Oak Brook Polo Club Presents “International Polo Series” Featuring Teams from Jamaica, India and Great Britain

Oak Brook Polo Club is thrilled to announce that teams from Jamaica, India and Great Britain will participate in the upcoming “International Polo Series that will take place at Prince of Wales Field (2606York Road) in Oak Brook, Illinois.  Teams will compete for some of Oak Brook Polo’s most prestigious trophies, including the Drake Challenge Cup, Butler Challenge Cup, and International Cup.  Scheduled dates are:

·        August 6^th, Drake Challenge Cup (Jamaica)

·        August 20^th, Butler Challenge Cup (India)

·        September 10^th, International Cup (Great Britain)

Oak Brook Polo Club has a long and storied history of welcoming teams from other countries, from as close as Canada to as far as Singapore, and is honored to have three international clubs returning for highgoal polo.  In 2016, Oak Brook hosted Jamaica and India and in 1986 H.R.H. Prince Charles and the Wales team played in the inaugural International Cup in front of a crowd of more 20,000 spectators.

“Since Oak Brook’s establishment in the early 1920’s, the Club has been a plant for international polo competition for over 70 years,” explains Jim Drury, President of Oak Brook Polo Club.  “It is our missionto rebuild Oak Brook as an international polo destination and reestablish relationships with overseas clubs that once called Oak Brook their summer home.  We are more than thrilled to be welcoming back Jamaica and India, and the return of the Wales Polo Team,whose patron still remains Prince Charles himself.”

On Sunday, August 20^th, prior to the match against India, Reute Butler (granddaughter of Oak Brook Polo Club Founder Paul Butler) and her mother, Jorie Butler Kent, will host a benefit luncheonfor Friends of Conservation’s 35^th Anniversary.  Founded in 1982 by Kent,Friends of Conservation was created to help prevent, through education and management, wildlife and habitat degradation in Kenya's Masai Mara - one of the most ecologically important regions of the world."

Oak Brook Polo’s International Series is supported and sponsored byFriends of Conservation, English Speaking Union, Land Rover Hinsdale, Jamaica Tourist Board, India and Jamaica Consulates of Chicago, Merrill Lynch, ALTOUR, Barbour, David Yurman, Drake Oak Brook Hotel, Barrington Saddlery, Occhi Lash & Brow, Jerk JamaicanGrill, Naansense, and Best Truckin’ BBQ.

Currently 2-1 on their home field, Oak Brook Polo Club has brought back the speed and excitement of high goal polo.  Led and supported by Drury-team patron and Chicago business leader, players include veteransHoracio Onetto (position #3, handicap-4) and Tomas “Toto” Obregon (position #2, handicap-4), and newcomer Mariano Gutierrez (position #4, handicap-4).

2017 marks Oak Brook Polo Club's 95th season as one of the nation's oldest polo clubs in operation today and fourth oldest sports property in Chicago. With many iterations over the years, the first seasondates to 1922 when Polo visionary Paul Butler first established the Oak Brook Polo Club.  He expanded his polo operation to fourteen fields, plus built the necessary horse stables to serve the visiting teams. Eventually, Oak Brook became one of the “polo capitals”of the world with Butler’s son, famed HAIR producer Michael Butler, and daughter, philanthropist Jorie Butler Kent, acting as the club's stewards through the years.  The summer Polo seasons were not onlythe stomping ground for celebrities and notables alike for decades but also the destination for American Polo players and enthusiasts.

For ticket information, event schedule, parking directions and general information, please visit the website or call 630.368.5095.

About Oak Brook Polo Club

Founded in 1922 by legendary businessman, Paul Butler, the Oak Brook Polo Club is an American Polo treasure and one of the oldest polo clubs in the United States. It was once the sport's epicenter for eliteprofessional polo in the United States and served as home to the U.S. Open Polo Championship for twenty-four straight seasons and other prestigious international and national polo tournaments. For decades, the Club has been a popular Sunday tradition and socialscene known for entertaining Hollywood celebrities, dignitaries, royalty and Chicago's distinguished. Today, Oak Brook Polo Club hosts several Sunday matches and continues to attract thousands of fascinated spectators who marvel at the athleticism and majestyof this timeless sport.