Ham Polo Club is the last remaining of the many clubs that existed as satellites to London‘s ‘Big Three’. The club began life as the Ham Common Polo Club in 1926, with one full sized ground and two smaller rounds. The Summer season from May til September offers members the chance to watch polo Tuesday evenings, Thursday evenings, Saturday mornings & Sundays for matches. Non-members can enjoy polo, Saturday mornings with a Clubhouse brunch booking only or Sundays, by purchasing picnic tickets or Clubhouse Day Membership (must include lunch).
Saturdays May to September
The Clubhouse is open to everyone to join the club for brunch, May to September, bookings is essential clubhouse@hampoloclub.com. Saturday mornings is when their players are practicing for their Sunday matches and so plenty of horse activity can be seen.
Sundays May to September
The Clubhouse offers members and their guests the opportunity to enjoy lunch on a Sunday as well as a welcoming and fully stocked bar. Members can view the polo from the Clubhouse and the adjacent steppings as well as the presentations to the winners.
Membership offers huge value, with access to this facility on every day during the Season.
Day Membership can be purchased with a lunch booking only and is available via the Tickets page of their website. Some dates are not available to day members due to popularity.
Saturday breakfast-brunch- back Saturday 23 April, 2022
Every Saturday in the season (May- September)HPC welcome everyone to come and join them for breakfast- brunch and watch chukkas (practise polo). Booking for brunch is essential for members & non-members joining on a Saturday morning.
Event hire all year around
The Clubhouse is also available for exclusive private hire.
The History of Ham Polo Club
Ham Polo Club is the last remaining of the many clubs that existed as satellites to London’s ‘Big Three’ – Ranelagh, Hurlingham and Roehampton. The club began life as the Ham Common Polo Club in 1926, with one full sized ground and two smaller rounds. The first ground was next door to Brown Gates House, Church Road, Ham Common, home of the first chairman, Loftus Storey.
The full-sized ground lay between Richmond Gates and Sheen and a regular coach there was Johnny Traill, the first Argentine 10 goaler, who lived at nearby Roehampton. Ham Common Polo Club, together with Stoke d’Abernon and clubs such as Worcester Park, Kingsbury and Crystal Palace, was ideal for Londoners who did not compete in the major tournaments at the ‘Big Three’ but who played for the fun of the game. The 1939 season was necessarily the last for the next six years.
The club continues to play polo between May and September, managed by Will Healy, the current President is Mohamed Al Marzooqi. The club’s Chairman is Howard Davis who is a long standing player at the club and local resident in Petersham.
The first post-war English polo tournament was held at Roehampton in 1947 and the Ham Polo Club team carried off the premier trophy the Roehampton Cup (now played for at Ham). Three years later the club began using a field adjacent to Ham House for matches. Then in 1954, George Stevens, The Dysart families tenant at Ham House Farm agreed to turn the Ham House orchard into a polo field for the club.
Ham was revived in 1946 by William Francis Walsh (1907–1992), known universally as Billy. On returning from service in the Army Billy found that Capt. Tom Brigg, the owner of the stables where he had worked, had died and the stables were on the market. Using his gratuity Walsh bought the stables and revived Ham Polo Club under HPA rules. It is widely believed that Lord Cowdray, Arthur Lucas and Billy Walsh were the trio who rescued polo in the United Kingdom after the war.
Find out more info at https://www.hampoloclub.com
