The Newport International Polo Series returns on Saturday, September 26th at 4pm featuring teams Bentley vs. Rolls-Royce in an action-packed 6-chukker polo match for the season finale.
“While all good things must come to an end, this most challenging of seasons will go out on a high note with plenty of horsepower, on and off the field,” explains Dan Keating, Captain and Polo Series Founder.
The match will be witnessed by a live spectator audience in one of this season’s rare 17 polo matches, still the only attended sporting event in New England since the start of the pandemic.
The polo matches are one of destination Newport’s unique traditions & renown attractions, dating back to 1876 when Newport’s sporting set founded America’s first polo club, among several other new sporting pursuits that became mainstays in the port city, along with Sailing, Tennis, Golf, and eventually Automobile Racing, as lasting American institutions, shaping Newport’s rise to prominence to this day as an international seaside sport and resort destination, and one of America’s most desirable places to live and work.
Attendees are encouraged to submit door prize raffle entries by the end of halftime, for a chance to win a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne.
Color commentary is provided by William Crisp, arguably the most highly respected polo commentator in the world.
Under a State-approved plan of reduced capacity with socially-distanced seating in the Davitt Pavilion, fieldside Tailgates and Picnic Patches on the lawn from which to view the matches at the polo grounds, sold-out audiences have enjoyed the Newport International Polo Series polo matches every Saturday since Opening Day on June 6, where spectators for generations have witnessed the timeless sport unfold across an argyle-patterned emerald green at Glen Farm, home of the Polo Series for the past 28 seasons, in a classic exhibition of horsemanship and valor, with host, the Newport Polo Club,where the home team – Newport/USA – meets challengers each season from around the world and as well as teams representing major US cities and regional rivals.
Safety being a top priority, RI State approved COVID-19 safety measures are in effect at the polo grounds this season including online sales, masks required when not seated, social distancing and greatly reduced capacity.
This is the 17th and final match of the Polo Series this year, with plans in the works for its 30th anniversary jubilee in 2021 with polo matches and special events every Saturday in June through September.
The International Polo Grounds are located on the acreage of Glen Farm, 250 Linden Lane (off of Rte. 138) in Portsmouth, RI. This bucolic setting is the last 100 acres of a pre-colonial settlement from the 1600’s that became the Town of Portsmouth’s original gentlemen’s farm, an 800-acre manorial estate established during a Gilded Age movement of retreat from the high life into pastoral country acres.
