Traditionally, the first weekend of December means a couple of things for squash players. In the past couple of decades the older generation, especially out west, have gone to Santa Fe to play in the Kiva Classic, one of the great doubles tournaments on the calendar.
Back east it is the gem. Since 1928 people have gathered at the Rockaway Hunting Club on Long Island to play for the Gold Racquets. There really is no other tournament like it: intimate, high-level and tremendously fun. And apparently good for marriages: in 1962 it was the first squash tournament my father took my mother to; in 1999 it was the first tournament I took my wife-to-be to.
Rockaway suffered from Hurricane Sandy: it lost power for eleven days and salt water went over a lot of the golf course (not the first time for sure). The first fairway was fairly inundated. Many local members got whacked hard: Gold Racquets tournament director Mark Hinckley’s house received three feet of water on the first floor.
Another club that often has seen storm damage is Valkyrie Squash Club in Sea Bright, NJ. The club, in an old trolley turnabout, regularly suffered from flooding (players sometimes walked to the court in barefeet, carrying their sneakers). During Hurricane Irene last year, the floors got damaged after sandbags left to protect the club were stolen.