John Wash

In just 12 years, Palm Beach’s thriving polo club has gained its place among the best facilities in the world. But, as Enid Atwater discovers, its president of operations John Wash has even bigger plans

ILLUSTRATION PHIL DISLEY

Historians consider polo to be one of the world’s oldest team sports, having originated from the military training exercises of nomadic Persian warriors over 2,500 years ago. The Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame credits the British Army with introducing polo to the Western world in the 19th century, and it is now played in more than 77 countries worldwide. Polo clubs are thriving in Asia, Dubai, South America, England and throughout the United States.

At the forefront of these sits the International Polo Club (IPC) Palm Beach, which has become a leading high-goal facility in the space of just 12 years, with an increasing spectator base that is threatening to burst at the seams.

How do they do it? Of the few elite clubs in the world with the stature of high-goal play, others – such as La Aguada in Argentina and Genghis Khan Polo & Riding Club in Mongolia – have a strong native tradition to draw upon and often a wealth of experience that stretches back generations. One might consider this hard to compete with, but IPC sees it as a mere detail, one that certainly hasn’t affected its ambition.

‘Five years from now, IPC will be the epicentre of polo in the world, eclipsing many of the historical clubs in Europe and South America,’ proclaims John Wash, president of IPC’s Operations. ‘Our goal is to grow the popularity of the sport along with our club. We will continue to attract the world’s best players and teams, while providing the highest standard of spectator experience offered anywhere.’

It’s quite a statement, and the club seems to be true to his intention: in just programming medium- and high-goal tournaments within its grounds, IPC is only targeting serious players.

‘We are honoured to host four 20-goal and three 26-goal tournaments over a 16-week period, from January through mid-April every year,’ says Wash. And with three of the most prestigious US contests awarded to them – the CV Whitney Cup (since 2002), the USPA Gold Cup (since 2007) and the US Open Polo Championship (since 2004) – Wash has some confidence in his claim that IPC is considered one of the best polo facilities in the world.

Having spent nine years so far at the helm, Wash has learnt how to balance the demands of a growing membership (106 in the previous 36 months) with those of its expanding spectator base – which has just increased IPC’s box-office revenue by 185 per cent in just three seasons. ‘The trick is managing a private club that’s open to the public on Sundays,’ he says.

Actually, there’s more to it than that. Wash has operational oversight of the club’s 200-plus acres, which includes maintaining nine perfectly manicured polo fields to meet the exacting standards of the USPA, team patrons and the world’s most elite players. The club has expanded greatly under his watch, with the addition of private-box seating and grandstands, a swimming pool with lavish cabañas, a fitness centre, spa, and a sports centre providing tennis and croquet.

Certainly, high-goal polo demands not only a strong, competitive drive, but also a healthy cheque book. The cost of putting together a team to compete during the 16-week winter season at the IPC is rumoured to cost anywhere from $1m to $3m. Nearly every professional high-goal player in the world – with a 9- or 10-goal handicap – vies to compete for IPC’s prestigious tournament cups, and patrons must negotiate their salary, living expenses, equipment costs and ponies (including transportation, grooms, vets, trainers and barn fees).

For the 2015 season, IPC was visited by four teams with 18-goals, 15 teams with 20-goals and 10 teams with 26-goals – which adds up to almost $200,000 per team in tournament fees.

Certainly, the vibrant growth of spectators at IPC in the past three years is testament to the game’s growing popularity in South Florida. It’s a topic Wash enjoys talking about.

‘At the end of the 2012 season, we took a hard look at our role and the inherent responsibility

of the club to not only grow the sport, but to ignite fresh, new enthusiasm for our Sunday tournament matches,’ said Wash. ‘We set about developing a shift in our marketing that included reaching out to the community of South Florida to engage them in the excitement of the sport.’

Wash commissioned his executive team to become involved in local chambers, businesses, tourism associations, and even school coaching and mentoring programmes. He stepped up publicity efforts on TV and radio, in lifestyle magazines, trade publications, travel guides, online news sites, the society pages of daily newspapers and in equestrian media outlets. IPC reached out to high-profle community charities and hosted special events, galas and fundraisers to thank the community for its loyal support. The approach paid off, and Sunday polo started gaining cachet as the place to be in South Florida. In 2013, Sunday box-offce revenues increased 13.5 per cent from the previous year, and the club earned more than $3.5m-worth of editorial coverage.

By 2014, the club’s Sunday’s brunch and polo experience began selling out every weekend, and general-admission lawn and grandstand seats were gone long before the featured match. The IPC aligned with Florida’s powerhouse tourism agencies and ramped up the ‘game of kings’ as an affordable, entertaining way to spend a Sunday outdoors in South Florida. By the end of the 2014 polo season, box-offce numbers had spiked, with a 133 per cent increase in revenue, year-on-year, for the winter season, and the club had accumulated editorial coverage that was worth over $6.5m.

At the close of the 2015 polo season, Wash is fully aware that IPC has reached its maximum occupancy capabilities for Sunday polo, with standing room only at matches. So what bold new strategies will Wash unveil to explore untapped revenue opportunities and continue to maintain the club’s sell-out Sundays in 2016?

‘We’ve created an incredible buzz about our facility and the excitement of the high-goal competition that is featured here,’ said Wash. ‘We’d like to expand our seating and are looking at different options. Upgrades and renovations that can enhance the spectator experience are defnitely being planned this summer and fall. As for our catering and event facilities, we will look at attracting new events to increase our off-season revenue, and to keep our staff employed all year round.’

So if you’re planning a trip to Palm Beach for the next season of high-goal, don’t let the action in Europe and Malaysia distract you from booking tickets well in advance. If the past three years are any indication, it would be wise to start making your travel plans now. The forthcoming International Polo Club’s season starts on 3 January and concludes on 17 April 2016; internationalpoloclub.com