South Island Open Championships

South Island Open Championships
Defunct tennis tournament
Tour	ILTF
Founded	1934;91 years ago (1934)
Abolished	1978;47 years ago (1978)
Location	Christchurch Nelson Timaru Wānaka
Venue	Various
Surface	Grass (1934-75) Hard (1976-78)

The South Island Open Championships was a regional men's and women's grass court then later hard court tennis tournament founded in 1934 as the South Island Championships. ^[1] The tournament was first played at the Nelson Lawn Tennis Club (f.1925), ^[2] Nelson, Nelson Province, North Island, New Zealand. The tournament was played at other locations until 1978 when it was discontinued as part of the ILTF Independent Tour. ^[1]

History

This tournament has it origins in the Nelson Provincial Lawn Tennis Association Championships founded in 1899 that ran till 1910. ^{[3] [4]} In 1934 the Southern Lawn Tennis Association of New Zealand was established (today its known as Tennis Southern) it established the South Island Championships. ^[1]

The tournament was first played at the Nelson Lawn Tennis Club (f.1925), ^[5] Nelson, Nelson Province, New Zealand. The event was part of ILTF Australasia Circuit (1934–72) a sub circuit of the ILTF World Circuit, then later the ILTF Oceania Circuit a regional circuit of the ILTF Independent Tour from 1975 until 1978 when it was downgraded from the worldwide independent tour it became a local regional event of Tennis New Zealand and is still held today. ^[1]

The tournament was held in Nelson, but also other locations including, Christchurch, Timaru and Wānaka.

The North Island equivalent to this tournament was the North Island Open Championships also founded in 1932 by the Northern Lawn Tennis Association of New Zealand. ^[6]

Finals

Men's singles

(incomplete roll)

South Island Championships
Year	Location	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1934 [1]	Nelson	Cam Malfroy	Buster Andrews	6–4, 6–4, 6–2
1937 [1]	Nelson	Alan Stedman	Buster Andrews	6–3, 6–4
1950 [1]	Nelson	John Barry	Ron McKenzie	6–3, 6–4, 6–3
1957 [1]	Nelson	Jeff Robson	Lew Gerrard	6–4, 6–1
1967 [1]	Nelson	Onny Parun	Richard Hawkes	10–8, 6–3, 7–5
1968 [1]	Timuru	Brian Fairlie	Hank Irvine	6–3, 6–4, 6–1
↓   Open Era   ↓
1969 [1]	Nelson	Ryan McCutcheon [7]	Richard Harris	10–8, 6–4.
1970 [1]	Nelson	Onny Parun (2)	Bill Tym	9–7, 5–7, 4–6, 6–2, 6–3
1971 [1]	Timuru	Lars Ölander	Richard Hawkes	0–6, 7–5, 6–4, 6–2
South Island Open Championships
1972 [1]	Nelson	Dave Simmonds	Bill Brown	3-6, 6–3, 1–6, 6–4 7–5
1973 [1]	Timuru	Kim Warwick	Syd Ball	6–4, 6–3, 6–2
1978 [1]	Wānaka	Glen Busby	Ken Wurtz	6–3, 6–1

Women's singles

(incomplete roll)

South Island Championships
Year	Location	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1958	Nelson	Ruia Morrison	Dawn Taylor	6–4, 6–8, 6–1
1960	Nelson	Sonia Cox	Heather Robson	8–6, 6–1
1962	Nelson	Ruia Morrison (2)	Ethne Mitchell	6–2, 6–1
1967	Nelson	Ethne Mitchell	Cecelie Fleming	6–2, 6–4
1968	Timuru	Winnie Shaw	Rita Bentley	6–3, 3–6, 6–2
↓   Open Era   ↓
1969	Nelson	Jennifer Goodall Nelson [8]	Lynn Harris	6–4, 6–4.
1970	Nelson	Alice Tym	Beverley Vercoe	4–6, 6–2, 6–1
1971	Timuru	Kathleen Harter	Sue Blakely	6–2, 6–4
South Island Open Championships
1976	Wānaka	Karen Krantzcke	Helena Anliot	6–1, 3–6, 6–4

References

1. "Tournaments:South Island Open Championships" . The Tennis Base. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
2. "Nelson Lawn Tennis Club". Nelson Lawn Tennis Club. Tennis Kiwi. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
3. "Tournaments:Nelson Provincial Championships" . The Tennis Base. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
4. of New Zealand, National Library (6 February 1905). "Nelson Lawn Tennis Association Annual Tournament". The Colonist. Papers Past. p. 2. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
5. Tennis Kiwi
6. "Tournaments:North Island Open Championships" . The Tennis Base. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
7. "South Island Tennis Titles - Nelson Photo News - No 99 : February 8, 1969". photonews.org.nz. Nelson, New Zealand: Friends of the Nelson Library. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
8. Friends of the Nelson Library

External links

• Tennis Kiwi: Nelson Bay Tennis Association Venues: Nelson Lawn Tennis Club