History

The New Zealand Polo Association formed in 1890, one year after Captain Savile (Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General) presented a trophy to be “played for annually by the Polo clubs in New Zealand”.

Still played for as the national club championship, the Savile Cup is one of the oldest sporting trophies in New Zealand.

There are 19 polo clubs throughout the country, and 300 handicapped players. Each polo club is part of one of the three Regional Associations: Northern, Central and South Island.

Most clubs have one or two polo grounds and play two or three times a week from November to the end of March. In the North Island the majority of games are six chukkas except at the lowest grades; the South Island play mainly four chukka matches.

Apart from the Savile Tournament played in early February, the other main tournaments are the Dewar Cup played in December, the Northern Provincial and South Island Classic played in January, the Dom Perignon Open played in February and the Gould Cup played in the South Island in March.

The Australasian Gold Cup was first presented in 1925 to formalise a tournament between teams representing the various states of Australia and New Zealand. In 2005 the Australian Polo Council, at the prompting of New Zealand Polo Association, made it a Cup between national sides of Australia and New Zealand and it was first contested on the new basis at Kihikihi in New Zealand in 2005, but reverted to original basis in 2010.

The Hayward Silver Rose Bowl was presented by E.W. Hayward in 1951 for handicap division of teams competing in the Australasian Gold Cup.

The New Zealand Polo Association, formed in 1890, is the national body for polo in New Zealand.
The main tournament in New Zealand is the Savile Cup for the national club championship.

The 2011 Savile Cup was won by Waimai Piquet Hill.

The BMW New Zealand Open Tournament is held each year in February and is the high-goal championships. Auckland Polo Club is the venue. This tournament usually includes several overseas players and patrons.