Santiago 'Chino' de Estrada
Charlie Pidgley
Glorious Guards What? Guards Polo Clubs’ End of Season Party When? Saturday 12 September Where? A transformed Clubhouse at Smith’s Lawn Why? Celebrate the 60th season of polo at Guards Polo Club Wearing? No whites in sight! Who? Jock & Susie Green-Armytage, HH Kumar Padmanabh Singh, the Maharajah of Jaipur, Bob Jornayvaz, Anthony & Louisa Donovan, Mo Sheikh, Vivek & Shenila Rawal, Stefan Sund, Simon Holland, Annita, Cees & Niels van der Hoeven, Grania Horswell, Konstantin Graf von Schweinitz, Anuschka Bahlsen, Chris & Clare Mathias plus many more Guards regulars © Tony Ramirez/www.imagesofpolo.com Diana Butler The events team at Guards Polo Club brought a little bit of Ibiza chic to the Clubhouse on the last Saturday night of the season, creating a stylish yet relaxed vibe that perfectly complemented the Club’s new-look Chairman’s Awards Evening. Low-slung, white sofas were strewn around the room, while the many occasional tables were crammed with bottles of Laurent Perrier, the Club’s official fizz. A live band encouraged dancing and everyone made the most of the evening to catch up with old friends and make plenty of new ones too. Jock Green-Armytage took centre stage to welcome guests and bestow prizes. Winners included HH Padmanabh Singh, the Maharajah of Jaipur (Best Handicapped Player), Alan Fall’s Mad Dogs (Most Successful Team), Andrew Dechet (Most Improved Player), Roddy Matthews (Best Pro), Marcus Hancock (Most Useful Umpire) and Tissy Van Reyk (Best Member of Staff). Some of the up-and-coming names in the British game – Seb Hancock, Tom Brodie, Faisal Al Rifai, and Charlie Pidgley – stayed late as they had plenty to celebrate. Clearly this has much to recommend it as a game tactic as these boys were on fire the following day, taking the last game of the season, the Chairman’s Trophy Final, into extra time in an edgeof-the-seat game. What a brilliant way to finish such an important season and roll on Saturday 9th April, 2016 when it starts all over again. Bring it on! 104 | The Polo Magazine | Winter 2015/16
Simon Holland