The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
We would really like to hear where you are all playing this summer as it seems the path to CA must be blocked. California has the best weather, some great polo fields, the beach and most of all NO RAIN. For some reason we still are not getting many visitors in terms of polo players. WHY ? That’s what I want to know. I know a lot of people go home for Summer Polo. Like up in the North East. Why not? It is nice and it is home and all that, but what about the Southern part from South of the Mason Dixon Line? Come mid June it is not ideal polo weather and CA has a lot of exciting venues. San Diego is a great location to play polo if you are looking for a family holiday. Cerro Pampa @ Petaluma if you want to be close to San Francisco and the tech world of Silicon Valley. These two places are party centers to match anywhere. Santa Barbarais where there is no better weather and the polo fields are good and the lifestyle is above and beyond normal needs. It is a holiday destination at + 45 minutes from Hollywood and Rodeo Drive. With all of this to offer polo players, we are still starving for teams. Can orwWill you tell me WHY? I am not going to try to change your mind, I just want to see how we can make it a place to be and to play polo in the summer. There is no reason why we cannot have the best polo in the world this time of the year. July and August could be the high-goal season. We have the fields, the people and most of all, the climate. No other polo destination can compete with this combination and you will never get rained out. You would have 2 tournament games every week … where else can you get this? It costs less than NY, FL or the UK by far and for some reason still we are in the dark. I want to change it and I need your help. I will not publish your opinion if desired. I will, however, take the credit for a good change. I have been coming here since 1976 and have never seen it so slow. I’ve never seen it so good in terms of nice fields, great places that are safe for children and a lot of activities for when you are not playing polo.
TELL ME!
In the world of polo, Alegria comes off an amazing final @ the U.S. OPEN. Valiente had a masterful year winning 2 of the Triple Crown Tournaments and just falling short in the 3rd. These two Patrons Julian Mannix and Bob Jornayvaz are a big reason for North American Polo staying alive at all in the West. Bob put Colorado on the big league map and supports so much polo in Colorado during Summer. He is also a big reason why polo is staying strong in South FL. His son Robert, is also likely to soon be seen much more as he finishes his studies.
As for Julian and his family, well what can you say. They are Canadians who have been a big part of building polo and supporting it at El Dorado, Calgary, Florida and now in Pilar, Argentina. I think Julian may be the youngest Patron to win the U.S. Open in 50 years or longer maybe. I’m not sure how old James Uihlien was in like 1975, but close and Andy Busch in 1990, but I believe Julian to be about 22 or 23. A lot of firsts for the Canadians. Young Fred was the first Patron to challenge for Palermo Open finals. Now Julian becomes top of the class in North America. He may be headed to Europe soon. All of this goes back to the Big Mac Fred Mannix, who makes it happen and their lovely Mother who made them nice men.
See ya in California and I hope it will not be raining.