BMW Polo Open 2015

Overview

Come 10:30am on Sunday the 22nd, the 48th annual BMW Polo Open will be filling Fisher Field in Clevedon with made ponies, mallets and exceptionally well dressed bystanders swivelling sparkling wine of some description.

Polo is and has mostly always been a sport of kings. The earliest record of polo being played as a sport stretches back to the 6th century BC in Persia, where it quickly established itself as an aristocratic pursuits. After a few centuries of playing polo, the game spread across other parts of Asia - India, China and even Japan. It was there, in India, where British soldiers discovered the sport, and then appropriated it into Western society, where it has since its induction been seen as an aristocrats' game too  - Princes William and Harry both play, for example.

It may look rather fancy and intimidating, but once you get into it the game is pretty addictive to watch and pretty simple to understand. Each team tries to score as many goals as possible, using long mallets to wack the ball into the opposing team's goal.

Besides the adrenaline-inducing game itself, a day at the polo is also just darn fun, and pretty great excuse to get dressed to the nines and sip on champers while the summer sun's still out. Oh, and did we mention there will be a horse vs car race?

Win a double GA pass to the BMW Polo Open by commenting below or emailing auckland@concreteplayground.co.nz with the subject line 'POLO', tell us an interesting fact about polo, and your name and contact details.