New York. When you hear the words, it brings to mind the hustle and bustle of the city that doesn’t sleep. But not too far away from the booming metropolis of New York City, golfers can find a golfing paradise at Turning Stone Resort Casino.
Five tremendous spots to tee it up; five unique lodging options for every budget.
Oh, and you can mix in a little bit of gambling while you’re at it — where your luck can be the star attraction.
But we digress, as the golf at Turning Stone is worthy of our full focus. With three 18-hole courses and two 9-hole courses in New York onsite, this place is a golf behemoth that stands out as the premier golf resort in the state.
Here’s a closer look of this incredible property located just outside of Syracuse, NY:
Turning Stone Resort Casino: The golf
The five courses are touched by some of the most elite course architects in the world, including Tom Fazio (Atunyote), Robert Trent Jones, Jr. (Kaluhyat) and a double-dip of Rick Smith (Sandstone Hollow, Shenendoah).
Atunyote is the most well-known course, playing host to the Turning Stone Resort Championship on the PGA Tour from 2007-2010. Designed by Tom Fazio, the course is inviting to players of all skill levels, with the fairways forgiving, while you’ll need to be accurate with your approach shots to score well. Make a stop to tee it up where some of the best players in history have also played.
This course is as captivating as it is beautiful. You’ll know you are in for something special from the moment you arrive at Atunyote as the whimsical tree-like gate opens to bring you onto the property. Once you tee it up, you’ll find the course is perfectly manicured and is always in top-notch shape. Fazio and his team sculpted this course to showcase the beauty of the Northern New York terrain in a way that only he can do. The tree-lined parkland-style layout has ample bunkering and water hazards with several natural fescue areas to challenge you off the tee, while also providing you with approachable fairways to help you enjoy your round. As the premier course onsite, we suggest you play here at least once during your golf getaway.
Kaluhyat is consistently ranked among the best casino courses in the United States, including in Golfweek’s Best Casino Courses in 2022. The change in elevation is this course’s claim to fame, with some as high as 50 feet, allowing for mesmerizing views from the plateaus all over the course. Playing at 7,100 yards from the back tees, the multiple sets of tee boxes do make the course approachable for everyone.
Kaluhyat brings in more natural, native areas into the design compared to Atunyote as the course features several forced carries to tighter fairways providing golfers with a beautiful test of golf that will put a premium on accuracy for you.
The third 18-hole course on property is Shenendoah, a Rick Smith-designed track that embraces the surrounding naturally wooded area. The course plays at more than 7,000 yards and the course conditions are maintained to create an experience on par with what you would find at the levels on the PGA Tour. It also provided the venue for the 2006 PGA National Club Professional Championship.
Like Kaluhyat, you get a real sense of a natural setting here as Smith and his team designed this course to abide by Audubon International standards. The result is a unique combination of wooded parkland holes, open pastures that provide a links-style feel, and Lowcountry style reminiscent of those you’d find along courses in coastal South Carolina and Georgia.
The last two courses are 9-hole attractions, with Pleasant Knolls featuring fast greens and plenty of water hazards, while Sandstone Hollow winds through the woods and natural wetlands of Northern New York. Pleasant Knolls plays as a par-36, a more standard regulation 9-hole course, while the Rick Smith-designed Sandstone Hollow is a par-3 course perfect for testing your short game that can serve as a fun round on its own or a nice add-on after you tackle one of the other courses on property.
Turning Stone Resort Casino: The lodging
Sure, the golf is truly spectacular at Turning Stone, but so is the lodging, providing you with a myriad options to create the perfect golf vacation.
The Tower at Turning Stone and The Hotel at Turning Stone provide your common hotel experiences, but with incredible views, gaming and the TS Steakhouse on the 21st floor of The Tower. We cannot stress enough how much you have to make a stop at the TS Steakhouse a part of your trip. The views from the restaurant are incredible, and the food and cocktails are simply fantastic.
If you’re looking for an upscale experience, The Lodge at Turning Stone is an all-suite hotel that puts a premium on pampering, including access to an exclusive spa and workout facility.
The property also features the Sandstone Hollow Inn at Turning Stone, which is situated adjacent to the Sandstone Hollow golf course and provides golfers looking to save a few dollars with ample accommodations at a lower price point. Along that same vein, the Inn at Turning Stone is another affordable option that can help you save a few dollars during your trip.
Also, if you’ve got your own RV and want to make the trip, The Villages at Turning Stone is an RV park that also features boating, fishing and nature trails.
Turning Stone Resort Casino: The amenities
One of the things that we love about Turning Stone Resort Casino is how many incredible options they provide for you during your time off of the course.
The first and obvious star of the show is the casino. With more than 2,000 slot machines, 66 Vegas-style gaming tables, a massive Bingo Hall, the largest poker room in the state, and the Lounge with Caesars Sports, this is a gambling paradise where golfers can take their winnings from the course and let it ride in style.
In addition to the world-class casino, Turning Stone also offers incredible dining and nightlife options that tend to really go off on the weekends. One of our favorites is the Tin Rooster Dancehall & BBQ, a large country restaurant and bar that features live music and is always lively and fun.
There are also countless dining options available. We already mentioned TS Steakhouse being a must during your visit, and the property offers over 15 different options for you to enjoy some culinary delights.
Recommendation
Turning Stone has made a trip to Northern New York an all-inclusive one, with a week’s worth of golf on property, while the appropriate lodging for your budget is readily available. Playing Atunyote, Shenendoah, and Kaluhyat during your trip is an absolute must, and our recommendation is to stay at The Lodge, The Tower, or The Hotel. Even though the resort offers some more affordable options, it’s worth being at one of these three in order to enhance your trip.
In even better news, Turning Stone Resort Casino has recently come onboard as a GolfStayAndPlays.com partner, and as a partner we will help cover some of the costs of your golf trip here on a limited first come, first served basis. If you’re interested in taking advantage of this, email us at groups@golfstayandplays.com to learn more.