Oak Brook Polo Club lost season opener in Butler Challenge Cup.

The Oak Brook Polo Club kicked off its 101st season last month with the first of 10 dates of matches this summer on the Cecil Smith Polo Field in the west suburb.

“The rains gave us some much needed water overnight and subsided long enough to give us a beautiful and very windy afternoon of polo,” Danny O’Leary, the club’s executive director, said about the June 25 season-opening match. “It was great to see so many familiar faces and new ones come and enjoy the match under oak trees on the iconic Cecil Smith Field.”

Just over 600 people attended the Sunday match, where Flying Changes defeated Oak Brook 15-11 to win the Butler Challenge Cup.

Prior to that match, the Oak Brook Polo Club paid tribute to the life of Michael Butler, son of Oak Brook Polo Club and village of Oak Brook founder Paul Butler. Michael Butler, who died in November 2022, was known as a big ambassador of polo and as the producer of the Broadway hit play, “Hair.”

The 2023 Oak Brook polo season continues with upcoming Sunday dates through September: July 16, July 23, July 30, Aug. 13, Aug. 20, Aug. 27, Sept. 10, Sept. 17 and Sept. 24.

In 2022, the Oak Brook Polo Club capped off its centennial season with a victory over Great Britain. Probably the club’s most famous match took place in 1986 against a British team captained by then-Prince Charles — who is now the king.

“Oak Brook Polo is undeniably the best secret of Chicago’s western suburbs and the ‘Churchill Downs’ of polo,” said Jim Drury, captain of the Oak Brook Polo Team and president of the Oak Brook Polo Club. “Last summer, we celebrated a monumental milestone and are thrilled to continue this celebration and the Oak Brook Polo tradition.”

The Oak Brook Polo Club was privatized in 2016 and is led and supported by Drury. With many iterations over the years, the first season dates back to 1922 when Paul Butler established the club. He expanded his polo operation to 14 fields, and built the necessary horse stables to accommodate visiting teams and approximately 200 horses.

More information about the Oak Brook Polo Club is available online at www.oakbrookpoloclub.com.

Chuck Fieldman is a freelancer.