Page 174 - AGC-Journal-2016

AGC JOURNAL 2016

AGC

Polo Tour 2016

Compiled by Major Janet Johnston from the tour diaries of all members of the team

The AGC Polo Team travelled
to Absolute Polo, Underberg,

South Africa from 22 April
2016 to 2 May 2016.

Off to South Africa

It was a typical grey and miserable English Polo Training in The us with the two ponies that most suited us
April day when we departed Tidworth and that we would ride for the rest of the
and headed for Heathrow, our journey Beautiful Drakensburg week. Chukkas in the afternoon involved
regularly peppered by the ‘ping, ping, Brett and Terence splitting us all down
ping’ of excited messages in the AGC Polo The next morning the 12 AGC players of into three fairly evenly matched teams,
‘WhatsApp’ group. To everyone’s relief varying abilities ranging in Rank from plunging the newer members of the team
we all arrived on time and boarded the Private to Lieutenant Colonel arrived at straight in at the deep end. To the delight
plane with no issues; we were off. We the Underberg Polo Club. We were met of everyone they rose to the challenge
encountered just as few problems on the and welcomed by our head coach and superbly. The traditional sun-downers
other side although we slipped swiftly into owner of Absolute Polo, Brett Watson (a watching the sun set behind the truly
Africa time and therefore our departure South African capped polo player with a spectacular Drakensburg Mountains left
from Johannesburg was delayed slightly by handicap of five goals). In order to cope everyone feeling blissfully content and
the casual and gentle way the hire car staff with the larger than average group, Brett rather smug about the hideous weather
went about giving us our cars. The journey had enlisted the assistance of Terence everyone was having back in the UK.
from Johannesburg to Underberg consists Spilsbury (another South African capped
largely of two roads, so is incredibly simple polo player with a handicap of four goals)
and rather scenic through the Drakensburg who owns BroPolo and had travelled down
Mountains; however, it is a long one. Very from Harrismith with his string of ponies.
tired we finally arrived, checked in to our The morning was taken up with riding and
hotel and after a much deserved drink or stick and ball practice which allowed the
two crawled into bed. coaches to assess our ability and match

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