| Penzance Open | |
| Type: | defunct |
| Tour: | Men's Amateur Tour (1877-1912) Women's Amateur Tour (1877-1912) ILTF Men's Amateur Tour (1913-1967) ILTF Women's Amateur Tour (1913-1967) |
| Founded: | 1881, 1950 |
| Ended: | 1887, 1978 |
| Location: | Penzance, Cornwall, England. |
| Venue: | Penzance Lawn Tennis Club |
| Surface: | Grass |
The Penzance Open[1] tournament was originally called the Penzance LTC Tournament[2] as a combined grass court tennis tournament staged at by the Penzance LTC,Penzance, Cornwall, England in 1881, that ran until 1887.[3]
In 1950 the Penzance Open was established as a senior international tour level event that ran until 1978.[3] The Penzance Open is still being staged today as a local tournament.
On 15 August 1881 the Penzance LTC Tournament was held for the first time at Penzance, Cornwall, England as a tennis event for men only that ended on 16 August.[3] The first edition was won by a Mr. P. H. Fernandez.[3] On 11 August 1882 the second edition of the tournament was concluded,[4] the men's singles event was won by Arthur Stanhope Rashleigh,[3] and the women's singles was won by a Miss M. Jackson.[5]
The first Penzance LTC Tournament was staged up to 1887, when both the club and event ended the with men's event being won by the American player A. K. Andrews.[3] In the summer of 1950 saw the first Penzance Open Tournament was staged by the new Penzance Lawn Tennis Club at Penlee Park, Penzance, Cornwall.[6] Former winners of the men's singles title include; the Polish player Ernest Whittmann[7] (1953–1954), Roger Taylor (1959), The women's singles title has been won by Joan Curry (1955), Billie Woodgate (1957–1958), a Wimbledon quarter finalist in the women's doubles, and mixed doubles events.[8]
In 1947 a new Penzance Lawn Tennis Club was established at the promenade, Penzance and consisted of 2 hard courts. In 1950 Penzance LTC moved to a permanent location at Penlee Park. The club then consisted of 4 ‘En Tout Cas’ shale courts, plus 2 existing grass courts.[9] Today the club has 4 floodlit artificial grass courts and 3 floodlit macadam hard courts.[10]