Month: January 2013

Polo veteran Bob Puetz, of Mountain Center, California, has been named as the General Manager of the San Diego Polo Club.

Puetz will be replacing Heather Chronert, who has been with the San Diego Polo Club for 17 years.  Mrs. Chronert is stepped down in 2011 to retire with her husband in North County San Diego.

Puetz, a native of Chicago began his professional polo career in the 1980’s at the Oakbrook Polo Club in Illinois.  Over the course of his playing career he achieved a 5-goal field handicap and a 7-goal arena rating.  Throughout his career, he has played across the country, in England, Jamaica, Mexico and Canada.  Puetz has played on winning teams from the United States Arena championship to the prestigious Butler Handicap, competing at every level of the game.

He might be best remembered as the Polo Manager and General Manager of the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California from 1989 to 2002, during the heydays of polo in the desert.  Initially assigned the responsibilities of managing the polo operations, including marketing and recruiting of members, scheduling, stabling, billings, collections, etc. he soon found himself assisting in the planning and development of the Empire Polo and Events facility, overseeing the design and development of five separate events areas including indoor and outdoor facilities, night lit polo fields, expansive gardens, bar and restaurant and an executive golf course all located on the 200 acre property.

For the last nine years Puetz was the Vice President of Brand Management for Wave House Holdings in San Diego, California, a restaurant and event facility that features food, spirits, music and simulated surfing machines in a Southern California beach setting.

His return to the polo community will be well received as many of his former teammates and opponents continue to compete.  His familiarity with not only polo operations but club management, budgets, hiring, training and supervision of various departments will serve him well as he takes the helm of one of polo’s most respected venues.