Polo Tournaments in South Africa
South Africa's main polo season runs September through April, with the Highveld winter months too cold for grass growth. The Val de Vie Estate in Paarl and the Inanda Polo Club in Johannesburg are the premier venues, with the South African Open held in March.
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Formosa Cup
The Formosa Cup is a South African summer polo event that extends into the extended December–January holiday season, making it one of the few major polo events timed to coincide with South Africa's peak summer social calendar. Held at a scenic coastal or inland venue in the extended summer, the Formosa Cup attracts both local teams and visiting international players who combine competitive polo with the extraordinary South African summer — wine, wildlife safaris, and some of the world's most beautiful coastal scenery. The summer format extends the South African polo season well beyond the traditional October–November peak, providing additional competitive opportunities for SA's strong polo community.
Platinum Cup
The Platinum Cup is South Africa's most picturesque polo event, held each January at Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route — a coastline widely regarded as one of the world's most beautiful stretches of landscape. Played on manicured fields with the Indian Ocean as backdrop, the Platinum Cup combines high-quality polo with the extraordinary natural beauty of the Western Cape. International professionals fly in alongside South Africa's top players for a tournament that has become a fixture on the global circuit for players who want to combine competitive polo with a world-class travel destination. The Plettenberg Bay summer (January) offers perfect polo weather — warm, dry days and spectacular light for evening socialising.
Jos International Polo Tournament
The Jos International Polo Tournament is Nigeria's most prestigious polo event and one of Africa's most celebrated sporting occasions, held annually over the New Year holiday period in Jos, Plateau State. The tournament has a heritage stretching back to the colonial era when British officials and Nigerian royalty shared a passion for polo in the highland capital of central Nigeria. Today the Jos tournament is a showcase of the vitality of Nigerian polo, drawing teams and patrons from across the country's polo heartland — Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina — for a week-long festival of sport and celebration. The New Year timing makes it a social as well as sporting occasion, with polo-playing emirs, governors, and business leaders all in attendance. The Jos highland setting at 1,200 metres above sea level creates perfect playing conditions during the harmattan dry season, and the tournament's longevity makes it a foundational institution of African polo.
Kurland Classic
The Kurland Classic is a signature women's polo event on the South African ladies circuit, held at the Kurland estate in the Garden Route — one of South Africa's most spectacular stretches of coastline. Set between the Tsitsikamma Forest and the Indian Ocean, Kurland is one of the great polo estates of the southern hemisphere, a property where polo tradition runs deep and the surroundings provide a backdrop of extraordinary natural beauty. The Classic draws the finest women's players on the South African circuit and provides a tournament experience that is as much about the lifestyle as the polo.
Val de Vie Polo
The Val de Vie Polo tournament is held at Val de Vie Estate in the Cape Winelands of South Africa — one of the most beautiful polo settings in the world, surrounded by the Drakenstein Mountains and the vineyards of the Paarl and Franschhoek valleys. As part of South Africa's growing high-goal polo circuit, Val de Vie has established itself as the country's most prestigious polo venue, hosting competitive events during the South African summer season that draw local and international players to a location that combines world-class polo with the finest wine estate lifestyle in the southern hemisphere.
Soldiers Salute
The Soldiers Salute is Kenya's most distinctive polo tournament, held annually at the Jamhuri Showgrounds in Nairobi in a format that honours the military heritage of Kenyan polo. Polo has been played by Kenyan military officers since the colonial era, and the Soldiers Salute maintains this tradition with participating teams drawn from Kenyan military, police, and civilian clubs. The tournament draws East Africa's strongest polo talent to Nairobi's high-altitude polo ground — at 1,700 metres above sea level, Nairobi polo has a distinct character influenced by the thinner air and the unique Kenyan summer light. The Soldiers Salute is a key fixture in the East African polo circuit alongside events in Uganda and Tanzania.
South African Polo Championship
The South African Polo Championship — commonly known as the SA Open — is the most prestigious polo tournament on the African continent and the centrepiece of the South African polo calendar. Held annually at Inanda Club in Johannesburg during South Africa's winter polo season, the SA Open attracts international teams from Argentina, the UK, Australia, and Zimbabwe alongside South Africa's finest domestic talent. The tournament has a history stretching back to the early twentieth century and reflects South Africa's position as Africa's dominant polo nation. High-goal competition at Inanda showcases the best of SAPA's top-rated players and has produced champions who have gone on to compete at the highest international levels.
Africa Cup
The Africa Cup is the continent's premier international polo championship, bringing together national teams from across Africa to compete for the title of African champion. The tournament is a cornerstone of the African polo calendar and reflects the remarkable growth of the sport across a continent where polo has a history stretching from the colonial-era clubs of South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zimbabwe through to newer polo communities in Morocco, Egypt, and beyond. The Africa Cup promotes pan-African polo development and provides a competitive stage for players who otherwise compete primarily within their domestic national structures. South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zimbabwe have historically been the dominant nations, but the field has broadened in recent editions as polo infrastructure develops across more African countries. The tournament serves both as a competitive event and as a catalyst for the broader African polo community, encouraging investment in horses, facilities, and coaching across the continent.
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