Grand Champions Polo Club Celebrating 18th Season In Wellington
By Sharon Robb
Grand Champions, the nation’s largest polo club, started celebrating its 18th anniversary during the fall season and will continue for what is expected to be the best winter season in club history.
The World Polo League, now in its seventh year, returns with some of the world’s top polo players competing in 26-goal polo — the only 26-goal polo held outside of Argentina.
Four WPL tournaments are set. They are the Feb. 6-16 All-Star Challenge, the Feb. 19 – March 2 Founders Cup, the March 5-23 Palm Beach Open and the March 26 – April 19 Triple Crown of Polo.
Grand Champions hosted both medium-goal and high-goal tournaments during the fall season and will host even more events during the winter. There will be 6-goal, 8-goal, 12-goal and 16-goal league tournaments, and high-goal tournaments, including the Jan. 30 – Feb. 9 Sterling Cup (18-22 goals), the Feb. 5-22 $100,000 World Cup (0-40 goals) and the Feb. 24 – March 8 Santa Rita Abierto (18-22 goals).
Grand Champions will also host Sunset Chukkers & Cocktails, the Polo School Women’s League at Santa Rita Polo Farm, the WCT Finals and plenty of polo lessons at the Polo School.
The well-organized tournaments attract players from all over the world, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, San Salvador, England, France, India, Mexico, Azerbaijan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, South Africa and the United States.
To finish out the fall season in November, there are several highlight events, including two new additions to the schedule: the Nov. 14 World Polo League Pride Polo Miami and the Nov. 15-17 Beach Polo World Cup Miami Beach. It’s the first time the popular beach polo tournament and WPL Pride Polo are being held in the fall at South Beach.
The Beach Polo World Cup Miami Beach is the largest and most notable beach polo event in the world. It features international teams with several players from Wellington, including Nic Roldan, one of the world’s top players, and more than 120 horses.
Among other November highlights are the Oct. 29 – Nov. 6 USPA North American Cup and Nov. 4-13 USPA National 20-Goal Championship, and the Nov. 23 doubleheader featuring the Legends of Polo Carlos Gracida Memorial and the International Cup.
Grand Champions, with 10 world-class fields, is the only club that hosts two 20-goal fall tournaments. In last year’s International Cup, Spain knocked off previously unbeaten GCPC USA to snap its 11-year win streak in front of a packed house at the Santa Rita Polo Farm.
The family-friendly Grand Champions Polo Club welcomes spectators of all ages. All matches, food and refreshments are free, with the exception of special catered events, and open to the public, as well as dogs on leashes.
Grand Champions and the Santa Rita Polo Farm is the largest and most unique private 102-acre polo facility in Wellington with 212 stalls in nine self-contained barns, two tracks, five climate-controlled tack rooms, a vet room, staff quarters, a guest house and four polo fields with state-of-the-art underground irrigation and a short work arena. The club has 10 well-manicured world-class fields at GCPC and Santa Rita.
The Grand Champions Polo Club caters to men, women and youth polo players at all levels. Its expert staff can customize a complete playing experience, including horses, pros and certified umpires, in addition to lessons and practice sessions as part of the Polo on Demand program. The Polo School is for all ages and ability levels and operates in Wellington year-round.
Learn more about the Grand Champions Polo Club at www.gcpolo.com.
