You may not experience a sweeter round of golf in the Northeast
than when walking the fairways of the Shenendoah Golf Course at Turning Stone
Resort and Casino (315-361-7711; TurningStone.com) on a late summer
afternoon. Sunlight dances off the tall fescue lining one of New York State’s
most magnificent tracks, and the tightly mown grass of the fairways and putting
surfaces shine an emerald green.
Shenendoah is only one of three superb 18-hole courses at Turning
Stone, located in Verona. The mystical Rick Smith design is joined by Robert
Trent Jones Jr.’s Kaluhyat and Tom Fazio’s Atunyote. There’s also Sandstone
Hollow, a nine-hole, par-three course crafted by Smith, and Pleasant Knolls, a
regulation-length nine-hole course, as well as comprehensive indoor and outdoor
practice facilities.
The Oneida Indian Nation’s reservation is home to a bustling
casino, hotel, events center, a sparkling new Lodge and Ska’na spa, and enough
golf to keep visitors busy for a week. The resort plays host to the PGA Tour’s
Turning Stone Resort Championship.
Atunyote—site of the PGA Tour event—will offer a unique experience
this year that will make visitors feel as if they are on Tour. Players
will be greeted by one of the club’s professionals at the bag drop, given a
locker that one of the Tour professionals use during the tournament, escorted to
the practice range (lesson optional), be given two forecaddies for each foursome
and sent on their way for a most special round.