Audi Polo Gold Cup Circuit: what’s new in 2011
Mountains, sea side resorts and cities. Snow, sand and grass. Skill, entertainment, glamour. Sport, excellence, internationality. Winter, spring, summer. Different factors that invariably lead to one unique result: the Audi Polo Gold Cup
The prestigious circuit, which has been a must on the Italian polo scene for many years travelling to locations and clubs that are part of the “top class polo” itinerary in Italy (among them Porto Cervo, Villa a Sesta and Argentario), presents a 2011 calendar packed with new features.
Three appointments on the calendar, with as many high goal handicap tournaments (top class): Cortina d’Ampezzo, where the event is held on the frozen lake of Misurina in the Auronzo di Cadore area (February 20-27) Forte dei Marmi (April 21-25), which will host the event on the Easter weekend at the renowned Costanza Beach, and Rome (June 27-July 3), at Roma Polo Club’s historic “polo pitch” and night time matches.
The circuit – which always starts with the winter event in the Ampezzo Dolomites – now includes the new tournament in Forte dei Marmi and expands its range of proposals covering the entire landscape of possible match activities. Snow and grass (the peculiar terrain for this sport) eventsLive now extend to include the lesser common “beach polo” formula (played on the beach) included for the first time on the circuit.
But the news does not stop here, because further to the addition of the Tuscan tournament, there is also another debut event to celebrate in the Snow: a match reserved for women only. The women’s game, is scheduled for Friday, February 25, and will certainly be one of the highlights of the 2011 opening event.
Polo has a tradition of holding its matches and tournaments in locations par excellence (the names which most readily come to mind in Europe are St. Tropez, Deauville and Chantilly in France, Cowdray Park in England and Soto Grande in Spain …) but the trio of locations which will host the Audio Gold Cup Circuit eventsLive will undoubtedly impress the patrons (the captains and owners of the team) and players who know what role Made in Italy and excellence play in this organisation.
Keywords: excellence, hospitality and organisation
People all over the world are talking about the tournament staged by the duo Maurizio Zuliani – Claudio Giorgiutti, and it was thanks to the eventsLive in Cortina and the Emerald Coast that Italy made its debut appearance in the World Polo Tour rank.
“Polo is a team sport, that’s obvious, but the fact that this applies off the field too is perhaps not so apparent. Yet, if we look back over the years at the history and growth of the Polo Gold Cup Circuit, we realise that its success, constantly growing over the years, is mainly due to the team that has worked behind the scenes, a team that has contributed and still contributes to its international success. ” Maurizio Zuliani, Chairman of the circuit has no doubts. “The right choices with regard to the important “players”, who worked off the field alongside and as part of our organising committee: first, the sponsors, who believed and invested in this amazing adventure, the local authorities, the players and their ponies, the media and last but not least the spectators whose participation continues to increase.”
The Audi Polo Gold Cup Circuit is a perfect mix of sport and high society, where top-level sport and hospitality blend so perfectly.
“I have been involved in the organisation of snow polo in Cortina since its debut on Lake Landro” – Claudio Giorgiutti explains, President of the tournaments and event technical manager – “and back then I would never have imagined that the event, organised to fulfil a passion of some polo fans from Rome and the patron of the Hotel de la Poste, would have stirred such enthusiasm and become a competition of the highest international level. Cortina Winter Polo now has over twenty years experience behind it and has become, alongside the oldest event held in St. Moritz, the most consolidated snow polo event in the world. Being the technical manager of the tournaments, as well as President, is an exciting challenge which requires top-class professional standards and extensive technical skills. Tournaments like the ones we organise have to keep pace with the highest and constantly evolving organisational requirements. It is clear that the success could not have been achieved without the contribution of the patron and players, who give such a fantastic show on their polo ponies, our sponsors and the local and sporting authorities who, over the years, have readily supported the enormous efforts made by the Organising Committee.”
The Events
Cortina d’Ampezzo – Misurina Lake (February 20-26) hp 12/15
The heritage of the Dolomites, Mount Sorapis, the Three Peaks in Lavaredo and Monte Cristallo, with their imposing height of over three thousand metres, surround the frozen Misurina lake (in Auronzo di Cadore, 1,800 meters) and provide the most breathtaking backdrop for the Cortina Winter Polo event. It is held during the last week of February on the surface of the lake which is covered with snow and adequately prepared by the snow plough experts, with temperatures that can reach twenty degrees below zero during the night. Cortina has been the stage for snow polo for over twenty years.
The first edition was played on Lake Landro in 1989.
Forte dei Marmi – Costanza Beach (April 21-25) hp 8/10
Forte dei Marmi is the favourite seaside destination for the jet set in Versilia, and has always cultivated its relations in the wonderful villas surrounded by pinewood gardens. The tournament is played at popular Costanza Beach on the golden sands that extend along the entire coastline of the popular seaside resort. Since Michelangelo Buonarroti was sent by Pope Leo X in 1516 to the highest mountain in the area “Altissimo” in the Apuan Alps to collect supplies of marble, this material has always accompanied the artistic and cultural history of Forte dei Marmi which, from the 20’s through to the 60’s was not simply a holiday resort, but also a cultural capital frequented by the likes of D’Annunzio, Pirandello, De Chirico, Montale and Marinetti.
Rome – Rome Polo Club (June 27 – July 3) hp 10/12
Roma Caput Mundi and also Caput Polo … The history of Italian polo was written at this extraordinary venue located at the foot of the residential district of Parioli (five acres of gardens in the city centre). Even before 1930, polo was played in the capital, by foreign riders, Italian aristocrats and diplomats. The original Rome Polo Club celebrates its 75th anniversary. The Club’s headquarters has been in the fascinating Acqua Acetosa facility since 1953. The Duca d’Aosta Cup, combined with the Audi Polo Gold Cup, is played at night under the spotlights and is the most important event of polo season in Rome. The date and the calendar packed with a series of eventsLive make the tournament something the enthusiasts never miss.