Texas - That Polo State of Mine

As most have come to know, our action/romance movie, Of Kings & Cowboys, centers around Cutter McCallum, a young, hot-headed Texas rodeo star who finds his way into high-goal international polo.  I have wanted to write an entry to this blog, since its inception, on Texas and polo, and the relationship.  Those in the polo community need only hear the name Cecil Smith to understand why Texas is a key area in the world of polo.  For others, perhaps you are not as familiar.  I recently came across an article online from the Wilson County News (as in Wilson County, Texas) which I think does a good job of quickly summarizing the rise of Texas in polo prominence.  Here's an excerpt:

 

Polo grew along the East Coast of the United States and was an Olympic sport by the 1930s, and crowds in excess of 30,000 regularly attended international matches at the Meadowbrook Polo Club on Long Island.  By this time, the sport had made its way to Texas, where it found a natural home among ranchers and cowboys. Yet, Easterners felt it too sophisticated a sport to be mastered by such rough players. The East Coast “horsy” set received their comeuppance and Texas players earned international respect when Llano cowboy Cecil Smith led his team to victory in the 1937 U. S. Open Championship tournament held at Meadowbrook.... After Smith’s debut at Meadowbrook, the USPA would tip its hat to a parade of South Texas cowboys who would earn ratings of 7 goals or higher, including Smith’s son, Charles.  The Barry family would produce three players rated over 7 goals by 1948.  Joe Barry would follow in his father’s footsteps, achieving a 9-goal rating by 1972.  Ray Harrington Jr. started his career “cowboying” on Texas ranches and not only achieved an 8-goal rating, but became a legend as a horseman and polo player.  The Armstrong Ranch produced Stewart Armstrong, who reached 7 goals in 1988.  And almost 50 years after Cecil Smith ruled as the 10-goal king of polo cowboys, Texan Tommy Wayman assumed the 10-goal crown. 

 

Polo truly came home to Texas in 1979, when the USPA granted permission to Steve Gose’s San Antonio polo club, Retama, to host the U. S. Open Championship.  The open was held at Retama for eight consecutive years. This period reversed the trend of Texas players leaving the state with an influx of the world’s best professional players moving to the San Antonio area....The son of a California veterinarian and 9-goal player, William “Corky” Linfoot achieved a 7-goal rating while playing at Retama.  He lived in Sutherland Springs and his daughters attended school in Stockdale until the family followed polo back to California after Retama’s decline.  The Azzaro family followed a similar path. Mike Azzaro (left) achieved 10 goals and still resides near Sutherland Springs when he is not playing professional polo around the world...The Retama polo club declined with financial difficulties in the late 1980s, leaving polo in South Texas in a stalemate for several years until Andrew Hobby built a polo field on his ranch near Lockhart.  Hobby’s Spencewood Polo Ranch has reintroduced polo to the San Antonio and Austin areas and is home to many local players whose polo careers started at Retama under the tutelage of the great Texas cowboy polo players.

 

For those of you interested in knowing more about Cecil Smith, here is a great NY Times article written upon his passing in 1999 at the age of 94.

 

(One particularly sad note is the recent passing of the once 6-goaler Bobby Barry, son of the former 9-goaler Roy Barry...both from Texas, and nephew of the former 9-goaler Joe Barry (mentioned in this quoted article above) who also passed in the past year.  I did not know Bobby, but certainly knew of him and had hoped he might have been in our film as an umpire.)

 

Cutter McCallum in Of Kings & Cowboys, is not modeled after any one of these Texas stars, but perhaps a little like all of them.  If they'd concur, I'd be honored.  Ride on.