Many
of the top patrons are returning including Camilio Bautista of
Colombia (Las Monjitas), Peter Brant (White Birch), Bob Daniels
(Pony Express), Scott Devon (Catamount), John Hall (Old Pueblo),
Neil Hirsch (Black Watch), Gillian Johnston (Bendabout), Skeeter
Johnston (Everglades), Tommy Lee Jones (San Saba), Michael Price
(Texas Polo), Victor Vargas of Venezuela (Lechuza) and Steve Van
Andel (Orchard Hill). New patrons include Irvin Abell, Ron Juvonen,
Joe Dimenna and Francisco Escobar.
Already acknowledged as the premier high-goal polo club in the
United States, International Polo Club Palm Beach spent the
off-season preparing for another successful season. The club
expanded its stadium capacity, adding 32 boxes of eight seats apiece
and four boxes of six seats at midfield to increase the total to
116, and built two new world-class fields. A new, larger marquee
will overlook Field 2 where the popular Sunday Brunch will be
presented by renowned caterer and restaurateur Barton G. of Miami,
New York and Los Angeles.
“We
are continuing the resurgence of high-goal polo in
South Florida,”
said Michael C. Brown, General Manager of International Polo Club
Palm Beach. “International Polo Club Palm Beach has been
instrumental in creating a foundation for the sport to grow in
popularity with fans, sponsors and players.”
The
club’s second high-goal season has numerous polo and special events
planned, highlighted by the 40-goal Outback Challenge on Saturday,
February 19, which features eight 10-goalers in one game, to benefit
the Polo Players Support Group, and the Miami Project to Cure
Paralysis benefit on Saturday, March 26, with a night polo match
followed by a cocktail reception and dinner. Other special events
include the British Forces Foundation exhibition polo match and
benefit dinner on Saturday, January 22 and the season-ending Polo
Ball gala on Friday, April 22.
The
club is also attracting more major sponsors, including Stanford
Financial Group, Maybach, Bombardier Aerospace, Ritz-Carlton (Palm
Beach), Chopard and Roderer Estates champagne, according to Brown.
Goodman’s International Polo Club Palm Beach has provided a large
base for polo to recapture the magical glory days from the late
1970s and 1980s when the sport flourished in the
United States,
especially in South Florida. International Polo Club Palm Beach is
the first new polo club to be built in decades, and it has fulfilled
a long-standing void for a facility dedicated solely to high-goal
professional polo. Designed in tropical, “Caribbean-Colonial” style,
it combines old-world charm and new-world comfort.
For
information about the upcoming 2005 high-goal season, including the
Stanford Financial Group U.S. Open, call the club at
(561)
204-5687 or visit online at www.internationalpoloclub.com.
International Polo Club Palm Beach is located at
3667 120th Avenue South,
between Pierson Road and Lake Worth Road, in Wellington.
