Review: St Andrews Charity Polo Tournament

Hunters, Pimms and Polo. Just a typical St Andrews day. Not really, but on Sunday I spent the afternoon feeding the stereotype at the annual Charity Polo Varsity Match, this year taking place between St Andrews and Oxford in aid of Help for Heroes. It could have easily been a spread from Country Life with picnics aplenty at the sidelines where spectators sat enjoying a cheeky glass (or 3) of Pimms.

Even when it did start chukka-ing down (get it?), the erratic weather didn’t do much to dampen spirits, even when gazebos were being blown over by rather strong winds. Food was provided by the Balgove Larder, which sold goodies such as sausage rolls, pies, tarts and sweet treats for surprisingly reasonable prices. And of course it wouldn’t be a summer’s day out without Pimms pitchers and local cider, also being sold by the Balgove. CCW Clothing were also selling discounted Hunters and Barbours (what else), even if most people appreciated the tent as a rain shelter rather than a shop.

The afternoon kicked off with the beginners team playing for the first time on grass. It was a good warm up for the tournament and was a good taster of things to come for the crowd, and Talia Sarafilovic was named Most Valuable Player. The novice section followed with ‘Those Guys’ coming out on top and Theo Varenna winning Most Valuable Player.

There was some brotherly rivalry in the St Andrews vs Oxford game with St Andrews’ Alex Lindsay taking on his brother Jamie, representing Oxford. Despite both players possessing the highest handicaps of any of the other players it was Alex that came out on top (no bias, of course) scoring the goal of the match when he hit the ball and it bounced off his brother Jamie straight into the goal. It was a close match, but ended up with a victorious home team. St Andrews 6 – Oxford 4.5. In case you missed that, we beat Oxford!

Sarah Middlemiss of the Polo Club described the day as a “huge success” and said that “although we’ve still got to do a final count of all the money, I’m confident that we will raise a solid amount for Help for Heroes this year!” On the whole I really cannot think of a nicer way to have spent my Sunday afternoon. Well organised, well priced at £7 and, well, just good fun.

images  © Jessica Norton