A Day Trip to Greenwich Polo Club’s Butler Handicap
While the action entails thundering teams of horses galloping around the field, it turns out that polo is a genteel spectator sport. An afternoon at the Greenwich Polo Club is an excursion to a day of old fashioned beauty and taste.
The setting is the gloriously green graciously wooded grounds of The Greenwich Polo Club in southwest Connecticut. Invited free of charge, visitors start driving in around 1 pm descending from their cars in various stages of finery ― from elaborate hats and fascinators to natty khakis and blazers and, naturally ― designer polo shirts.
Many guests tote along picnic hampers, foldable tables and chairs, and colorful blankets. For those without elaborate picnics, gourmet refreshments are sold at a “pop-up” bar version of Geoffrey Zakarian’s popular local restaurant The National set up beside the grandstand. Gourmet food trucks offer the likes of buttery hot lobster, wood fired pizza, mini espressos. On this particular Sunday, several guests stood in line for vodka Collins cocktails, free samples served by Beluga vodka.
In nearby tents, vendors were selling souvenirs, clothing by Katherine Hooker (who was judging the fancy hat contest), and Tesla automobiles. Out on the field, people tossed frisbees and batted wiffle balls. One enterprising group was vying in a bean toss game they’d brought with them. It’s a family affair welcoming well-behaved babies and dogs on a leash.
Just before the match, a Tesla driver competed against one of the polo players in a “horsepower” race. At 3 pm it was time for the polo to commence, the official conclusion to a very pleasant afternoon outdoors.
