Tag archives: Santa Barbara Polo Club

Mallets were changed for golf clubs when the Santa Barbara Polo Club’s Polo Training Center held its fifth annual tournament at the Sandpiper Golf Club with 76 players raising around $50,000 for the Carpinteria-based facility. A total of 19 foursomes played in the Farmers & Merchants Bank sponsored event, organized by Mindy Denson, though a […]

Social gridlock reigned supreme when more than 4,000 equestrian fans descended on the Santa Barbara Polo Club for the biggest match of the season – the NetJets Pacific Coast Open. Grant Palmer, son of Los Angeles real estate tycoon Geoff Palmer, and his team Antelope led right from the opening chukker against real estate investor […]

It wasn’t quite Monte Carlo, but roulette wheels, blackjack and craps tables abounded on the hallowed Holden Field at the Santa Barbara Polo Club as the lush Carpinteria equestrian facility held Casino Night for nearly 100 guests. “As the NetJets Pacific Coast Open, the biggest polo match on the West Coast, looms large, we try […]

Santa Barbara winemaker Doug Margerum celebrated the launch of his new sauvignon blanc with a boffo bash fieldside at the Santa Barbara Polo Club where the new label is being sold. His “all white” party for 150 guests at the weekend, featured all of his labels, including his popular Rhône varietal M5 and a host […]

After more than 50 years as a journalist and TV commentator, I took on one of my most unusual assignments when the Polo Training Center hosted its 10th anniversary Denim and Diamonds benefit dinner, raising more than $50,000 from the 120 guests in a giant fieldside marquee at the Carpinteria-based polo club. Club president Rhys […]

A positive profusion of creative and colorful tony tête toppers packed the stands and cabanas as the Santa Barbara Polo Club celebrated its 17th annual Ladies Day. As usual I had the onerous task of judging the mélange of magnificent millinery, including the largest, most colorful and most creative, and the day couldn’t have been […]

Polo patriarch and former U.S. ambassador to Jamaica, Glen Holden, who died in April at the age of 96, was honored with a memorial service at the Santa Barbara Polo Club on the eponymously named Holden Field with 600 guests flying or driving in to honor his memory led by his son Jeep Holden at […]

Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry appeared topless in a new image shared on social media last week. The former Dos Pueblos High student was debuting her new album cover and announcing it is titled 143, revealing that the release date is September 20. 143 is code for “I Love You” after being used in the […]

After a two-week lull, Santa Barbara Polo Club’s high goal season launched in luxurious style with the Ferguson Robert Skene Trophy tournament, the local bath, kitchen and lighting gallery hosting a fieldside lunch featuring Petrossian Beluga caviar and Lanson vintage champagne – founded in 1760 and holding a Royal Warrant from the time of Queen […]

Cinco de Mayo took on a whole new complexion when the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club launched its 113th season with the 12-goal Lucid Motors Pope Challenge, a hotly-contested match between Antelope – led by Grant Palmer, whose father Geoff is a L.A. real estate tycoon – and Budweiser beer heir Andy Busch’s Folded […]

A torrent of tony tête toppers descended on the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club when social gadabout Rick Oshay and Teresa Kuskey, founder of the popular La Boheme dance troupe, hosted their fourth annual Run for the Roses bash, celebrating the 150th Kentucky Derby. Known as the Greatest Two Minutes in Sport, the Churchill […]

Divotees were out in force as the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club hosted the second annual Dinner & Divots bash with 110 guests raising around $100,000 for Lobero Theatre Associates’ program to support underserved local youth music education, which also honored the popular theater’s 100th building anniversary. The tented fun fête, a tiara’s toss […]

On a deeply personal note, I remember Glen Holden, one of three founding members of the Santa Barbara Polo Club, who has moved to more heavenly pastures at the age of 96. Born in Boise, Idaho, Glen grew up on a ranch outside of Portland, Oregon, from the age of six where he developed a […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]