NZ Polo Open

Polo News

Auckland Polo Club to Host New Zealand’s Top Polo Event

6. February 2024

Next Tuesday 13th February marks the start of the 47th NZ Polo Open tournament in Clevedon with 30 teams competing throughout the week in various grades. In the high-goal, six teams will contest in very competitive polo to secure a place in the renowned NZ Polo Open final, to be held at Auckland Polo Club on Sunday 18th.

Polo is one of the world’s oldest sports originating over 2000 years ago in Persia as a training game for cavalry before becoming a national Persian sport played by nobility. Eventually spreading to India where the modern-day game was established by British soldiers, who can be credited with advancing polo worldwide at the height of the British empire. Military officers imported the game to Britain in the 1860s and soon made its way to New Zealand. Auckland Polo Club was established in 1887, the country’s largest polo club and host to the sporting and social event of the summer, NZ Polo Open.

Founded in 1977, NZ Polo Open is cemented on the global polo circuit, attracting overseas polo professionals to play with the best of New Zealand’s polo talent.

“We have a great line-up of teams this year and the international professionals have arrived from global polo hubs, Argentina, England, Australia and South Africa,” says Lucy Ainsley, Executive Director of NZ Polo Open. “It will be by far the best and most exciting polo played this year.”

Amongst the players taking to the field, Captain of the English Polo team, James Harper will play in the Brinks team while his son Will Harper will compete in the Rodd & Gunn team.

Paco O’Dwyer in the Ecogas team returns from Argentina for his sixth NZ Polo Open and Australian Lachie Gilmore, son of polo legend Glen Gilmore will play for Kim Clifford Distillery.

Jack Spilsbury from Harrismith, South Africa who recently turned 17 is the youngest player ever to compete in NZ Polo Open. Spilsbury grew up playing with his family and plans to make it as an international polo professional.

“I am really looking forward to the Open. I’m playing some nice NZ horses and am feeling good about our team,” says Jack Spilsbury, who will play in the Cambridge Grains KHS team with Clevedon local James Worker, one of the country’s most experienced players Craig Wilson, and accomplished polo sportsman, Thomas Hunt.

Clevedon brothers Edward Elworthy-Jones and Henry Jones will compete against each other while the formidable duo of Kit Brooks and NZ’s best polo player John-Paul Clarkin, of Tiger Polo team will be defending their NZ Polo Open title.

“NZ Polo Open has never looked this good,” says Ainsley. “With plenty of action on and off the field, we can’t wait for everyone to join us next Sunday.”

NZ Polo Open Teams 2024

nzpoloopen.com

Next Tuesday 13th February marks the start of the 47th NZ Polo Open tournament in Clevedon with 30 teams competing throughout the week in various grades. In the high-goal, six…

Europe, Polo News

Countdown to NZ Polo Open

20. January 2022

The Social and Sporting Event of the Summer Sunday 20^th February 2022

Excitement is building with only a month to go until New Zealand’s most famous polo event, the BMW NZ Polo Open to be held at the Auckland Polo Club in Clevedon on Sunday 20^th February.

This year marks the 45^th year of this prestigious event with five teams competing for the nation’s top polo trophy.

While the event will be without international polo players this year, the calibre of the teams will be particularly competitive promising to deliver an exhilarating showcase of the best in New Zealand Polo.

For the first time since the event was founded, two South Islanders will each captain a team. Cantabrian’s Pete Dormer and George Cooper-Dixon will travel north with their horses to compete.

This will be Christchurch based Cooper-Dixon’s first appearance on the Auckland Polo Club field and third for Dormer.

Dormer captained the NZ Polo Open winning team in 2016 and has another strong team this year. Joining Dormer will be local Auckland based James Worker, renowned polo sportsman Cody Forsyth and the talented and currently NZ’s highest ranked player, Thomas Hunt.

Clevedon’s Jones’ family, synonymous with polo will represent with 3 Jones players, with Edward Elworthy-Jones being the youngest player in the tournament at just 18. The Keyte brothers Simon and Nick will take to the field together and Waikato’s ‘Mystery Creek’ dynamic duo of JP Clarkin and Kit Brooks having won the NZ Polo Open 3 times together will be one to watch.

“This summer has been fantastic for New Zealand Polo, with the weather allowing play to start earlier than usual. All our teams are ready and waiting in anticipation for our biggest and most coveted tournament of the season,” says BMW NZ Polo Open Executive Director, Lucy Ainsley. “Team practices have been running since early January, so the BMW NZ Polo Open games are sure to be nail biters as plays and tactics have been a long thought-out process for the teams this year. It will without doubt be the best polo that will be played this season, followed by players joining our guests for a night of celebration on the polo field under the stars, there really is no polo or event like this.”

To complement the action on the field, there will be plenty of exceptional hospitality and side-line action with an exciting new twist on Fashion at the Polo. The ‘Horsepower’ race between a BMW and a polo pony will be sure to entertain just before the main polo match.

BMW NZ Polo Open Prizegiving. © BMW NZ Polo Open 2022

PROGRAMME: BMW NZ Polo Open 2022 – Sunday 20^th February – Auckland Polo Club Clevedon

11.00am:	Gates Open
11.30am	Game 1 Handicap Final
12. 15pm	Stomping of the Divots
12.30pm	Game 2 Handicap Final
1.15pm	Stomping of the Divots
1.30pm	Game 3 Handicap Final
2.30pm	Remix Magazine Fashion at Polo
2.40pm	Veuve Clicquot & Makers Mark Dashs
2.45pm	Horse versus Horsepower Race
3.00pm	Parade of Champions
3.15pm	BMW NZ Polo Open 2022 Final
4.00pm	Stomping of the divots
5.00pm	Presentation on Clubhouse Lawn
5.15pm	George FM Afterparty – Heineken Lawn

The Social and Sporting Event of the Summer Sunday 20th February 2022 Excitement is building with only a month to go until New Zealand’s most famous polo event, the BMW NZ…

Asia, Europe, North America, Polo News, South America

NZ Polo Open set for a spectacular event

12. November 2019

The sporting and social event of the summer

It is an exciting time for the nation’s most prestigious polo tournament, with the announcement of BMW as lead sponsor for the 43^rd NZ Polo Open, to be held in Clevedon on Saturday 22^nd February 2020.

The NZ Polo Open has earned its reputation as the sporting and social event of the summer, set in the picturesque Auckland Polo Club grounds, attracting big crowds and showcasing competitive polo at its best.

“We are thrilled to have BMW as our lead sponsor,” says Lucy Ainsley, Executive Director of the BMW NZ Polo Open. “Our 2020 event is shaping up to be the best yet and our partnership with BMW will take the event to the next level, with more side-line action and extra glitz and glamour. It has been a fantastic few months planning, I can’t wait for everyone to see it come together in February.’

The NZ Polo Open is a highlight on the global polo circuit for professional polo players and the calibre of sporting talent taking the field in February will be exceptional. Six teams will compete for the coveted trophy and along with NZ’s best, polo players will arrive from England, Argentina, Australia and South Africa especially for the tournament.

Side-line highlights will be the much-anticipated BMW versus horse race and for those keen to dress to impress entries are open for Fashion on the Field. The Ladies Veuve Clicquot magnum dash and the Men’s Rodd and Gunn dash will give the crowd a chance to compete on the field. The Flagship VIP Polo Lounge (320m2) is open to public sales for the first time and will offer a similar experience to England’s ‘Royal day at the polo.’

George FM will host the afterparty on the Chukka Lawn and for music fans attending Six60 there will be a bus from the polo grounds to Western Springs

“The BMW NZ Polo Open offers spectators an exhilarating polo experience second to none and is the perfect place to be with friends or clients,’ says Ainsley, “The fusion of sport, fashion and entertainment makes it a great day out for all ages.”