Auckland Polo Club

The Auckland Polo Club is a historic polo club in Auckland, New Zealand. Founded in 1888, it hosts many national and international tournaments, including the annual BMW Polo Open.

Location

It is located in Clevedon, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand.[1][2] The Wairoa River flows nearby.[1]

History

It was founded in 1888, making it the oldest club in New Zealand.[3][4][5] It is affiliated with the New Zealand Polo Association.[6] It is a reciprocal club with the Guards Polo Club in England.[7] There are five polo grounds.[1]

Sir Maurice O'Rorke, who served as the fifth Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1879 to 1890, was the Captain of the club.[8] Other early players included Thomas Morrin, Major Geoffrey Buddle, E.C. Meysey-Thompson, T.C. Williamson, and T. O'Sullivan.[5]

The club has 200 members, 61 of which are polo players.[2] They won the New Zealand Savile Cup in 1976, 1977, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1990 and 1993.[5] Every year from October to March, the club organizes four matches a week.[1] It also hosts the annual BMW Polo Open Tournament.[9][10]

The club president is Tony van den Brink.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Auckland Polo Club: About the club
  2. 1 2 Clevedon: Auckland Polo Club
  3. ↑ Horace A. Laffaye, The Evolution of Polo, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2009, p. 54
  4. ↑ Geoffrey Rice, Heaton Rhodes of Otahuna: The Illustrated Biography, Canterbury University Press, 2008, p. 63
  5. 1 2 3 Horace A. Laffaye, The Polo Encyclopedia, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2004, p. 22
  6. ↑ New Zealand Polo Association: Clubs Archived February 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Guards Polo Club: Reciprocal clubs
  8. ↑ Chadwick, Joseph (1906). Men of Mark in the World of Sport in New Zealand. Brett Prtg. & Publishing Company. p. 243.
  9. ↑ Auckland Polo Club: BMW Polo Open
  10. 1 2 Georgina Bond, Polo open hopes to inspire resurgence for 'sport of kings', National Business Review, February 23, 2013
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