It was announced yesterday that professional polo player Hilario Ulloa is set to join a rare club: achieving the highest handicap possible in the sport of polo. The United States Polo Association (USPA) released official handicaps and Ulloa, who plays for the White Birch polo team based in Greenwich, CT, will be raised to a 10-goal handicap starting January 1, 2017. Currently, there are only 10 active players in the world that are ranked with a 10-goal handicap.
At just 30 years old, Ulloa just recently achieved a 10-goal handicap in Argentina after competing with the Alegria polo team. All eyes were on him when he returned to the U.S. to compete in Wellington, FL with White Birch to see if he could also reach the ultimate handicap in the U.S. as well. With today's announcement, the USPA has rewarded his prowess on the field as one of polo's leading scorers.
Ulloa will continue to compete with White Birch, a team that has been called the "Yankees of Polo" for having won more high-goal polo tournaments than any other team in the last 25 years, as the players return to Greenwich Polo Club for the start the summer polo season on June 5th. Although its very rare for a player to achieve a 10-goal handicap, Ulloa follows in the proud legacy of (past and present) White Birch players who have also reached the pinnacle of polo, including Mariano Aguerre, Gonzalo Pieres, Alfonso Pieres, Bautista Heguy, Mike Azzaro, Carlos Gracida and Adolfo Cambiaso.
Watch Hilario in action at Greenwich Polo Club 2016’s Season: Polo matches are open to the public starting Sunday June 5th. Gates open at 1:00 p.m. and matches start at 3:00 p.m.Buy your tickets now!