It has been 125 years since the thunder of hooves first rumbled across the well-groomed fields and skilled riders swung their mallets as polo made its debut in Camden, South Carolina. The Wateree Hounds, a local foxhunt club, hopes to restore the game’s prominence with the advent of the Annual Wateree Polo Cup at the Kirkwood Polo Field in a celebration that connects the past with the present, honoring its legacy while forging a new chapter in the town’s rich equestrian history.
Known as the “sport of kings,” the game of polo began more than 2,000 years ago in ancient Persia, where the first known game, recorded in 600 B.C., was used as a method of training calvary. Polo, which is possibly derived from the Balti word pholo, meaning ball or ballgame, crossed the globe through the centuries into Arabia, Japan, China, then India. The British carried the game back to the United Kingdom, and polo eventually migrated to the United States and South America.
Throughout its history, the game of polo has been associated with the elite — those of noble birth, aristocracy, and wealth. Robert L. Barstow, the son of a wealthy Philadelphia stockbroker, introduced polo to Camden, South Carolina, in 1897.
“It is said that Barstow got off the train with a bag of gold in one hand and a polo mallet in the other,” says Ned Towell, cofounder of the Wateree Hounds and organizer of the Wateree Polo Cup. Barstow’s impact on Camden is significant; his efforts put the town on the map as an equestrian destination, drawing interest from across the country. “Barstow financed the polo team and helped build the current field to form the Camden Polo Club,” Ned says. “We really can attribute where we are today because of those early years.”
Barstow’s time in Camden was short-lived, however; like so many tales of the wealthy, Barstow’s fortunes failed, and he ran out of money. He left the area in 1906 and died in obscurity in 1961. Yet, Barstow’s impact kick-started a time known as the “resort era.” Luxurious, grand hotels like the Kirkwood Hotel, The Hobkirk Inn, and The Court Inn sprang up, becoming playgrounds for the wealthy and privileged.
According to a historic resources survey prepared for the City of Camden Landmarks Commission and South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Camden’s first polo field and a golf course were built behind The Hobkirk Inn around 1898. The following year, the Camden Country Club was organized, and in 1900, the club opened a nine-hole golf course, a polo field, and a clubhouse next to the site where the Kirkwood Hotel would be built in 1902.
The Kirkwood Hotel was the crown jewel, becoming a destination spot when it opened in 1903, according to Cary Briggs, executive director of the Historic Camden Foundation.
“We’re talking grand in the sense of the Greenbriar in Virginia,” says Cary. “It was eight hours from New York, and people were coming down to play golf and polo, to come to a nicer climate for the spring, fall, and winter.”
Notable families with names like du Pont, Edison, and Scott made Camden their winter respite, many of them building homes in the small Southern town.
World War II and the invention of air-conditioning took its toll on the grand hotel. Guests stopped coming and the wooden structure fell into disrepair, its grandeur and glory fading away. The hotel closed in 1943, and its contents were sold off. The building later caught fire and burned to the ground. A few of its relics were recovered and are on display today at the Historic Camden Foundation.
While other equestrian sports such as steeplechase gained popularity in the following decades and Camden became home to stables and training facilities, polo slowly faded into the background.
The Kirkwood Polo Field, home to the Camden Polo League, is steeped in history. The site of the Battle of Hobkirk Hill during the Revolutionary War, it is the second oldest polo field still in use today. The oldest field still in use is believed to be Whitney Field in Aiken, South Carolina. For many years, the Camden field was owned by a public trust and mowed by a neighbor. From 2001 through 2017, the Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County and the Camden Polo Club held matches as fundraisers.
“Many of us enjoyed attending the polo matches for those 17 years,” says Ned, “so we thought it would be a great opportunity to bring an activity back to the community to support the Battlefield Trust, which now owns the field, and the Historic Camden Foundation, which manages it.”
The Wateree Hounds, a Kershaw County foxhunting club, has breathed new life into Camden’s historic polo field by spearheading the revival of polo in Camden through its Polo Development Program. “By providing open access to the field at no cost and partnering with professionals from Aiken for training and horse leasing, the Wateree Hounds has made polo accessible to a broader audience,” Ned says. The formation of the Camden Polo League marks a new chapter in the town’s equestrian heritage, and November 2023 saw the advent of the Annual Wateree Polo Cup, with the second on Nov. 3, 2024.
Matt Sekera, who has played polo since an early age, met Ned at a therapeutic riding match in Camden in 2023. Now serving as manager for the Camden Polo Club, he is organizing the teams for the Wateree Polo Cup matches. “I’ll bring in individual polo players and team them up to create the most competitive match possible for the spectators,” Matt says.
Matt and Ned work together to help train members of the club to play the sport of polo by holding “Discovery Days” to help introduce newcomers to the sport, regardless of their prior experience with horses. “We get those who have never ridden a horse before. We put them on a horse and put a mallet in their hand and let them walk the grounds,” Matt says. “And we’re gaining interest from people who have ridden horses a little or ridden their whole lives, teaching them the sport.” He even expects several of the local polo players will play in their first match at the Carolina Cup this year.
Two individuals who played significant roles in the history of Camden’s polo scene are being recognized this year — Barstow, who introduced polo to Camden exactly 125 years ago, and Edgar Cato, whose contributions helped save the polo field from being developed into townhouses 25 years ago.
Cato’s family founded the Cato women’s fashion clothing chain in 1946. He was an avid sportsman, horseman, pilot, and philanthropist and was actively involved in steeplechase and polo, creating the famed Loughrea Plantation in Aiken. “Edgar’s daughter, Christine, will be presented with the Founder’s Trophy on behalf of her father,” says Ned. “Christine is a longtime polo player, and she helped organize the matches for the Fine Arts Center.”
Proceeds from the Wateree Polo Cup will help support both the Battlefield Trust and the Historic Camden Foundation. “It takes a good deal to maintain the field, the barn, and stables,” Ned says. “This event takes a significant cost off the trust and the foundation. We hope to be able to make some investments to the property and improve the field even more.”
While fundraising for the field is important, the match also brings more awareness to the city of Camden and its historical significance as a bridge between the town’s Colonial past and its equestrian heritage.
“There are historical markers that show where the Battle of Hobkirk was fought, the foundation of The Kirkwood Hotel, and other artifacts that people can see as they walk to the polo field,” Cary says. “It also gives us an opportunity to let more people know about all the activities happening in Camden in November, including the Colonial Cup Steeplechase and our Revolutionary War reenactments.”
Ned’s hope is that matches such as this will be a catalyst to reinvigorate equestrian sports not only in Camden but across South Carolina as well. “The horse industry as a whole is huge, but not every discipline is created equally,” he says. “Showjumping is doing well, and Western disciplines are doing well, but racing is doing poorly and polo in Camden was virtually dead.”
Ned points to a decline in the number of training centers and barns in the area as well that impacted the town. “But I think we’re beginning to see a little bit of a rebirth,” he says. “It is an economic benefit, so events like this help get people talking about it to spread the word that Camden still has a thriving horse community.”
The day’s activities include not only two polo matches but plenty of entertainment as well, with a tailgating contest, the Kirkwood VIP club, a vendor village, and live music … and, of course, the stomping of the divots. Many may remember the scene from Pretty Woman when stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts walk onto the polo field and begin pushing the turf back in place. Stomping of the divots is one of the longstanding traditions in polo for spectators to get involved, but it also serves an important purpose of repairing the field that has been torn up by the horses’ hooves and helps reduce the chance of falls and injury.
“The game is so competitive,” Ned says. “The adrenaline rushes because there is nothing like swinging up to your mount, the horses galloping and racing to get to the ball before your opponent can, stealing the ball, and hitting it to your teammates. It’s an exciting sport, it is fast-paced and nothing else is like it. You can’t not have a good time.”
