Polo Is A Year-Round Experience At The Grand Champions Polo Club Story by Julie Unger • Photos by Alex Pacheco
Off Southfields Road, near the corner of Lake Worth Road and South Shore Blvd., lies the Grand Champions Polo Club, with its five sprawling emerald fields. It is a polo venue that often hosts toptier, professional human and equine athletes, as they thunder down the grassy fields, taking aim at the goal. Owned and operated by Marc and Melissa Ganzi, the club is beautiful and elegant, and what happens there is truly special. Unlike other venues, at Grand Champions, polo is played yearround. “That’s what sets us apart from other clubs,” Melissa said. “There’s high season for the horse show and for polo in Wellington, yet Grand Champions extends that season, which is great for the community and all of the local players.” 100
january 2016 | wellington the magazine
Professional players, amateurs, those taking lessons and everyone in between are able to play at Grand Champions, where the Ganzis take pride in teaching and sharing the “sport of kings” with anyone interested. Centrally located in Wellington, Grand Champions is a polo oasis that doesn’t close up shop when “the season” ends. “It’s great for our young American up-and-coming players, as well as our
young professional players, to have Wellington be a strong base for polo both in the season, as well as the off-season,” Melissa said. “We pride ourselves with having polo always be in season in Florida. That’s an important distinction for our club.” Polo at Grand Champions features a distinct fall season, followed by a December/January through June season, with a more relaxed schedule during the sweltering summer heat. The fall season, full of high-goal tournaments, ends with the USPA International Cup and the Carlos Gracida Memorial Legends of Polo tournament. When the polo community lost Gracida in February 2014, the Ganzis acted