T. “Bill” Ylvisaker, a polo pioneer who founded Palm Beach Polo and was inducted into the Polo Hall of Fame in 1996.

The polo matches are open to the public. Tickets for the Sunday games are available at the gate beginning at $10 or by calling 204-5687.

International Polo Club Palm Beach is located at 3667 120th Avenue South in Wellington. From I-95, take the Forest Hill Boulevard exit and go west approximately 12 miles. Turn left onto South Shore Boulevard and go two miles. Turn left onto Pierson Road, travel about one mile and then make a right onto 120th Avenue South. The club is on the right. From Florida’s Turnpike, take Exit 93 (Lake Worth Road) and go west about six miles. Make a right onto 120th Avenue South. The club is on the left.