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A Growing Number of Fields
Interest in polo waxed and waned over the years, and many California
teams expressed their reluctance to play in Santa Barbara until a good turf
field was developed. Nevertheless, polo fields proliferated. Mrs. Esther
Fiske Hammond’s estate boasted an open field that did duty as an airstrip,
golf course, and polo field where her daughters honed their skills. More
and more, women became interested in the game as players.
In 1908, Santa Barbara acquired another polo field when Milo Potter
of the Potter Hotel arranged to lease the new golf course, clubhouse,
and polo field being constructed by the Pacific Improvement Company,
which owned Hope Ranch. With this field and the Leadbetter field not
ready for use until the 1910 season, however, polo was on the wane. Polo-
starved fans came out in force in February 1910 despite the long distance
of the Hope Ranch fields from town and the hazards of travel. The press
reported, “A large number of autoists journeyed out to the field and
watched the game. Four of these were stuck in the mud when turning off
the new roads, and to get them out it was necessary to enlist the services of
several other machines.”
Regardless, polo was once again in the forefront of Santa Barbarans’
minds and the season was successful.
The Bartlett Polo Field
By 1913, efforts were being made to establish a turf polo field in
Montecito. William H. Bartlett Sr., who had amassed a great fortune as a
grain broker in Chicago, had retired and bought land and built homes for
himself and a son on the west side of Middle Road. Bartlett also secured
an option on 34 acres east of Middle Road, and a new Santa Barbara
Polo Club was organized to lease the land from him. Francis T. Underhill
designed the clubhouse and worked with Richard Tobin to lay out
auxiliary structures and two polo fields.
Construction proceeded slowly. Forty thousand cubic yards of earth
needed to be moved in order to achieve two perfectly level fields. The
clubhouse and a reviewing stand were completed in 1914, but the turf had
to be well-established or it would be damaged by play.
On April 1, 1916, the
Morning Press
headlines screamed, “FINEST
POLO FIELD ON EARTH THROWN OPEN.” Continuing with
(above) View of polo field from the Potter Club House circa 1910
(Courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum)
(below) Automobiles and horse-drawn carriages line the polo field at Hope
Ranch for an up-close view of the action. On the hill behind stands the
clubhouse. Note the young trees on Las Palmas Drive.
(Courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum)