Tag archives: polo

Banker Henry Walker is the new president of the Santa Barbara Polo Club. Henry, who I have known for many years, is the patron of the FMB Too! polo team, a club trustee and member of the USPA since 1981. He joined the 117-year-old, Long Beach-based Farmers & Merchants Bank as a teller, and now […]

It has been almost 10 years since Santa Barbara’s Paul Walker died in a tragic car accident, but the pain of his passing still impacts his younger actor brother Cody just days before what would have been his 50th birthday. The Fast & Furious star died in 2013 aged 40 after a Porsche he was […]

Social gridlock reigned at the Santa Barbara Polo Club when it hosted the 114-year-old NetJets Pacific Coast Open with more than 3,000 spectators watching the hotly contested match, with both teams attempting to gain a hat trick. Farmers & Merchants Bank, which won the trophy in 2017 and 2019 under captain Dan Walker, was up […]

Golf clubs replaced mallets when Santa Barbara Polo Club’s Polo Training Center hosted its 5th annual golf tournament at the Montecito Club with 18 teams raising a hefty $100,000 for the Carpinteria-based facility. Players went round the Jack Nicklaus-designed 18-hole course in foursomes during the Farmers & Merchants Bank-sponsored event, although a BMW donated by […]

A profusion of creative and colorful tony tête toppers packed the stands at the Santa Barbara Polo Club for the annual Ladies Day. As usual, I had the difficult job of judging the mélange of magnificent millinery, having learned my “craft” donning my top hat and tails attending the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot races […]

A sold-out crowd of 420, many of them in magnificent millinery, descended on the Piocho Ranch home of the Happy Canyon Vineyard owned by Santa Barbara Polo Club billionaire patron Tom Barrack for the 11th anniversary Santa Ynez Valley Polo Classic that raised around $200,000 for People Helping People, a Solvang-based organization providing human and […]

Homer Montecito owner Terry Pillow popped up with a one-day store at the Santa Barbara Polo Club using his vintage ‘60s Land Rover as part of the impressive props. Terry, former head of Tommy Bahama and Ralph Lauren, displayed his English bridle leather wares next to the club’s boutique. “It couldn’t have been a better […]

On a personal note, I remember Andy Smith, match announcer at the Santa Barbara Polo Club for more than 30 years, who has died at the age of 82. Born in Brentwood, he spent six years in the Air Force, much of it in New Zealand, with the rank of captain. A member of the […]

It was a very in-tents occasion when Santa Barbara’s Polo Training Center hosted its sixth annual dinner for 120 guests at the Carpinteria venue, raising around $100,000. Each year, the 11-year-old organization makes $10,000 grants to UCSB and Westmont polo team members to cover expenses at the Santa Barbara Polo Club’s polo academy. In addition […]

A torrent of tony tête toppers descended on Fieldside at the Santa Barbara Polo Club when social gadabout Rick Oshay and Teresa Kuskey Nowak, founder of the popular La Boheme dance troupe, hosted their third annual Run for the Roses bash celebrating the 149th Kentucky Derby. Known as the Greatest Two Minutes in Sport, the […]

Santa Barbara Polo Club launches its 112th action-packed season on May 7, showcasing some of the most talented players from around the globe. With a record number of teams and players at every level, the season is set to be one of the most memorable in the club’s history. “The club has always been considered […]

Prince Harry’s polo playing pal Nacho Figueras is now part of a Neiman Marcus Christmas present – for a price! For $295,000 the legendary Texas emporium – known as Needless Markup by Dallas denizens – is offering a two-night stay at the St. Regis in Aspen, Colorado, with a private Argentinian Asado dinner by chef […]

The 113-year-old Netjets Pacific Coast Open is considered the biggest polo event on the Left Coast, but this year’s final at the Santa Barbara Polo Club was an absolute cracker with the L.I.N.Y. team, consisting mainly of teenagers, beating the more established Farmers & Merchants Bank, led by two-time PCO winner Dan Walker, 12-11 in […]

Mallets were changed for golf clubs when the Santa Barbara Polo Club’s Polo Training Center hosted its fourth annual golf tournament at the Montecito Club with a record 80 participants raising $20,000 for the Carpinteria-based facility. Players went round the Jack Nicklaus-designed course in foursomes during the Farmers & Merchants Bank-sponsored event, although a truck […]

A sea of colorful hats proliferated in the stands at the Santa Barbara Polo Club when, for the 15th consecutive year, I had the onerous task of judging the mélange of magnificent millinery. Sorting out the torrent of tony tête toppers and choosing three winners was not the easiest of jobs given the sheer number […]

Professional polo player, philanthropist, and movie producer Sarah Siegel-Magness is selling her 61-acre Carpinteria estate for $50 million. Sarah, a regular patron at the Santa Barbara Polo Club with her Dundas team and partner in Smokewood Entertainment, bought the property, a tiara’s toss or two from Bella Vista, the sprawling estate of polo playing hotel […]

It was a very in-tents occasion when Teresa Kuskey, the bubbly founder of the La Boheme dance company, and social gadabout Rick Oshay hosted their annual fiesta bash at the Santa Barbara Polo Club for 175 guests. The fun fête in a giant marquee featured Teresa’s colorful dancers, who led our Eden by the Beach’s […]

The Polo Training Center Santa Barbara (PTCSB) is hosting its annual benefit golf tournament on August 22 at the Montecito Club’s Jack Nicklaus Signature course. The PTCSB is a nonprofit dedicated to making polo more accessible for local youth. Not only does the organization envision the sport’s growth as increased training and collegiate scholarships, but […]

Social gridlock reigned when, after a two-week hiatus, Santa Barbara Polo Club launched its highly anticipated high goal season with four top teams playing in the roster at the Carpinteria equine paradise through September. The 20-goal culminates at the end of August with the Netjets Pacific Coast Open, the biggest tournament on the Left Coast, […]