The first record of a polo game in Aiken dates to
March 27, 1882, in the Charleston News and Courier. Just six years
after the introduction of the sport to the U.S., and four years
before the first Westchester Cup matches in Newport, Rhode Island,
Aiken had already been dubbed the "Newport of the South." It was the
winter home of many of polo's pioneers, including Thomas Hitchcock,
W.C. Eustis, and Harry Payne Whitney, teammates on the Meadow Brook
team that won the Senior Championship in 1897 and '98; and later
Devereux Milburn, who would team with Whitney and the Waterbury
brothers to win the Westchester Cup for the U.S. in 1909, '11, and
'13.
It is hard to imagine a family having a more lasting impression on
a city than the Hitchcocks had on Aiken; they made a permanent
preserve of the Hitchcock Woods, the largest urban forest in the
country; established the Winter Colony, an area on the south side of
town where grand mansions line red clay roads left unpaved as a
courtesy to the horses; and founded the Aiken Prep School, whose
alumni include the Bostwicks, Pete (8), Charlie (6), and Rick (6);
Alan Corey, Jr. (9); the Gerrys, Ebby (9), Bobby (8), Eddy (5), and
Henry (5); Phillip Iglehart (7); the Knoxes, Norty (8) and Seymour
(5); Jimmy Mills (8); Billy Post (8); J.C. Rathborne (7); Jules Romfh
(6); and Charlie Von Stade (8). Many of these great players learned
the game from Mrs. Thomas Hitchcock, who got them started with
bicycle polo at Aiken Prep and then taught them polo on what was then
the "Meadow Lark Field" and is now the sand ring next to the Whitney
Polo Field.
The Whitney Field, which may be the oldest in the country, was
actually built by Thomas Hitchcock and later sold to W.C. Whitney,
who established a permanent land trust for both the field and the
racetrack surrounding it. The Powderhouse polo fields are now also a
part of the Whitney Trust, all but guaranteeing polo a lasting place
in the life of the city.
One of the first things that attracted the equestrian classes to
Aiken was the climate, with mild winters and early springs. The soil
produces grasses ideal for horses, and the area remains a center for
equestrian activities of all sorts, with hundreds of horses in
training each year. The Aiken Triple Crown, held each spring,
involves flat racing, steeplechase, and polo. The Winter
Colony has become increasingly popular with carriage driving
enthusiasts in recent years, due in large part to the unpaved roads;
some trails in the Hitchcock Woods have also been upgraded to
accommodate carriage traffic, though bicycles and motor vehicles are
still prohibited.
Training polo ponies has been an Aiken tradition for at least 90
years, beginning with Fred Post in 1912. Post was a legendary
horseman in his day, and his son, Billy, went on to be an 8-goal
player, as noted above. The tradition continues today with the
establishment of training facilities by Owen Rinehart, Adam Snow,
Tiger Kneece, John Gobin, Justin Pimsner, and others.
During the "Golden Age" of polo, and through the 1950's, Aiken was
the winter capital of polo in the U.S., prior to the establishment of
the Gulfstream, Royal Palm, and Palm Beach polo clubs in South
Florida. Games in excess of 20 and even 30 goals were commonplace.
Nowadays, Langdon Road Polo and New Bridge Polo and Country Club hosts 16 and 20-goal tournaments in the
fall and the spring, and the Frances Post Santamarina Cup continues
what one hopes will be a new tradition of high-goal benefit games.
The first of the recent series, held to help preserve the historic
Winthrop Field, featured two 25-goal teams and ended in a 14-14 tie.
The remarkable statistic from that game was that the two teams
combined took only four knock-ins, and one team did not have a shot
go wide until the sixth chukker. The Aiken Preparatory School
Challenge Cup, held each year, boasted two 32-goal teams, and
raised the level of polo on historic Whitney Field to a level not
seen there in decades.
Article Courtesy of
William Matheson.
