On 11 and 12 June 2011 a team of players from the Singapore Polo Club (SPC) won the BMW Cup 2011 in a hard fought match over the Korean Polo Country Club (KPCC) team with an 11-9 victory.

The resident KPCC team consisting of Lee Joo Bae, the owner of the Korea Polo Country Club, its professionals Noel and Alecs Vecinal and Australian 4 goal professional Mark ‘Charlie’ Field, were struggling on the first day to find their rhythm and finished 6-3 behind after four chukkas.

Despite heavy rains most of the previous day and night, the tifton polo field at KPCC held up extremely well and showed little sign of wear. Owner Lee Joo Bae explained that he didn’t want polo in Korea to suffer from rain cancellations, so he built a large drainage system under the field, laid down a 30cm layer of sand below the grass and added over two feet in height difference to ensure the best drainage possible.

Many distinguished guests and KPCC members from both Jeju Island and Seoul watched the 6 goal polo event on this first day. Argentine ambassador to Korea Carlos Alberto Arganaz said he enjoyed today’s fast flowing match and was looking forward to seeing more polo in Korea.

On the second day, the KPCC team with guest player Leon Chu, President of the Singapore Polo Club playing in the first two chukkas, made a roaring start with their guest player scoring 2 of the 4 goals in the first chukka and bringing the score back to 7-6 for the KPCC team.

The KPCC team held its ground in the second chukka of the day and kept the lead with an 8-7 score. Alecs Vecinal and Charlie Field made fantastic defensive moves stopping most Singapore attacks well before they got to the Korean goal area.

Then, resident SPC professional Sattar Khan, SPC members Isabelle Larenaudie and Stijn Welkers, ably assisted by 2 goal guest player Shaukat Ali Malik from Pakistan, pulled out all the stops and turned the tide to end up with a 11-9 lead at the end of the third chukka. SPC’s Sattar Khan scored 3 goals in as many minutes with runs from the throw-in straight to goal.

The island fog had been playing havoc with the polo plans all day, but at the end of the third chukka, neither spectators nor players could see further than a few metres. With the clock ticking, the organisers decided to finish play at the end of the third chukka, thus making 11-9 the final score and Singapore the winners of the BMW Cup 2011.

Korea Polo Country Club was built in 2009 and 2010 and had its official opening in June 2010. KPCC features a club house with 10 hotel rooms, fitness center, wine bar and restaurant, shop, swimming pool, villas and condominiums designed by renowned Korean-Japanese architect Itami Jun. Other facilities include a polo field, soccer field, covered arena, stables, outdoor arena and a soccer field. KPCC sells real estate memberships as well as polo memberships.

KPCC is located on Jeju Island, South Korea. Jeju is a volcanic island and very popular as a holiday resort and honeymoon destination. The main attractions on the island are the lava caves and a large volcano crater.

http://www.koreapoloclub.com/main/

 

 

 

SPC with JB Lee

 

 

JBLee and Isabelle

JBLee and Isabelle L