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hurlinghampolo.com
I P C 2 0 - G O A L S E A S O N , I N T E R N A T I O N A L P O L O C L U B P A L M B E A C H , F L O R I D A , U S A , D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 – M A R C H 2 0 1 7
A C T I O N
DAVID LOMINSKA/POLOGRAPHICS.COM
I P C 2 0 - G O A L S E A S O N
After a stuttering start, things soon began to hot up at the world’s
premier polo destination, reports Darlene Ricker
The 2017 high-goal season at the
International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC)
opened with a big question mark hanging
over the fields. With the club under new
ownership and management, there was
a buzz in the Florida sporting community
– including among a number of patrons –
about what the acquisition by Wellington
Equestrian Partners LLC would bring.
Despite repeated assurances from
managing partner Mark Bellissimo that
‘polo is here to stay at IPC’, no one really
knew how that would play out.
The uncertainty led to some teams
delaying their decision about entering the
tournaments until a few days before the
closing date. Furthermore, top players such
as Juan Martín Nero, winner of the 2016
US Open Polo Championship at IPC with
Orchard Hill, opted instead to compete
in the Dominican Republic. All of this, of
course, caused even more communal angst
about whether IPC would remain the
premier winter venue for high-goal polo.
The 20-goal series started with a field
of three teams in the Herbie Pennell Cup,
in which minimal participation is not
surprising. Every year the tournament opens
between Christmas and New Year’s Day,
making it a hard sell to both patrons and
