Julian Hipwood (born 23 June 1946) [1] is a British polo player and coach. [2] [3] [4]
He was born and raised in the Cotswolds, England. [5] He started [6] his career playing association football and gradually moved on to polo. [5] Both Julian Hipwood in 1981 and his brother Howard Hipwood in 1982 achieved a 9-goal Polo handicap. Only 55 players worldwide have been rated 9-goal by the United States Polo Association. [6]
He won the Barrantes Memorial Tournament and played on the winning team of many of Royal Palm Polo Club's 26-goal Sunshine League tournaments. [3] [4] [5] In 1977–1978, he played with the Fort Lauderdale team, alongside captain Jack Oxley and players Jamie Uihlein, Bart Evans, Juan Bautista Castilla, Lito Salanito and Tom Harris. [5] In 1978, he was a finalist in the Argentine Open, the first Englishman to do so. [3] He played on the Southern Hills team that won the 1980 U.S. Open Polo Championship, but was sidelined due to an injury. [3]
From 1981 to 1984, he won the 30-goal World Cup five time. [3] [4] In 1996, he won the United States Polo Association Monty Waterbury Cup and Heritage Cup. [3] [4] He was also the captain of the England National team winning the Coronation Cup six times, and the British Gold and Queen's Cups. [3] [4]
He later reconverted to a polo coach. [3] He has coached the UK teams of George Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven and London-based French businessman Jérôme Wirth. [2] He also coached the Coca-Cola team, which won the U.S. Open Championship in 2002. [3]
He lives in the United States. [3] [4] He was inducted into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame on 12 February 2010. [3]
His daughter Accalia Hipwood is a radio presenter that co-hosted the Radio 2 Breakfast show with Kenny & Accalia in Dubai. [7]
Mr Julian Hipwood, England polo captain, 1971–91, 65