Welcome to the 2018 Spring Polo Season at the Willow Bend Polo Club!
After a year of fun, high quality and competitive polo, we are looking forward continued successes into the 2018 spring season. With our Board’s suggestions, we are ready to implement some improvements, most notably, improved scheduling of polo games to more fully engage all levels of play and provide exposure to the Friday afternoon events for all levels. Additionally, we remain committed to developing a unique and inviting Friday social experience for our current and potential members. Our Board is also committed to the growth of our polo school to facilitate the sport of polo to new players within our region. .
The 2017 season was a concentrated effort to demonstrate the benefits of a unified and centralized Club, managed by a full time Polo Manager dedicated to providing a sustainable, friendly yet competitive environment. Throughout the spring and fall season we saw 114 league games and untold amount of practice at all levels and thanks to our players, we were able to cover the costs of play (excluding field expense) 100% by greens fees. .
But first, we would like you to join us in a THANK YOU to our gracious field owners who individually carry the financial load of maintaining their fields. In addition to the Willow Bend fields and partner field at Stonebriar Polo Club, the leagues were played on Mokarow Farms fields and John Muse’s field at Lakeshore Polo Club for a total of 6 fields. With more and better polo, the Club and partner fields will surely continue to make strides towards improving playing surfaces for the upcoming season. .
For 2018, our overarching focus will be one of inclusion, making polo sustainable for the future depends on cultivating and maintaining players at all levels and growing our membership. Therefore, this year we will try a new format of scheduling for both the 4 and 8 goal leagues. Depending on participation, we plan to play the leagues over 3 weeks and utilizing more flexible scheduling, we hope to encourage players and pros to participate in both leagues. By staggering the games, we will be able to reduce back to back play and have the finals of both leagues played on Friday afternoons.
Our Advisory Board met in December and weighed in with suggestions for the 2018 budget. Again, this year we have included several USPA tournaments at both the 4 & 8 goal levels and included the cost of a USPA umpire and EMT for most play. Accordingly, based on the Board’s Budget and our best estimate of participation, below please find the 2018 Greens Fees for each level of play.
We will be sending out more detailed information in the upcoming weeks, however, we wanted to get you a general overview of our Spring schedule and associated membership dues, so you can start making plans for another memorable polo season at Willow Bend Polo Club NOW!
SCHEDULE OVERVIEW
PRACTICE/CLUB CHUKKERS: Wed/Sat/Sun
Start – Saturday, March 31
End – Sunday, July 1
* Wednesday practices will not start till April 18th
6-8 GOAL:
Start – week of May 1
End – Sunday, July 1
2-4 GOAL:
Start – week of May 1
End – Sunday, July 1
SPECIALTY TOURNAMENTS
USPA Congressional Cup (6-8 goal)
USPA Constitutional Cup (2-4 goal)
Independence Cup (2-4 goal)
Rosemary’s Cup (6-8 goal)