Ayala Polo Club

Ayala Polo Club

Ayala Polo Club was founded shortly after 1964 when Enrique Zóbel, nephew of Joseph McMicking (founder of Sotogrande), build Sotogrande's first polo ground, known as the ‘Playa’ field, located between what is today Sotogrande’s Real Golf Club and the beach. This field was distroyed by winter storms. Enrique's son Iñigo Zóbel, form ally founded the Ayala Polo Club. In 1967 the polo compititions began with the first four-team tournament. In 1971, the renamed Sotogrande Gold Cup was played for the first time.

Since February 2006 Ayala’s installations have improved; the club now boasts three professional polo fields and three exercise tracks, 1 roofed riding school and three groups of private stables with facilities for 400 horses.

Today the legacy has been taken up by the founder's granddaughter, Paola Zóbel, daughter of Ignacio Zóbel and Maricris Cárdenas.

In addition to the 35 hectares of sports pitches, Ayala Polo Club has 65 hectares of green land that accommodates the many activities during the summer.

Tournaments in 2023

During the 2023 season, Ayala Polo Club will organize a total of 9 tournaments spread over 5 months. Spread over its 7 fields, important competitions of Polo's elite riders and horses will compte form May to September.

Starting on May 18, Ayala Polo Club season opens with the Welcome Cup. The events taking place between between May and June are: KE Sotogrande Cup (May 25-29), the Joseph McMicking Cup (June 1-11) and the Open de España (June 15-25) and the most important events, the Memorial to the founder the Enrique Zóbel Cup (June 29 - July 9) and the Memorial Manuel Prado y Colón de Carvajal.

The prestegious Sotogrande International Polo Tournament will take place from July 24 to August 26. With the Bronze Cup, Terralpa Silver Cup and Gold Cup.

The San Enrique de Guadiaro Cup will take place from August 31 to September 3 and the last event will be the Farewell Cup from September 7 to 10 to complete the season.

In 2022 the Ayala Polo Club  sucessfully organised eleven tournaments consiting of a total of 250 matches. The Ayala Club, had tested its upgraded facilities with an international tournaments in 2020, has stepped up to be the principal Sotogrande Tornament organisors in 2022 committed to organise at least five seasons to 2027.

Tournaments Overview

Spring Polo Festival takes place almost every weekend from late March to mid July. Weekly tournaments typically start on Thursday or Friday and run until Sunday.Tournaments take place throughout the spring and summer months at the polo clubs in Sotogrande.

The most important tournament is Torneo Internacional Polo. This tornament is divided into three tournaments Bronze, Silver and Gold. The tournaments are free events open to the public.   In 2022 the 51st International Polo Tournament is being organised by Ayala Polo Club instead of the traditional Santa Maria Polo Club. Most of the matches including the finals are taking place at the Santa Maria Club Los Pinos grounds in Sotogrande.

In matches played by handicapped players (as opposed to open competition, where handicaps are not considered), the handicaps of all four players are totalled. If the total handicap of a team is more than that of the team against which they are playing, the difference is added to the scoreboard and would begin the match with a two-goal advantage.

The handicap of a player will be written as HCP. The word Alto, Medio or Bajo will be put before the HCP to determine the handicap of the player, Alto meaning high (professionals), Medio meaning medium and Bajo as low (novices).    For a tournament, the total team handicap is counted and teams must have the same total handicap to compete against each other. Usually, a Copa de Bronze is for novices, with Copa de Plata being for higher handicaps, until you reach Copa de Oro tournaments which will be professional players with high handicaps. More about the game of Polo.

Watching the Polo at Ayala

The Ayala Club welcomes spectators during the summer late afternoons evenings; admission and parking is free.  

Contact

Tel: 956 780 106

Location

Club de Polo Dos Lunas
Hacienda de San Enrique, Km 1,
11312 San Enrique
nr Sotogrande
San Roque (Cádiz)