Enhancement Projects

As the Director of Agronomy at Metropolitan Polo Club, I successfully spearheaded the construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of three international polo fields, all-weather horse tracks, and arenas as well as the construction of the annual World Cup snow polo field. This was a collaborative effort with England’s top polo field consultant, Nick Hallam, Martin Collins construction team who specialize in fiber sand riding surfaces, various local Chinese contractors, and the Polo Club’s management team. This is China’s largest and most prestigious polo club set amidst a 222-acre private estate. The polo club hosted many high-goal International Polo events with the Super Nations Cup, as well as World Cup Snow Polo events with teams from America, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, England, France, Italy, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and China. 

 

The polo fields were constructed with subsoil drainage, two gravel layers, geotextile membrane covering the gravel layer, and two sand layers. Then, the final layer was a rootzone mix: topsoil / sand / peat, which was mixed off-site. The fields were sown from seed with a mix of Kentucky bluegrass, Turf Type Tall Fescue, and Perennial ryegrass. 

 

The snow polo field ultimately was a one-foot-thick block of ice with about 1.5” to 2” inches of snow on top. Due to the adhesive properties of snow and ice over the melt and freeze process, multiple days of grooming the pitch with a snowcat, and the studs on the hooves of the horses, this enabled the snow field to have great traction and be safe for high-speed snow polo.