The tournament was first played on September 20, 1904 at
Van Cortlandt Park in
The Bronx in
New York City. At the first game the Wanderers defeated the
Meadowbrook Freebooters. After the inaugural U.S. Open in 1904, the tournament was not played again until 1910, when it grew to include six teams. It resumed at Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island, where it was played for several years before relocating to what became its longtime home, Meadowbrook Polo Club in Old Westbury, New York. In 1954, the U.S. Open moved to Oak Brook, Illinois, where it remained for 22 years, followed by an eight-year stint at Retama in San Antonio, Texas. In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, the tournament circulated among several clubs throughout the United States, including Eldorado, Lexington, Palm Beach and Royal Palm. In 2004, marking one hundred years since the tournament's inception, the U.S. Open Polo Championship relocated to the
International Polo Club Palm Beach, where it has been ever since. Unlike its counterpart the
Argentine Open Polo Championship in Argentina, no 40 goal team has ever competed for the U.S. Open Polo Championship. Originally there were no team handicap limits for the U.S. Open, but limits were eventually put in place by the
United States Polo Association in the post-WWII era (thereby ending the true "Open" status of the tournament). During most of the post-WWII era the handicap limit per team was 26 goals. In 2019, the
United States Polo Association lowered the maximum handicap for the tournament to 22 goals per team in an effort to foster increased tournament participation. ==Trophy==