Glen Holden Remembered

On a deeply personal note, I remember Glen Holden, one of three founding members of the Santa Barbara Polo Club, who has moved to more heavenly pastures at the age of 96.

Born in Boise, Idaho, Glen grew up on a ranch outside of Portland, Oregon, from the age of six where he developed a passion for horses and eventually the sport of polo.

His Gehache team – the patron’s initials in Spanish – played 25 straight years in the Pacific Coast Open Championship, the biggest tournament on the West Coast, and competed in the U.S. Open several times, winning the championship played at Eldorado in 1993.

In the 1970s his substantial efforts helped secure the future of the Carpinteria-based club. As an advocate of California polo, he served as the USPA Pacific Coast governor from 1976 to 1985.

Glen was also involved with the Houston Polo Club in Texas and co-founder of Polo on the Mall in Washington, D.C. He also served as a U.S. ambassador to Jamaica and at his own expense renovated the official U.S. residence on the Caribbean island.

As a leading force in the development of international polo, he was a founding member of the Federation of International Polo and served as president from 1997 to 2005.

He served on the board of the Polo Training Foundation and was inducted into the Museum of Polo and the Hall of Fame in 2002, and was a life member of the Hurlingham Polo Association.

Glen, whose Santa Barbara home Gehache Ranch was a tiara’s toss from the clubhouse, was instrumental in organizing the visit of Prince William and his wife Kate to the club in 2011 to celebrate its centennial.

I well remember writing a letter to Sir Michael Peat, Charles’ private secretary, with Glen adding his personal reminiscences of playing with Prince Philip and Prince Charles, which I’m sure helped immeasurably in landing the visit of the now Prince of Wales, just four months after his wedding at Westminster Abbey, an event I covered for NBC News.

The club’s main playing area, Holden Field, is named in his honor. 

I also used to attend parties at his Bel Air, Los Angeles, estate, next to former Disney head honcho, Michael Eisner, where I would bump into Rick and Kathy Hilton, parents of Paris and Nicky Hilton – who is married to James Rothschild, a member of the banking dynasty, whose mother was also a member of the Guinness clan – and Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon.

Fond memories of an enormous character and true gentleman…