Remembering the founder of Hildon Natural Mineral Water who supported the Club as both player and sponsor

We are sad to report that Christian Heppe, a life playing member of Guards Polo Club and generous supporter of the game in general and Guards Polo Club in particular, has died. The founder of Hildon Water, Christian Heppe played the game at the highest level, reaching the final of the British Open (Gold Cup) with his own BBs team in 1984 and then seeing his Hildon House team lift the trophy in 1990. Sadly the Queen’s Cup did elude him, losing out to Foxcote in an emotional 1984 final. However such defeats failed to dim his passion for the game. He went on to create the high-goal Hildon European Open for the Prince Philip Cup at Smith’s Lawn in 2002 and formed the Hildon Sport Team which won the British Open in 2003.

Most recently, Hildon sponsored the Guards team in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2015 last November, at which Mr Heppe accompanied Neil Hobday at the shirt presentations at Malta Polo Club.

Christian Heppe also generously paid for the construction of the Club’s Royal Box on The Queen’s Ground, firstly in the 1980s and then an improved version in 2002.

A full tribute will be published in the 2016 Guards Polo Club Yearbook.

Christian Heppe with the Guards team, sponsored by Hildon, on the eve of the CHOGM Malta 2015 exhibition match at Malta Polo Club (copyright Images of Polo)