POLO MANAGER’S REPORT


THE NEW FIELDS WILL ALLOW SO MANY MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL PLAYERS OF EVERY HANDICAP


lot of semi-mature trees in recent months at Flemish Farm to address the shading problems. We have also added drainage at Flemish and fixed the drainage problems at Coworth Park too. For me, knowing that Guards Polo Club


can successfully deliver so much polo under such testing conditions makes me impatient for our new grounds. Last year, in this same column, I wrote that “we will become the best club in the world – 100% - and will be only club in the world that will be able to host a complete high-goal tournament entirely on its own fields”. I am delighted that ambition is now


a step closer with the opening of the relocated Prince Consort Drive and the start of the major improvement works on The Princes’ Ground. Our grounds project is referred to in


more detail elsewhere in this Yearbook but I do want to stress the importance of this Club having uniform fields. One of


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the biggest results of our major grounds development plan is that players will no longer have to play different ponies for different grounds. In fact, the new fields will allow so many more opportunities for all players of every handicap. This applies as much to the high-goal as it does for the Copenhagen Cup. In fact, I hope that the new grounds will enable us to do more across the sport, working with organisations like the Schools and Universities Polo Association (SUPA). There are 60 university polo teams currently listed with SUPA and they are the future of polo. Although the new


Princes’ Ground will not be ready to play until 2020, the near future is still looking good. We are expecting a similar number of teams in the 2019 Cartier Queen’s Cup as last year and I believe Michael Bickford’s La Indiana squad


will be back to defend his title. However, there will be several new names in the mix, including the Australian David Paradice. There are also some familiar teams making a welcome return after a short absence, including Rashid Albwardy and his Dubai team and compatriot, HH Sheikha Maitha with her UAE team. Fellow female high-goal patron, Corinne Ricard, is also back in the 22-goal mix with her Murus Sanctus team. I am also expecting a similar number of teams to 2018 in the OUT-SOURCING! Inc. Royal Windsor Cup – the most famous medium- goal tournament in the world – and the Hildon Archie David Cup competitions. So with such talent


returning to the Club and hopefully with the weather on-side once again, we will have all the ingredients needed to deliver another incredible season of polo across all of our grounds.


GUARDS POLO CLUB OFFICIAL YEARBOOK 2019


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