Andres Weisz in action
Photo by David Lominska

Polo

Five Questions for Andres Weisz

By Sarah Eakin

     Andres Weisz has made his way in the sport of polo with help from family and those he will always consider friends for the breaks they gave him. Though his family didn't play polo he was exposed to the sport in the locality where he lived and chance played its part in shaping his life as a professional polo player.
     Now an established 6-goal player, Andres, 37, is married to Heather Brinkmann-Weiss and they have three small children, Christian 7, Mackenzie 4 and Isabella Clare 2 and are based in Wellington Florida in the winter and the northeast in the summer at the Bridgehampton and Southampton Polo Clubs.
     Andres and his father-in-law Ted Brinkmann and fellow polo player Merle Jenkins joined forces several years ago in search of land for a new polo club. They found a perfect place and in conjunction with the now owner/developer of Hobe Sound Polo Club Groves 14, LLC - a partnership between Robert Whitley and Tucker Frederickson and Rockwood Capital Corporation the Hobe Sound Polo Club was formed.

Sidelines: How did you get involved in polo?
AW: Growing up in Mar del Plata in Argentina, my family never played at the local club until my father found out that a neighbor had set up a polo school. I began to ride at the age of 12 and play polo at the age of 14. My father made a lot of sacrifices to help me get started.

Sidelines: When did your first professional break come in polo?
AW: When I was 16 I was called by Luis Lalor and went to his farm in the middle of nowhere in Argentina to work. I learned a lot and I am very grateful to him. Luis brought me to the States to play for Cellular One in 1990 - my first job, playing for Adam Lindemann's team. I got MVP in the International Gold Cup.

Sidelines: Are there others that have made a big impact on your career?
AW: I later went to Greenwich to work for Achilles Guest for three years and Frank MacNamara took me to Southampton Polo Club. He was very supportive of me and I have a lot to thank him for.

Sidelines: How did the idea of Hobe Sound Polo Club come up?
AW: Unfortunately Wellington is going to be taken over by development and we were all interested in finding some land for a new polo club. We talked to a lot of people and settled on trying to find a spot close to the ocean to draw people. After a year and a half to two years we were almost getting discouraged until we met Bob [Whitley of the Whitley Development Group] and Cotter Christian. Meeting them made it happen. When we told them about our idea for a polo club they said 'that's it' and agreed to develop the Hobe Sound Polo Club on the land they had available in a prime location in Martin County. The Bear's Club is one of many premier golf course developments that the Whitley group has been involved in. The place sells itself. There is nothing necessary to say85 In three weeks we had reservations for 26 lots under contract at Hobe Sound Polo Club and so that also speaks for itself.
We were so lucky because there is no place better to have a polo club than right there just inland from the ocean. It's going to be family-oriented polo club. You have the beaches 10 miles away, no traffic and 20 acres for a lot - I don't think it gets better than that. There are 8000 acres of state park surrounding us. It's a no-brainer for people who like horses, for people who like peace.

Sidelines: You are going into partnership with Adolfo Cambiaso at Hobe Sound Polo Club - what are your plans?
AW: It is the greatest opportunity to have Adolfo Cambiaso as a partner and a great honor to have Adolfo join as a member of Hobe Sound. He visited the property with me last winter and immediately liked it for its location, its dry land and potential as a base for his horses coming from Argentina.
We will spend downtime during the winter season at the Hobe Sound Polo Club to ride and practice horses that Adolfo will bring over from his embryo-transfer breeding program in Argentina, to train and market in the United States.
The potential of the Hobe Sound Polo Club has opened up a lot of new opportunities for professional players. We are going to run a first class operation.

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