High octane, high calibre polo kept punters happy at Doug Jennings Park for 2018 Polo By The Sea

THE sun was shining, the champagne was flowing and the guests were dressed to impress at a transformed Doug Jennings Park for Polo By The Sea. Here’s what you missed.

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Fashion on the fields winners, Callum Casserly and Rosanna Relton. Picture: Jerad Williams

CLASSIC polo, well-dressed punters donning heels, hats, suits and scarfs. Stomping divots, a high octane sprint race, DJs and dance floors completely took over a transformed Doug Jennings Park for the 2018 Polo By The Sea event.

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Jessica Bamford, Donay Meijer, Carley Willmot. Picture: Jerad Williams

The at capacity event saw 2500 people make the most of the beautiful Gold Coast weather for one of the most highly sought after events on the Gold Coast social calendar.

MORE PHOTOS: HUGE CROWDS AT POLO BY THE SEA

Guests were treated to enthralling action from some of Australia’s best Polo players throughout two games, as well as a plethora of exciting activities off-field.

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Ladies Dash winners Sarah Farmer, Emily Powell and Yandell McEnroe. Picture: Jerad Williams

Members of the crowd went toe-to-toe in the dash ‘Dash’, where both men and women demonstrated their physical prowess. The women’s winners running for their lives to clinch specially made signs and a goodies bag, while the men got dirty to claim some next level headwear.

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Male Dash. Picture: Jerad Williams

Fans made an experience out of “stomping” the divots — made from the horses in the event’s opening game — back in place, to help keep the ponies and players safe before the main event.

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Kasey Sturgess, Isabella Gabrielli and Georgina Gabrielli. Picture: Jerad Williams

The dress code suggested a summer casual with clean looks and smart detailing.

Judges Vanessa Marven (Hugo Boss Australasia), Astro Ciobo (wife of Federal Minister for Trade & Tourism), Chantay Logan (Editor The Eye), Natalie Decorte (Brand Ambassador Polo by the Sea) and Kimberly Gardner (National stylist for David Jones) had their work cut out for them when more than 100 punters lined up for the Fashions on the Field events in both the men’s and women’s categories.

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Fashion on the field winner Rosanna Relton. Picture: Jerad Williams

For Rosanna Relton a fear of feeling “too extra” was short-lived, after she took out the women’s top prize with her white Zimmerman top and pants.

“I said to my girlfriends, ‘I feel like I over-estimated my confidence in wearing this’,” she said. “But apparently I didn’t, it was very unexpected, but very exciting.”

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Chelsey Grbcic and Cas Bennison. Picture: Jerad Williams

“I’m definitely a big fan of white, it’s really one of my best colours. I wanted to be cool, but also warm. I saw a top like this online, but they’d sold out in my size, so I went looking on all the rental sites for something similar and I found this one. It’s Zimmerman, and I absolutely love it. I just paired it with some white pants, and outfit done.”

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Picture: Jerad Williams

Judges loved Rosanna’s “understated glam”.

“We love the pant for a winter’s day, even though it was quite worm,” judge Natalie Decorte said.

“She was dressed really appropriately for the polo — and she just looked beautiful. Classic, very polo, and it was a really easy choice.”

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Fashion on the field winner Callum Casserly. Picture: Jerad Williams

While a throw together job for Callum Casserly paid some handsome dividends.

“Today was not planned, what makes it even better was the fact that I literally put this together in my wardrobe hanging things next to each other and thinking does that look good, does this not look good?,” he said.

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Brittany Baldwin and Mitchell Clough. Picture: Jerad Williams

“I literally threw it together and thought ‘does that match? No, it doesn’t — I’m wearing it’. That was my secret.
“There’s a lot of good looking guys at the event and the thing is, polo fashion is very different. You need to be aware of that.

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Supercar driver James Courtney racing polo player Polo player Jordan Lamaison. Picture: Jerad Williams

“And my shirt is very bold. You have to be a confident guy to wear this shirt I think. It stands out, and it did obviously today because I won.”

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Harriet Coxon, Madeleine Epstein and Isbella Epstein gather around polo player Morgan Ruig. Picture: Jerad Williams

GET A NEW TABLET WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE TO THE GOLD COAST BULLETIN

The judges agreed it was Callum’s shirt that tipped him over the line.

“We were looking for something lighter for the polo, something a bit more casual than that racy look,” Chantay Logan said.

McLaren Gold Coast Polo by the Sea. Marty Ingham (white #3). Picture: Jerad Williams

“Callum had the lovely linen jacket, and it really suited a winter’s day on the Gold Coast.

“The patterned shirt was definitely a big factor, it’s something you can have a little more fun with. We wanted to see a bit of personality. I guess with suits they can all start to look the same, so the shirt was a standout.”