Drive Club Open Tournament
| Drive Club Open Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Defunct tennis tournament | |
| Founded | 1908 |
| Abolished | 1928 |
| Editions | 20 |
| Location | Fulham, London, England. |
| Venue | The Drive Club |
| Surface | Hard (cement), Clay (en tout cas) |
The Drive Club Open Tournament[1] and informally known as the Fulham Hard Courts was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played at the Drive Club, Fulham, London, originally on hard cement courts,[2] or sometimes clay courts and ran until 1928. In 1931 the Drive Club was closed.
History
[edit]The Drive Club Tournament was founded in 1908 and were played on the Drive Mansions tennis courts at Fulham, London, England.[3] They consisted of cement (concrete) courts, the first hard courts in London.[4] The drive club also had clay courts constructed that had to resurfaced in 1926 with en tout cas red clay.[5]
In 1931 the drive club closed over the years the courts and grounds were not maintained, and eventually became abandoned. The land was sold to developers in the 1970s.[6]
Notable winners of the men's singles championship title included Charles Percy Dixon (1908-1910) and Gordon Lowe (1920-1922). Former women's singles winners included Dorothy Holman, (1912, 1920, 1922–1923), Geraldine Ramsey Beamish (1924-1925), Kitty McKane (1924), Phyllis Howkins Covell (1925) and Phyllis Mudford (1928). Additionally Molla Bjurstedt was a losing finalist in 1909.
References
[edit]- ^ The Sportsman (25 September 1912). The Drive Club Open Tournament at Fulham. London, England, p.286.
- ^ Fry, Charles Burgess (1910). "Lawn Tennis on Hard Courts". Fry's Magazine: The Illustrated Monthly of Sport, Travel and Outdoor Life. London: G. Newnes, Limited. p. 479.
- ^ "History: The early days". drivemansions.co.uk. London, England.: The Drive Mansions Ltd. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ Burgess (1910)
- ^ The Municipal Journal and Public Works Engineer (1926), En Tout Cas: Hard Lawn Tennis Court. London. Volume 35, Issue 1749. p.1282
- ^ Drive Mansions
Sources
[edit]- Fry, Charles Burgess (1910). "Lawn Tennis on Hard Courts". Fry's Magazine: The Illustrated Monthly of Sport, Travel and Outdoor Life. London: G. Newnes, Limited.
- "History: The early days". drivemansions.co.uk. London, England. The Drive Mansions Ltd.
- The Municipal Journal and Public Works Engineer (1926), En Tout Cas: Hard Lawn Tennis Court. London. Volume 35, Issue 1749. p. 1282
- The Sportsman (25 September 1912). The Drive Club Open Tournament at Fulham. London, England.