The Gore Court Championships was a men's and women's grass court tennis event established in 1877 that ran until at least 1926. The tournament was organised by the Sittingbourne and Gore Court Archery and Lawn Tennis Club and held at Gore Court a sports ground in Sittingbourne, Kent, England.
History The Sittingbourne and Gore Court Archery and Lawn Tennis club was founded in 1875. In 1877 it staged its first lawn tennis tournament. In 1882 a ladies's singles open event was staged won by a Miss Ray.Routledge Sporting Annual (1883) Lawn Tennis Results for 1882. George Routledge and Son's. London. England. p.115. In 1899 the men's singles title final featured the 1898 singles champion from the Natal Championships Charles Edward Finlason and Alfred Egerton Maynard Taylor, the match ended with them dividing the title The tournament was still being staged up to at least 1926, but then appears to have been abolished.
This short but popular tournament occasionally featured a women's singles event, but did regularly feature women's doubles and mixed doubles. Former winners of the gentleman's singles has included Ernest Wool Lewis, Wilberforce Eaves and Roy Allen.
Venue A description of the Sittingbourne and Gore Court Archery and Lawn Tennis that appeared in the Sittingbourne, Milton, and District Directory 1908 to 1909:
Finals
Incomplete Roll Men's Singles Included: YearWinnerRunner-upScore1881 W.H. Patterson J. Patterson5-4 6-1 1882 J.R. Daniell J. Langley6-4, 6-4, 6-41883 H.S. Cooper Rev. F. Greenfield2 sets to 11884 C.C.J. Perry C. Igglesden6-,3 7-6, 6-41885 Ernest Wool Lewis Ernest George Meers6-1, 6-2 1886 Ernest George Meers Charles Gladstone Eamesshared title 1887 Ernest George Meers Wilberforce Eaves6-4,3-6, 6-3, 6-41888 Wilberforce Eaves D. Fuller5-6, 6-3, 6-5 1893 D. Fuller L. Tuke6-4, 8-61899 Charles Edward Finlason Alfred Egerton Maynard Taylor divided titleIllustrated Sporting and Dramatic News1901 Roy Allen Archibald John McNairw.o. 1903 Roy Allen Alfred Beamish6-2, 6-0
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