While awaiting the championship match of the USPA Gold Cup, which was due on Sunday March 29, delayed due to heavy rains and rescheduled for Sunday April 5, the much anticipated moment of The Gauntlet of Polo is coming up – the coveted US Open Polo Championship, the most significant tournament of the United States, that will commence on Wednesday April 1, at the National Polo Center (NPC), en Wellington, Florida.
The much anticipated competition will see eleven teams up to 22 goals, compete. Teams will be split in two leagues. Current title holders, La Dolfina Tamera, are among the participating teams. It’s worth to remember that La Dolfina Tamera clinched the coveted silver trophy, in 2025, following a hard fought championship match against La Dolfina Catamount whom they beat 10-8. That day, history was made again – the magnificient Adolfo Cambiaso won his tenth US Open, overcoming the extraordinary and unforgettable Carlos Gracida’s mark, who claimed the tournament nine times.
On the other side, the US Open is one of the three Grand Slams of Polo, alongside the Argentine Open and the British Open for the Cowdray Gold Cup.
The US Open Polo Championship is indeed the crown jewel of polo in the United States. The tournament was played for the first time in 1904, at Van Conrtlandt Park, in the Bronx borough of New York City, and showcased only two teams partake, The Wanderers and The Freeboters. Four 15-minute chukkers were played, with a seven-minute break between each chukker. After a pause, the US Open resumed in 1910, when six teams played at Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island; it remained there for several years until it was relocated it what would be the tournament’s longtime home, Meadowbrook Polo Club in Old Westbury, New York. In 1954, the US Open moved to Oak Brook, where it remained for 22 years, followed by an eight year-stint at the Retama Polo Center in San Antonio, Texas. In the 1980s and the 1990s, it was held in several clubs throughout the United States, until 2004, which marked the centenary of the US Open. By then, the contest was relocated to Wellington, Florida, where it has been held ever since. The U.S. Open Polo Championship perpetual trophy was first presented in 1910. Stolen in 2002, it was recovered a few weeks later and is currently kept in the care and custody of the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in Lake Worth, Florida.
THE ORDER OF PLAY OF THE OPENING DAY OF THE US OPEN IS THE FOLLOWING:
2pm: Pilot vs. The Dutta Corp
5pm: Park Place vs. La Fe
THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH OF THE US OPEN IS SET TO BE PLAYED ON SUNDAY APRIL 26.
US OPEN POLO CHAMPIONSHIP – Teams & Fixture
2026 GAUNTLET OF POLO – FULL CALENDAR
CV WHITNEY CUP
February 13-March 1
Winners: The Dutta Corp.
USPA GOLD CUP
March 4-April 5 (the final, due on Sunday Mach 29, was delayed due to rains, and rescheduled for Sunday April 5)
US OPEN
April 1-26
Foto de tapa, final 2025 US Open, La Dolfina Tamera vs. La Dolfina Catamount, by Agustina Fonda