Silver Cup®
Tournament History
The Silver Cup® has been called many names throughout its illustrious 117-year history. Originally established as the Junior Championship, it was first played in 1900. Philadelphia 1st, made up of Joshua B. Lippincott Jr., Mitchel G. Rosengarten Jr., Albert E. Kennedy and John F. McFadden, bested Rockaway 8 ½-3 ¼ to win the inaugural Cup.
The Junior Championship attracted such historic teams as Rockaway, Cooperstown, Meadow Brook, Old Aiken and Laddie Sanford’s Hurricanes, to name a few. The 1935 Junior Championship boasted the largest field in the tournament’s history with 11 teams vying for the coveted trophy at Burnt Mills Polo Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Aiken Knights, consisting of Dunbar W. Bostwick, Winston F. C. Guest, James F. Curtis Jr. and George H. Bostwick, triumphed over Texas 13-3.
In 1938, the Junior Polo Championship was renamed the National Twenty Goal Championship. During this period the trophy was carried home by teams such as Bostwick Field, Milwaukee, Aurora, San Antonio and Oak Brook. The tournament took its present name, the Silver Cup, in 1974. Contemporary Silver Cup® winners have included Bud Light, Old Pueblo, Isla Carroll, Goose Creek, Lucchese and Farmers & Merchants Bank.
Many winners of the cup hail from the Polo Hall of Fame—from J. Watson Webb and Tommy Hitchcock, to Robert Skene and Cecil Smith. In fact, no fewer than 50 Polo Hall of Famers have won the Silver Cup®. Out of the 50 Hall of Famers, W. Ray Harrington Jr. and Charles Smith have earned the most Silver Cup® titles with eight wins each.
Five teams contested the 2016 USPA Maserati Silver Cup, which took place July 2016 at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club in Carpinteria, California. Farmers & Merchants Bank and Lucchese faced off in the final, thrilling the crowd with a wide-open match ending 10-7 in favor of Farmers & Merchants Bank. The Silver Cup is returning to the East Coast after being played in Santa Barbara since 2011; Greenwich Polo Club will host the 2017 Silver Cup in Greenwich, Connecticut.
