The final leg of the Gauntlet of Polo is under way. The U.S. Open Polo Championship started on Wednesday 26 March at the National Polo Center in Wellington and runs until 20 April, closing the American high-goal season.
The shape of the competition
The U.S. Open brings together teams in the 18 to 22 goal range, and it is the biggest prize in American polo. Each of the winners in the earlier legs arrives with confidence. La Dolfina/Tamera, with Adolfo Cambiaso, won the C.V. Whitney Cup 11-10 against Coca-Cola, and Park Place took the USPA Gold Cup 10-9 in overtime against the same opponents. Coca-Cola, beaten in both finals, will be desperate to put that right.
A tournament with a long memory
The U.S. Open was first played on 20 September 1904 at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. In that first game, The Wanderers beat the Meadowbrook Freebooters. The USPA has organised it from the start. After the first running, the event lay dormant until 1910, when it returned with a field of five or six teams, depending on which account you read.
- It went on to find a long-time home at Meadowbrook Polo Club in Old Westbury, New York.
- It later moved to Oak Brook, Illinois, from 1954, and spent time in San Antonio, Texas.
- Since 2004, the centenary year, it has been played in Palm Beach County, Florida.
What to watch
Cambiaso is chasing more records here. He turns 50 in April, and he has been a regular in the late stages of this tournament. Park Place are the obvious threat, with Hilario Ulloa and Louis Hine in great form. Keep an eye on the younger players too, because the Wellington grounds have a way of producing new stars every spring.
As ever, the tournament is a huge test of horsepower. The ponies have now played two months of high-goal polo, and the teams with the deepest strings tend to come through in April. Teams have to manage their best mounts carefully across a month of fixtures.
We will bring you semi-final and final coverage as the competition reaches its climax.
Sources: Wikipedia, U.S. Open Polo Championship, USPA, U.S. Open Polo Championship 2025
