Gore Court Championships
{{Infobox tennis tournament
|name =Gore Court Championships
|type = defunct
|event name =
|tour =
|sponsor =
|founded ={{start date and age|df=yes|1877}}
|editions =
|ended ={{end date and age|df=yes|1926}}
|location=Sittingbourne, Kent, England
|venue= Sittingbourne and Gore Court Archery & Lawn Tennis Club
|surface =Grass
|website =
}}
The Gore Court Championships{{cite web |last1=Nieuwland |first1=Alex |title=Tournament – Sittingbourne – Gore Court Championships |url=https://www.tennisarchives.com/tournament/?t=744&n=Sittingbourne |website=www.tennisarchives.com |publisher=Tennis Archives}} 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{{cite web |last1=Lake |first1=Robert J. |title=Discourses of Social Exclusion in British Tennis: Historical Changes and Continuities. International Journal of Sport and Society 4 (2), 1-11. |url=https://www.academia.edu/7431339 |website=www.academia.edu |publisher=Academia |access-date=9 December 2022 |date=2014}} 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.{{cite news |title=TENNIS AT FOLKESTONE. The 29th Annual championship tournament of the Gore Court Lawn Tennis Club, Sittingbourne. which, has extended over two days, was concluded on Saturday.|work=Folkestone Express, Sandgate, Shorncliffe & Hythe Advertiser |date=29 August 1906 |location=Folkstone, Kent, England |page=3}} 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,{{cite book |last1=Green |first1=Geoffrey |title=Kitty Godfree : lady of a golden age |date=1987 |publisher=Kingswood Press |location=London |isbn=9780434981076 |language=en |chapter=The Tennis Set}} the match ended with them dividing the title{{cite news |title=Lawn Tennis: The annual tournament of the Sittingbourne Gore Court Club championship attracted some well-known players. C. E. Finlason, the Champion of Natal, and Alfred Egerton Maynard Taylor divided in the title|issue=Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News |publisher=British Newspaper Archives |date=2 September 1899 |location=London, England. |page=34}} The tournament was still being staged up to at least 1926, but then appears to have been abolished.{{cite news |title=Lawn Tennis: Miss Wills Beaten Again ... New York State Championship semi-final, the scores being 6-8, Sheffield. Pitsmoor Ladies Win Doubles at Sittingbourne. In the Gore Court championships lawn tennis tournament held at Sittingbourne, yesterday. |work=Sheffield Daily Telegraph |date=14 August 1926 |location=Sheffield, Yorkshire, England |page=9}}
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:
{{Blockquote|text=Gore Court Archery and Lawn Tennis Club. The headquarters and grounds of this old-established Club are situated at Gore Court Park, Sittingbourne. The ground is open for play each afternoon and evening during the summer months. An open lawn tennis tournament takes place in connection with the Club, generally the third week in August of each year..|title=SITTINGBOURNE|source=Sittingbourne, Milton, and District Directory 1908/09, Reprinted 1980 by W.J. Parrett Ltd, Sittingbourne. {{ISBN|0-9507107-0-9}}}}
Finals
File:Gore Court Cricket Club - geograph.org.uk - 676238.jpg cricket grounds location of this tournament.]]
:Incomplete Roll
=Men's Singles=
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" | |||
| style="width:60px;"|Year
! style="width:200px;"|Winner ! style="width:230px;"|Runner-up ! style="width:160px;"|Score | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1881 | {{flagicon|ENG}} W.H. Patterson | {{flagicon|GBR}} J. Patterson | 5-4 6-1 |
| 1882 | {{flagicon|GBR}} J.R. Daniell | {{flagicon|GBR}} J. Langley | 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 |
| 1883 | {{flagicon|GBR}} H.S. Cooper | {{flagicon|GBR}} Rev. F. Greenfield | 2 sets to 1 |
| 1884 | {{flagicon|GBR}} C.C.J. Perry | {{flagicon|GBR}} C. Igglesden | 6-,3 7-6, 6-4 |
| 1885 | {{flagicon|ENG}} Ernest Wool Lewis | {{flagicon|ENG}} Ernest George Meers | 6-1, 6-2 |
| 1886 | {{flagicon|ENG}} Ernest George Meers | {{flagicon|ENG}} Charles Gladstone Eames | shared title |
| 1887 | {{flagicon|ENG}} Ernest George Meers | {{flagicon|GBR}} Wilberforce Eaves | 6-4,3-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 1888 | {{flagicon|GBR}} Wilberforce Eaves | {{flagicon|GBR}} D. Fuller | 5-6, 6-3, 6-5 |
| 1893 | {{flagicon|GBR}} D. Fuller | {{flagicon|GBR}} L. Tuke | 6-4, 8-6 |
| 1899 | {{flagicon|South Africa|1876}} Charles Edward Finlason | {{flagicon|GBR}} Alfred Egerton Maynard Taylor | divided titleIllustrated Sporting and Dramatic News |
| 1901 | {{flagicon|ENG}} Roy Allen | {{flagicon|ENG}} Archibald John McNair | w.o. |
| 1903 | {{flagicon|ENG}} Roy Allen | {{flagicon|GBR}} Alfred Beamish | 6-2, 6-0 |