Turning Stone R (Atunyote, Shenendoah, Kaluhyat Courses)
Verona, NY (Central NY, just west of Syracuse)
7,315 yards, par 72
Green fees: $200-$225
Course Spy: Atunyote Course at Turning Stone
by Joe Passov
Service
Forget "Country Club for a Day"—it's more your own personal course. Start with a gate that opens only for those with a tee time. With perhaps more staff than players, the service was top-notch, all that you would expect from an exclusive private club, not a public course.
Pace of Play
At 8:30 a.m. on a late May holiday, our spy was the second player on the course. Another teed off 45 minutes earlier; next up was a twosome an hour later. It was like having a private course. Except for dealing with some hazards, it ranks among the fastest rounds we've played.
Quality
While the design of its sister course, Shenendoah, is more interesting, this is a solid Tom Fazio layout, with a strong risk/reward finish. It's also as well-conditioned as any course we've ever played, public or private. The greens were PGA Tour-ready in late May—just perfect.
Value
It is considerably pricier than any upstate New York courses, including the other Turning Stone tracks. But how often do you play a practically empty PGA Tour course like you owned it, complete with a Tour-level practice area and clubhouse? This is costly, but not a rip-off at all.
Verdict
Turning Stone is a terrific golf resort in an unlikely spot (the central New York snowbelt) and Atunyote is its star. Most won't pay these prices more than once a season, but it's worth the splurge on special occasions, if for no other reason than to see how the casino whales live for a day.
Shenendoah Course at Turning Stone Resort Course Review
Joe Passov, Golf Magazine/Golf.com, 7/11
Verona, N.Y.
7,129 yards, par 72
Green fees: $95-$150
800-771-7711
www.turning-stone.com
Lacrosse has long been the game of the Oneida Indian Nation in upstate New York. But golf has become its calling card over the past decade in the form of Turning Stone Resort, with three 18-hole layouts on Tribal land four and a half hours north of New York City. The original Shenendoah layout, ranked second in the state on Golf Magazine's Best Courses You Can Play, stands out among brethren Atunyote (Tom Fazio) and Kaluhyat (Robert Trent Jones Jr.).
This Rick Smith design, named for a legendary Tribal chief and opened in 2000, remains the most interesting of the trio thanks largely to memorable mid-length par 4s like the 398-yard 7th, where a lake down the left pressures both drives and approaches. Overall it's a less bruising round than both nearby Atunyote, venue for a PGA Tour event from 2007-2010, and the adjacent Kaluhyat course. The rest of the facility, complete with a casino, multiple hotels and the AAA Four-Diamond Wildflowers restaurant, earned a Silver Medal in Golf Magazine's 2010 Premier Resort rankings.
Another draw is the resort's "Be Our Next Champion" package (starting at $500 per person): two nights' accommodations, one round on all three courses and unlimited same-day replays on Shenendoah. You can also now toast success on the course or at the tables: the liquor license granted last year means alcohol is now available at all guest areas. Forget the cooler and just bring the sticks.