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A R C H I V E
MUSEUM OF POLO
F A S H I O N I C O N S
The first time the United States Open
Championship was played west of the
Mississippi River was back in 1952, when
the Beverly Hills team of Bob Fletcher,
Tony Veen, Bob Skene and Carlton Beal
beat a team from San Francisco in the final,
9-6, on the team’s home field at the Riviera
Country Club in Santa Monica Canyon,
in suburban Los Angeles.
Beverly Hills won the 1952 US Open
Championship and captured the Pacific
Coast Open in both 1951 (Bob Fletcher,
Bob Skene, Cecil Smith and James Stimmel)
and 1952 (Bob Fletcher, Tony Veen, Bob
Skene and Charles Huthsing). The Beverly
Hills Polo Club affiliated with the United
States Polo Association (USPA) in 1948
and went on to host the 1952 US Open
Championship, as well as a 1949
international series against Argentina.
The club disbanded in 1952, following
the sale of the grounds – which were leased
from the country club – but the name has
been kept alive through the Beverly Hills
Polo Club brand. Created in 1982 by a couple
of college students, a logo – that looked
eerily similar to a Paul Brown drawing –
was screen-printed on a few dozen T-shirts
and
voilà, the brand was born.
The owners of the Beverly Hills Polo
Club brand came to an early agreement with
Ralph Lauren that allowed them to market
their products without any legal difficulties
– and this was a big step in allowing the
brand to flourish over the years.
Today, Beverly Hills Polo Club products
can be found in 80 countries around the
world, and cover a comprehensive range
of product lines, from fashion and fragrances
to home textiles.
The principal competitors of Beverly
Hills Polo Club products are La Martina, US
Polo Assn and Hurlingham Polo 1875 – the
HPA’s own line, which has recently entered
the scene. The US Polo Assn brand has
generated millions of dollars in revenue
for the USPA, and Hurlingham Polo 1875
is hoping to replicate its success.
As proven by the Beverly Hills Polo Club, successful branding can offer
longevity beyond the playing fields, says Alex Webbe
From left:
Bob Fletcher, Tony Veen,
club president and founder Russell
Havenstrite, his wife Edith, Bob Skene,
Carlton Beal, actor Charles Farrell
