The USPA Gold Cup, the second leg of The Gauntlet of Polo and the one that preceeds the US Open, will begin on Wednesday February 28, at the National Polo Center, in Wellington, Florida, United States. The USPA Gold Cup is celebrating a milestone this year – the first edition was played for the first time fifty years ago, in 197, and has been hosted at seven venues in five different states. First played for at Oak Brook Polo Club in Oak Brook, Illinois, in the following year, the USPA Gold Cup was moved to Milwaukee Polo Club (Hartland, Wisconsin) where it was played from 1975 to 1978. In 1979, it was moved to South Florida, at Beach Polo and Country Club and up next, was hosted by several clubs over the years including Royal Palm Polo Club (now defunct), Greenwich Polo Club (Greenwich, Connecticut) and New Bridge Polo & Country Club (Aiken, South Carolina), before landing a permanent home in Wellington, Florida.
The USPA Gold Cup will see nine teams up to 22 goals, in participation. Eight have already played the CV Whitney Cup – Coca-Cola, La Dolfina, La Fe, Pilot, Park Place, Tamera, The Dutta Corp and Valiente. Reigning champions, Scone, won’t be playing, but Poroto Cambiaso, one of the members of that foursome has joined Tomas Panelo Rufino Merlos and Jeff Hildebrand to form Dolfina/Tonkawa. The new addition is Clearwater, the recent winners of the Ylvisaker Cup.
All teams will play four preliminary matches each. Following the conclusion of preliminary play, all teams will be ranked 1-9. The top four ranked teams will draw for semifinal pairings with the winners of the semifinals advancing to the USPA Gold Cup final. Any ties between teams that played each other will be broken by who-beat-who. All other ties will be broken by a one-player shootout. The Retama Cup will serve as the subsidiary to the USPA Gold Cup. Teams who do not qualify for the semifinals of the USPA Gold Cup will automatically be entered in the Retama Cup.
The final of the USPA Gold Cup is due on Sunday March 24, at the National Polo Center.
The order of play of the opening day of the USPA Gold Cup is the following:
11am: Dutta Corp vs. La Fe
3pm: Coca Cola vs. Clearwater
USPA Gold Cup – Teams & Fixture
2024 THE GAUNTLET OF POLO CALENDAR
CV Whitney Cup: February 9 – 25.
USPA Gold Cup: February 28 – March 24.
U.S. Open Polo Championship: March 22 – April 21.
Utilizing the same prize money distribution for the 2023 Gauntlet of Polo, the format guarantees a total of $200,000 in prize money. $50,000 will be awarded to each of the winning teams of the C.V. Whitney Cup and USPA Gold Cup. Similarly, $100,000 in prize money will bepresented to the winner of the U.S. Open Polo Championship and any team that wins all three tournaments will be crowned the Gauntlet Champion. In keeping with the spirit of philanthropy, U.S. Polo Assn. will provide a $2,500 donation to the winner and runner-up teams of all three finals to be donated to a polo charity of their choice.
All Sunday games are due on the National Polo Center main ground.
Cover photo Scone vs. Pilot, 2023 USPA Gold Cup final, by Agustina Fonda.