Wellington, FL – July 29, 2017 – The International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC), which was named 2016 Florida Sports Venue of the Year by The Florida Sports Foundation, has started major renovations and upgrades to polo fields 1, 3, 4, 5, and Outback, ahead of the highly anticipated 2018 polo season. Each of the fields have been sprigged with TifTuf Bermuda grass, a one-of-a-kind strain of durable Bermuda grass, which will lengthen the longevity and durability of the fields at IPC.

Raymond Mooney, Head Agronomist at IPC who brings more than two decades of grass and field management experience to IPC, has overseen the entirety of the planting and sprigging process and is impressed with the rapid development of the TifTuf grass in only just a few days.

“TifTuf has been the most impressive Bermuda grass I have seen to date,” said Mooney. “I expect this to be a very good grass for us and a big improvement over Tifway 419. In South Florida, common Bermuda grass will eventually overtake Tifway 419 and I believe that this TifTuf grass will outcompete any of the common Bermuda grasses.”

“The fields did not play to our standards this past season,” said Mark Bellissimo, managing partner of the Wellington Equestrian Partners (WEP). “The challenge is that over the years the fields were overrun with common Bermuda grass. After two years of working with this grass, we decided to make a significant investment in the ensuring that these are the polo fields in the world by replanting five of our primary fields with the best grass technology in the world.”

In evaluations conducted by The National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP), TifTuf Bermuda grass ranked above popular strains of grass in the following categories: Turf Grass Quality, Turf Grass Quality Under Drought Stress, Leaf Texture Ratings, Winter Color Ratings, and Spring Color Ratings. Mooney noted that the performance of TifTuf in each of these categories will improve the overall permanence of field quality at IPC.

“I have never seen sprigs green up and root down as quickly as the TifTuf has on our fields. I expect the grown-in of the fields to go very quickly and be ready for polo way before polo season. I’m always slow to jump on the band wagon of new grasses but the research behind TifTuf is very convincing that it is a turf grass of the future. I’m very excited to get our fields grown in with TifTuf and start next polo season.”

The 2018 IPC season will begin on Sunday, December 31, and continue through Sunday, April 22, featuring three months of the world’s best high goal polo. For more information on the International Polo Club (IPC), please visit www.internationalpoloclub.com.

Field rentals for the 2018 post-season are still available and can be reserved by contacting fieldrentals@internationalpoloclub.com.

Photo Credit ©MaxCohen. These photos may only be used once in relation to this press release with proper credit.