The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
Hopefully it is not all down hill from here. The stock market went down 250 points + but the Sun came out in Santa Barbara just after 1 PM. That is cool and unusual in June. Sometimes the first day of Summer ends June gloom but not often. Well the day may have been the longest, but everyday from now on is so important to Polo people for the Winter which starts just after the shortest day of the year which is Dec. 21 or some say 22 nd not sure who is right.
We have a unique, but also troubling future for Winter Polo in California. Here is a closer look at it from my perspective.
Since 2008 we have been in a major downhill run and it is not very pretty. The facts are there for us all to see. We had nearly 65 teams in 2007 and a lot of fun even though it was down from earlier in this century. Nearly 1/2 of what it was, we had well over a 100 teams in the 4 leagues offered then, but things have changed.
First El Dorado was sold for mega bucks … then not sold. It feel out of contract. It was the scene of the graveyard and there nowhere to go (play polo) but there. In all honesty no one to blame really as the owners of El Dorado often referred to as the “Lake Farm Owners” were all past 50. Maybe 2 are under 60 and Polo was not their entertainment any longer. And of course the new people just enjoyed playing polo and not purchasing land or the club. The shovel was set and so far it has not stopped.
Rumors and stories about the future of El Dorado Polo Club are great, but one funny story is they will get 800 grand from Goldenvoice (who may buy the property) to put into the club. That is great, but that amount of money can only fix one of 3 major problems if executives do not take too much of it. Irrigation, Polo fields or Stabling are all problems currently. Whatever they fix will eat up all the money and that just solves one problem, not all 3. This is all based on if it sells to Goldenvoice which will not be known until late August or early Sept.
So nothing will get fixed this year and by then the days are a lot shorter. El Dorado did do something smart lately if this other rumor is true. They hired Graham Bray to be their Polo Manager. He will help a lot as he can get along with anyone, but it would take the Lord to fix all 3 problems with this # and a decade of rot. I really feel Polo in CA needs some God Father’s to get it back on track and Indio has one in the form of Al Haagen (owner of Empire Polo Club). He is next door to El Dorado, but remember John Goodman when Palm Beach Polo was going down … well look at it today. John maybe having hell, but Polo is smoking and only one Man made it happen … JOHN GOODMAN.
There are so few people who love Polo and who have the resources to make it happen and I think Al is our John Goodman. They know they are not going to make money at polo, yet they do it … why? I have no idea. But they do. Its great to be Loyal like Chicago Cubs fans, they are always there but across the street are the Chicago White Sox who were World Champs. In Polo you are the Player not the Spectator. You have the fields, the beauty and the fun or the fun the beast and the undesirable facilities.
I am not judging your thoughts, but I do think with Graham running El Dorado and Empire next door, unless management makes it impossible, this maybe the point that the desert can return. Because what Haagen is doing is not just good, it is World Class. We could see a bigger change in the desert than Coachella because Empire already looks better than IPC in Palm Beach. I am not slamming El Dorado. but like West Palm Beach Polo and Royal Palm Polo it is going away. And like all of us … learn to live with it and ENJOY IT.
see ya