As an amateur tournament, the inaugural edition was held in 1924 in Torquay, moving to the West Hants Tennis Club in Bournemouth, England in 1927.
[2][3] When the tournament became a fixture of the Open Era in 1968 (see below), many professional competitors from overseas, unused to the playing conditions, complained that the shale courts were wet and slippery.
[4] By the mid-1970s, however, the event had become a destination for several top European and South American clay courters: winners of the men's singles championship during those years include Ilie Năstase, Adriano Panatta, Manuel Orantes, Victor Pecci and José Higueras.
[5] In 1995, the event was revived at Bournemouth as a women's WTA tournament but was only played there that one time; the final edition the following year was held in Cardiff, Wales.
Virginia Wade won the women's singles title, defeating Winnie Shaw in the final, but did not take home the winner's prize of $720 as she was still an amateur at the time of the tournament.