Willow Bend Polo and Hunt Club, Est. 1973-1996

t with the highest standard of sportsmanship. Polo is a way of life in which tradition is revered & competition is fierce. Acknowledged as being one of the fastest games in the world, polo captivates an audience like no other sport & the game is afoot regularly throughout the entire state of Texas! Come join us and experience the camaraderie and the thrill of the sport of princes and kings. Whether enjoying your fresh picnic on a comfortable blanket while wiggling your toes in the lush, green lawn, seated in your lawn chair or the stands, the choice is yours. No fancy hat required - the attire and atmosphere of polo in Texas is relaxed and comfortable. That is unless you feel like acting out the famous polo event scene from the movie Pretty Woman, then fancy hats, airy sundresses for the ladies and cool linen slacks for the gentlemen will work to achieve your very own polo formal event! Read on to find out how you can saddle up and become an active part of the historic sport of polo. Texans for Polo was founded in part out of respect for Mr. Norman Brinker’s passion for and interest in the sport and camaraderie of polo. Brinker was loved by countless others and touched the hearts of many including my family’s and mine. The amazing true life story of his first wife, tennis legend Maureen Connolly “Little Mo” and her passion to “never give up” inspired me and made a life-long lasting impression on me beginning at the early age of 9 yrs. old. When I first "GOOGLED" the internet for "Norman Brinker Polo," in 2010, I found plenty accounts of his outstanding, transformative, and lasting impact on the restaurant industry. Such as "Norman Brinker, helped put casual dining and salad bars on the American menu with the Steak and Ale and Bennigan’s chains, and went on to transform Chili’s from a small regional hamburger chain into one of the world’s largest restaurant companies, Brinker International." However I was disappointed to find little content about and not one photo of him enjoying his infamous side-time passion he devoted a lot of attention to, and lead to his life-altering injury...POLO! He loved polo so much and was involved on a national level with the US Polo Association so, to the best of my ability, I wanted to share his and his club’s polo history with you. In approximately 1972-1973 Norman Brinker generously opened his Willow Bend Polo and Hunt Club (WBPHC) in Plano, Texas. And by the early 1980’s thousands of polo fans flocked to his Willow Bend Polo & Hunt Club to enjoy polo on any given Sunday afternoon at its fabulous venue with spectacular half time entertainment. Willow Bend not only showcased world-class polo, it was quite an operation! As a young member of Mr. Brinker’s Willow Bend Polo and Hunt Club from 1981-1987, my family and I got to enjoy the thrill of the beautiful sport of polo first-hand in the way Mr. Brinker wanted it to be experienced by polo fans. Wow! It was something else! It had five polo fields (I have been told that in it's earlier years they had up to 14 polo fields at WBPHC!), offered equestrian hunter jumper training, polo lessons, boarding stables, tack shop, locker rooms, tennis courts, an Olympic sized swimming pool, and a clubhouse that had a fine two-story restaurant with a barn facade inspired by Mr. Brinker’s popular Steak and Ale restaurants. They also had a fun summer camp for children that my sister, cousin and I enjoyed attending as little girls. In 1980 and as the club developed and grew, Mr. Brinker and successful Oil & Gas businessman Robert Payne Sr. became business partners of Mr. Brinker's Willow Bend Polo and Hunt Club. Payne’s beautiful and outgoing wife Rosemary, a former Miss Texas, was an accomplished equestrian hunter jumper and was a member of the Hickory Creek Hunt Club along with my youthful grandparents Martin & Marjorie Skaggs and other horse-loving friends – “Tally Ho!” When my mom pointed out Mrs. Payne to me as a pre-teen back at WBPHC I remember thinking "Wow! She is so glamorous." Rosemary still is just as beautiful and so very nice but I am still a little star-struck when ever I see her. Funny how childhood pedestals last the test of time. Mrs. Payne and her daughter Sue played an essential role in developing the clubs popular children’s summer camp and special events for the club and its members. Meanwhile their son Robert Payne, Jr. was busy developing and honing his skills to become the fine professional polo player that he is today. After Mr. Brinker’s unfortunate and dangerous polo accident in Florida during the year of 1993, he was forced to retire from active polo play. Soon afterwards he invited the Payne family that he trusted to take over ownership and management of the Willow Bend Polo and Hunt Club. As Dallas and Plano grew rapidly, former country road FM 544 developed into what we know today as Park Road. And a former railroad easement turned four lane black top road is where the busy, congested North Dallas Tollway now stands. As a result, the demand and need to develop residential and retail real estate in the area began to escalate quickly. Soon the Willow Bend Polo and Hunt Club elected to sell its large expanse of acreage and by 1996 closed its doors as a private country club. A popular and upscale neighborhood now stands where the club’s polo grounds used to be (north of Park Road between the North Dallas Tollway and Preston Road). The original Willow tree that greeted the members at the former entrance to the Willow Bend Polo and Hunt Club in its glory days is still located right where it originally stood, facing Park Road on the north side. In 1996, active and dedicated men and women of the former Willow Bend Polo and Hunt Club, fondly known as “Willow Benders”, helped to form the Las Colinas Polo Club on land managed by the city for equestrian use. The Las Colinas Polo Club was lead by loyal and dedicated CMC Realty executive and polo patron Jesse Pruitt who served as president of the Las Colinas Polo Club through 2009. In November 2008, just seven months before his untimely death, Mr. Brinker and his lovely daughter Cindy Brinker Simmons attended the Brinker International Polo Cup event at the Las Colinas Polo Club. Executives of Brinker International enjoyed a polo match while entertaining their international franchise owners in the beautiful event pavilion at the Las Colinas Polo Club. Brinker was beaming during the exciting polo match between Mokarow Farms and Lucchese that went into overtime! At that time, I was the first ever dedicated Marketing and Events Director employee serving North Texas Polo LLC and the Las Colinas Polo Club, I had the opportunity to get to sit with Mr. Brinker on his golf cart just prior to his presenting the trophy to the victorious Mokarow Farms polo team. I had ten minutes all alone on the polo sideline with my heroine's husband she loved so much. I ceased the moment and asked him what it was like to be married to my hero, "Little Mo" Maureen Connolly. I enjoyed listening to Mr. Brinker tell me about the humble, kind and inspiring tennis legend “Little Mo” and his respect and love for her until cancer took her from him and their two daughters at the early age of 34 years old. We also talked about his love for polo and I promised him that I would do my part to keep the history of his Willow Bend Polo and Hunt Club alive and my public awareness efforts for the sport of polo in the North Texas area active. He was very pleased and in appreciation he gave me his signature warm grin, bright smiling eyes and affectionately squeezed my hand. Several former Willow Bend polo pros and patrons currently have their own polo fields and large horse ranches in areas north of Lake Lewisville, Little Elm and Oak Point, down south in Red Oak and Glen Rose, out west at "Margaritaville" and in Mabank, TX approximately 2 hours east of Dallas is a new ranchette development on and near Cedar Creek Lake, 5S Ranch....gorgeous! My alma mater SMU has a Polo Team that is actively developing new and future polo players of today and tomorrow. Visit “Polo Lessons” on this site for more details about how you or your children can “saddle up” to become a polo player of the future. There is a lot of polo all over Texas, on all levels of play, that occurs throughout the week in the above mentioned areas of North Texas as well as other regions in Texas during our local polo season, May-June and September-November. Stonebriar Polo Club will play year round weather permitting! Texans for Polo exists to honor, respect and promote the many dedicated and talented male and female polo patrons and pros of today that work hard to keep the thrill and the camaraderie of the sport of kings alive and active in Texas. Brinker left a lasting impression on me personally, the sport of polo nationally and all the members and friends of his wonderful Willow Bend Polo and Hunt Club. Therefore, Texans for Polo is grateful for Mr. Brinker’s noble efforts and hopes to help play a part in helping to keep his passion for polo in North Texas alive for all to experience and enjoy. Thanks to the dedication of respected polo professional Robert Payne, Jr. the Willow Bend Polo Club name lives on at his polo fields in Little Elm, Texas and the original Willow Bend Polo and Hunt Club entrance sign now honorably hangs at the entrance to his main barn. For more details, photos, and links related to the above information, please visit: http://texansforpolo.com/AboutUs.html