One Sunday match remains in Sarasota Polo Club season

Matt Lemmons moved with his family to Lakewood Ranch in 2007, but he brought them to the Sarasota Polo Club for the first time April 23.

"Since 2007, we have passed it a bunch," Lemmons said. "These are beautiful grounds, and it has a cool vibe. We will come back."

The Lemmons family only will have one more chance until December as the season concludes April 30.

Lakewood Ranch's Chris Schack said the season went past in a snap.

"The season begins (in January) and you are going through playoff football, and next thing you know it's 100 degrees out. We only went three times during the season and we should be going more. They do such an amazing job with this place. It is one of the reasons we love living in Lakewood Ranch."

East County's Alison Selzler was celebrating her 40th birthday with family and friends at the polo fields on April 23.

"I ride horses — not polo — so we love coming here," she said.

For the first Sunday since a fire destroyed the clubhouse on the west end of the main field in January, the charred remains of the clubhouse had been removed. No rebuilding plans have been announced yet by James and Misdee Miller.

"I can't wait to see what they will do with it," Selzler said.

Lakewood Ranch's Tracy Day and Carol Frazier and Sarasota's Debby Greer and Nella Travers became friends when they all joined 3 Form Fitness in Waterside Place to work out. They began going to dinner together, but they wanted to do something different, so they planned a trip to the polo club with their husbands and a few other friends they have met through the workouts.

Frazier said they brought their husbands to the polo club "to carry their coolers."

She said the group was having a wonderful time and added that they would plan better next season so they could attend it more.

"We are learning from those who are around us," she said of the many tailgaters.

"Watching horses, who doesn't like that?" said Travers, who was wearing a hat covered with red flowers that she had made for a Kentucky Derby fundraiser last year. 

Hanna Hornung, a 14-year-old who played for the North South Wealth Management/ Avalon Farms team in the April 23 main match and will play again on the final day of the season April 30, said she is looking forward to next season so she can continue her improvement.

"I definitely want to keep playing," she said before the April 23 match. "I just need more training, and to play more games."

She scored the game's first goal on April 23.

Brent Hamill, who owns a ranch at the polo club, scored the game's second goal for the Whiskey Pond/Columbus Realty team, said he will take most of the summer off before getting some specialized polo instruction and then playing in Argentina in the fall.

"It's amazing how fast the season goes," he said.

It was Hamill who called 911 after seeing smoke the night the clubhouse burned.

"I was so sorry to see that," he said, saying the Millers' renovation of the building had just been completed and was beautiful.

Like many of the Sarasota Polo Club members, he said he is very interested to see if the Millers rebuild the clubhouse at its current spot or if they make some changes.