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.Clevedon: Auckland Polo Club The Wairoa River flows nearby.
History It was founded in 1888, making it the oldest club in New Zealand.Horace A. Laffaye, The Evolution of Polo, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2009, p. 54Geoffrey Rice, Heaton Rhodes of Otahuna: The Illustrated Biography, Canterbury University Press, 2008, p. 63 Horace A. Laffaye, The Polo Encyclopedia, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2004, p. 22 It is affiliated with the New Zealand Polo Association.New Zealand Polo Association: Clubs It is a reciprocal club with the Guards Polo Club in England. There are five polo grounds.
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. Other early players included Thomas Morrin, Major Geoffrey Buddle, E.C. Meysey-Thompson, T.C. Williamson, and T. O'Sullivan.
The club has 200 members, 61 of which are polo players. They won the New Zealand Savile Cup in 1976, 1977, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1990 and 1993. Every year from October to March, the club organises four matches a week. It also hosts the annual BMW Polo Open Tournament.Georgina Bond, Polo open hopes to inspire resurgence for 'sport of kings', National Business Review, February 23, 2013
The club president is Tony van den Brink.
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