By Alex Webbe
Polo veteran Bob Puetz, of Mountain Center, California, has been named as the General Manager of the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club according to Dan Walker, President of the club’s Board of Directors.
Puetz will be replacing Ariana Nobel, who has operated as the club’s General Manager for the previous three years. Ms. Nobel is stepping down to have her first child but will be returning in the position of club Marketing Director in June.
Puetz, a native of Chicago and a regular on the polo scene in the Midwest, began his professional polo career in the 1980’s at the Oakbrook Polo Club in Oakbrook, Illinois. Over the course of his playing career he achieved a 5-goal field handicap and a 7-goal arena rating. In the course of his career he has played polo across the country, in England, Jamaica, Mexico and Canada. Over the years he has played on winning teams from the United States Arena championship to the prestigious Butler Handicap, competing at every level of the game.
He might be best remembered as the Polo Manager and General Manager of the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California from 1989 to 2002, during the heydays of polo in the desert. Initially assigned the responsibilities of managing the polo operations, including marketing and recruiting of members, scheduling, stabling, billings, collections, etc. he soon found himself assisting in the planning and development of the Empire Polo and Events facility, overseeing the design and development of five separate events areas including indoor and outdoor facilities, night lit polo fields, expansive gardens, bar and restaurant and an executive golf course all located on the 200 acre property.
For the last ten years Puetz was the vice president of Brand Management for Wave House Holdings in San Diego, California, a restaurant and event facility that features food, spirits, music and simulated surfing machines in a Southern California beach setting.
His return to the polo community will be well received as many of his former teammates and opponents continue to compete. His familiarity with not only polo operations but club management, budgets, hiring, training and supervision of various departments will serve him well as he takes the helm of one of polo’s most respected venues.