The Sydney Polo Club is a polo club in

Richmond, New South Wales Richmond is a town in New South Wales, in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. It is located 19 metres above sea level on the alluvial Hawkesbury River flats, at the foot of the Blue Mountains on the Cumberland Plain. It is abo ...

, Australia. It is the oldest polo club in the Southern Hemisphere. The Sydney Polo Club successfully hosted the 2017

World Polo Championship The World Polo Championship is a polo (Horse Polo) competition between countries (Up to 2022, only for men). The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the Federation of International Polo (FIP), and is contested by the national teams ...

It is the premier polo club for competitive polo in Sydney.

Location

It is located at 100 Ridges Lane, Richmond, New South Wales, 2753, along the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...

.Time Out: Sydney Polo Club
/ref> The equestrian facilities include: * 2 undercover riding arenas * 38 premium brick horse stables * Extensive acreage * Pasture managed paddocks * Wash Yards * 3 full size polo fields

History

The Sydney Polo Club was established in the late 1970s by Mr Ken Austin, a well known polo player and contributor to the Australian Polo Council for many years. The Club was based at Menangle Park, NSW. There was an earlier Club of the same name based in Moore Park NSW, Australia. The first match in Australia took place 23 July 1874 in

Moore Park, New South Wales Moore Park is a small suburb located southeast of the Sydney central business district, in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of local government area of the City of Sydney. Moore Park is als ...

, of which one of the players was

Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead Hercules George Robert Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead, (19 December 1824 – 28 October 1897), was a British colonial administrator who became the 5th Governor of Hong Kong and subsequently, the 14th Governor of New South Wales, the first Gove ...

; it led to the founding of the club.Sydney Polo Club: About Us
/ref>Horace A. Laffaye, ''The Evolution of Polo'', Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2009 p. 39

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...

(1864-1941), who composed ''Geelung Polo Club'', was an early club member.Stephen Lacey
Meet the modern-day Jay Gatsby
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 18 October 2013 Peter Higgins, co-founder of Mortgage Choice (), and his wife Rebecca Higgins were gifted the name and trophies of the Sydney Polo Club from Ken Austin in the 1990s after Ken Austin's retirement due to illness. The current Sydney Polo Club is based at

. They have established the annual Sydney Gold Cup. Sydney Polo Club is home t
Riverlands Academy
the top learn to play polo school in the country.

World Polo Championship

The Sydney Polo Club is hosting the 2017

. The Championship rights were awarded to the club itself. This is unusual as the normal process is to award it to a country. The Sydney Polo Club was offered the opportunity to bid because of their unparalleled fields and grounds. The Australian Polo Federation is in support of the Sydney Polo Club. The Championship was run with the support of strategic partner

Destination NSW Destination NSW is a New South Wales state government executive agency established in 2011 to support growth of tourism and events in New South Wales, Australia. The agency falls within the Enterprise, Investment and Trade cluster of New South ...

. Over 100,000 spectators attended the Championship. Argentina beat Chile in the final. Bronze: England Silver: Chile Gold: Argentina

Popular culture

Sydney Polo Club is a popular film and shoot location in Australia. * In 2013, the opening scene of ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

'' was filmed at the Sydney polo club. * Peter Rabbit 2 * Episodes from multiple seasons of The Bachelor Australia including Episode #2.2,#4.10, #5.4 * Episodes from multiple seasons of

The Bachelorette Australia ''The Bachelorette Australia'' is a reality television adaptation of the U.S. series of the same name, and a spin-off of '' The Bachelor Australia''. The series, hosted by Osher Günsberg, premiered on 23 September 2015 on Network 10 Net ...

including Episode #3.5 * Episodes from multiple seasons of Married at First Sight * Episodes from multiple seasons of

Farmer Wants a Wife ''Farmer Wants a Wife'' is a reality television series developed by Fremantle Media. The basic structure of the programme is that a number of farmers are presented with women from the city, from whom they choose one to be their spouse. The f ...

* Mr Inbetween season 2

References

External links

* Sports clubs and teams in Sydney Richmond, New South Wales 1876 establishments in Australia Sports clubs and teams established in 1876 Polo clubs in Australia {{Australia-sport-stub