Guards Polo Club held its annual, end-of-season awards in the Clubhouse on Saturday night. With a Great Gatsby theme there were feather boas in abundance, a delicious Searcys dinner and Laurent Perrier aplenty. Entertainment was delivered by The Counterfeit Stones, a reminder of the Club’s late Chairman Brian Stein’s rock and roll credentials as he had made the arrangements for this Rolling Stones tribute band to play at the Club. The original date was scheduled for 2022 but had to be cancelled due to the death of HM Queen Elizabeth ll and was rescheduled for the penultimate day of the 2023 season.

The Club’s Chairman Lt Col Sean O’Dwyer paid tribute to Brian in his welcome address and everyone was delighted that Brian’s partner, Platina Tong was among the guests. There was plenty to celebrate as the Club hosted some 604 games this season and welcomed 12 new home elected players to the playing membership.

During the evening John Collins presented his Talacrest Best Young Player of the Year Award to Alfie Hyde. Alfie’s prize is a year’s playing membership of Guards Polo Club, the perfect reward for an strong season. The Club’s other annual awards were:

Best Team: Heiko Voelker’s Tchogan

Most Useful Umpire: Riley Leake

Best Professional: Simon Prado

Most Improved Player: Logan Anderson

Best Player off their Handicap: Rashid El-Ashkar (Limitless Delaney)