The 40th Annual Harriman Cup Polo Match

The Harriman Cup is an annual polo match between alumni from Yale University and the University of Virginia. This year marks the 40th Annual Harriman Cup Polo Match. The event will take place on Saturday, September 14 at Bethpage Polo at the Park in Bethpage, New York. Ivy Style and the Preppy Handbook Fan Club will have our own tent for tailgating, located near the VIP Tent and the Vassar Tent.

The New York Times covered the Harriman Cup in 1999, when the event was held at the Ox Ridge Hunt Club in Darien, Connecticut. The article provides a history of the event and highlights the stylish attendees:

RALPH LAUREN, eat your heart out. The Harriman Cup polo event, held recently on a catalogue-perfect fall day at the Ox Ridge Hunt Club in Darien, belonged more to J. Crew than to the Prince of Polo. Three thousand casual chic preppie types of all ages came to cheer on the Yale and University of Virginia alumni polo teams and, later on, dance until the sun went down.

The first Harriman Cup took place on September 14, 1985 at the Greenwich Polo Club located at White Birch Farm. The annual event is named after W. Averell Harriman, an avid polo player who served as the Governor of New York, the Ambassador to Great Britain and the Soviet Union, and the Secretary of Commerce. Harriman attended Groton School (1908) before going on to Yale University (1913), where he joined the Psi Upsilon junior fraternity and the Skull and Bones senior society.

Pamela Harriman, the governor’s wife and a well-known socialite, was instrumental in the early days of the event. The former governor sent a letter to the event organizers stating, “I am gratified to be so honored…I look forward to hearing who won. My loyalties are divided, for as you know, I went to Yale but am now a resident of Virginia.”

The Harriman Cup is a fundraising event which has raised over $1 million for the undergraduate polo programs at Yale University and the University of Virginia. The event helps pay for the care of horses and barn, and it also helps cover travel expenses for students. Unlike other collegiate sports such as football and rowing, the polo programs receive very little money from the universities, and both college polo teams rely on donations.

Established in the preppy decade of the 1980s, the Harriman Cup is very much the living embodiment of The Official Preppy Handbook. As stated on the website for the event:

​Even after 40 years, the lively spirit of the event comes from the thousands of alumni, friends, and fans who continue to flock to the polo fundraiser every fall donning their brightly colored outfits and extravagant hats. “It’s a very swanky event,” stated Randy Wright. “People would bring out their silver, hay bales, and have their tailgates catered.

The daylong event includes an alumni polo match, an awards ceremony for the players and honored guests, and a dance party.  Attendees compete for the Best Outfit, Best Hat, Best Tailgate, and Best Dog awards. Although the match is between Yale and UVA, other colleges are well represented, and alumni groups from boarding schools often set up their own tailgate parties. Vassar and Choate are among the perennial favorites.

The Harriman Cup has become something of an unofficial polo hall of fame, bestowing the Harriman Cup Award to individuals who have made major contributions to the world of polo. Recipients of this award have included polo superstar and Polo Ralph Lauren model Nacho Figueras. In 2014, the Harriman Cup Award went to Stephen Orthwein, great-great-grandson of Adolphus Busch, founder of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company. Orthwein led the Yale polo team to the National Collegiate Polo Championships in 1967 and 1968. He also served as President and Chairman of the United States Polo Association.

General admission tickets are $65. Ivy-Style.com readers can register at the discounted price of $55 using the discount code PREPPYIVY. Click here to purchase tickets.