Sarasota Polo Club season opens Dec. 31 in Lakewood Ranch

With a new season of polo in Lakewood Ranch only two weeks away, Sarasota Polo Club owner James Miller already is looking beyond the season.

Miller has big plans for the facility, but not enough time to get the polo ball rolling with the season beginning Dec. 31 and running through April 7.

In January, the clubhouse burned down and it took until April to be able to clear the charred remains due to insurance issues. It was an emotional loss for James and Misdee Miller because they had just finished a redesign and renovation of the clubhouse.

"We worked all summer to find a solution for that area," Miller said of the southwest corner of the main field, where the clubhouse stood. "But there was no way to put anything up this summer. Mostly, it was a matter of getting materials. We're still trying to get the electric hooked up there."

Miller said he knew it was going to be a long process, no matter the plan.

"Everybody's backed up," he said. "We still are behind as a country due to COVID. Construction got hit hard and raw materials became astronomically out of reach."

Miller said he won't build a new clubhouse in the same place. The concentration will be on the pavilion on the south side at midfield. That building has a bar area in the center of the building with space for seating all around it. That building would be torn down to make room for a new one.

"My plan always has been to do something at midfield," Miller said. "The ultimate goal is to gain more seating and our club never has had multitiered seating. But we also want a building that is capable of doing more than just spectators on Sundays. We would like a combo clubhouse and event facility."

Miller said he gets many requests from groups seeking an open, larger facility to host 200 to 300 people or more. 

Photo by Jay Heater

"There are no places in the area that can do that other than the Grove," he said.

He can foresee the new clubhouse having "modern glass doors" with three sides being virtually open to the outside.

"Everyone is accustomed to restaurants and facilities that can use the outdoors when advantageous," he said. "I envision a building not unlike what the pavilion is now (with a bar area in the middle of the building with seating all around it). and we also would combine our shopping and retail area (which now is in a different building."

Of course, he wants a second floor on top of that for spectators.

"It eventually will be great to get that second tier so people can get 10-12 feet up in the air and higher. Then you can see polo at his best."

He said most spectators who come to Sunday polo matches are doing so for the social aspect and "that's how we like it to be." But he said some polo fans like to watch all the plays develop which is best viewed at 10 feet or more about ground level.

The only spot now to view the polo matches from 10 feet high or more is the double-decker, London Bus which sits at midfield on the north side of the field. The bus is used as a bar on the first level and for limited seating on the upper deck. Miller said he has given some thought to using that second floor as an observation deck, but he worries that it would create too much of a logjam of people trying to get up there.

Meanwhile, he is contemplating ways to get more shade on the north side of the field.

"The biggest challenge with that side is the sun," he said. "it is a pretty special spot in the middle of all the fields. Shade is not a must, but people are sensitive to the sun. It comes in at a harsher angle on that side.

Where the clubhouse was, Miller said he is adding a 30-foot-by-30 foot bar area this season and he is considering a tented area for that spot as well.

"Perhaps we will have a paver patio there," he said. "That area is not designed to be closed in."

Photo by Jay Heater

While fans will be more interested in seating, bars and food vendors, Miller said they probably won't notice all the work that has been done to the fields.

"We have done a tremendous amount of work with some long overdue improvement to the fields," he said. "Our turf is much healthier."

That might seem odd since the area has been under a drought all the past summer. However, Miller hired golf course superintendent Basil Lowell to oversee the facilities, and especially the turf.

"It is tough to hire people from the golf industry,' Miller said. "Golf is year round. and you don't tear up the turf in the same way. But he has a deep knowledge of turf. and he has a great passion for improving the turf."

Since "Mother Nature is the best provider of irrigation," Miller said Lowell had a tough task this summer when it came to improving the turf. But he said he has gotten off to a great start and that the cooler season will help him in that endeavor.

Miller noted he has purchased "quite a bit" of John Deere equipment, such as new tractors and mowers. 

He said many other plans weren't realized after the fire set them back.

He said the polo club has attracted as many teams as it can handle. While he didn't as many matches as usual last season, Miller said he will play regularly. In November 2022, he suffered a severe whiplash during a match when his horse suddenly stopped.

"I didn't come off, and I caught the momentum with my body, but my head didn't. Some blood vessels broke into my skull and I had some bleeding into my spine."

He continued to play in that match but eventually realized something was very wrong and went to the hospital. He was in the intensive care unit for six days. 

Miller want to develop better social media and traditional press coverage for the Sunday matches so that spectators can "feel they can have a beer with you after the game."

Last week, two Belgian draught horses arrived and will pull the cart that carries kids at halftime. The cart had been pulled by Clydesdales until the past couple of years when a tractor was used.

"Bud and Charley are here, and they are bigger than the Clydesdales. And they handle the climate better."