Turning Stone's Atunyote named among America's best golf courses
Atunyote Golf Course at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona was named among the best public golf courses by USA TODAY.
Mohawk Valley golfers and Turning Stone Resort Casino guests can boast about playing Atunyote Golf Course , designed by renowned golf architect Tom Fazio and just dubbed as among the best public golf courses in the country in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards . “You are cut off from the world. It’s just an incredible place to play golf,” said Turning Stone Resort Casino Director of Golf, Dave Winget, “awesome from beginning to end.
” Atunyote Golf Course experience at Turning Stone Resort Casino Turning Stone Enterprises, an endeavor of Oneida Indian Nation, describes Atunyote (which means "Eagle" in the Oneida language) in a statement as a “parkland-style course with wide, gorgeous fairways and a sense that you’ve entered a private world. ” The 18-hole course, which opened in 2004, clocks an average pace of play of four hours and 45 minutes, with a par of 72. It spans 7,315 yards, the largest of Turning Stone’s five courses, joining Kaluhyat and Shenendoah as championship-level 18-hole courses, while Pleasant Knolls and Sandstone Hollow offer nine-hole course experiences at Turning Stone.
The Verona course has been consistently listed on Golfweek’s best courses as it’s praised for its rolling hills and mini waterfalls. An exclusive entryway has almost no signage. Enter the massive gate, guests and golfers approach a call box described as “something from an 80s CIA movie,” in order to be buzzed through to the pro shop.
Once inside, at a glance it’s clear why Atunyote has been touted as such a “great venue for the PGA Tour. ” Defined by sloping hills, paralleling the foothills of the Mohawk Valley that serve as its breathtaking backdrop, while diverse waterways, including a embracing pond, coursing creek, and waterfall, Atunyote is “open and inviting. ” Turning Stone promises it as “anything but easy, best evidenced by the par-5 12th hole that forces those with ‘Atunyote Dreams’ to flirt with a pond that surrounds the right portion of the green.