I have to admit, I love the drive along I-90 in New York state. You see at least a dozen golf courses along the way, including the skeletal remains of one that was laid out, had a soft opening, but never opened to the public. That one, outside Rochester, would be The Belfry USA, intended to be the stateside sister course to the Ryder Cup site in England.
Yet I digress…The first course I recall seeing along the I-90 corridor, a wee bit beyond Syracuse and not yet to Utica, nearly had me upside-down in a ditch. I was motoring along when I said “Good Lord, what is that!?” I had unwittingly stumbled onto Shenandoah, the first 18-hole trek at Turning Stone, long before the other courses were completed. After Shenendoah came Sandstone Hollow, the inspired, par-3 course also designed by Rick Smith. Then came Kaluhyat, one of the last brutal RTJ2 courses (prior to his epiphany at Chambers Bay) and finally, Atunyote, the Tom Fazio “Augusta of the north,” where privacy is the operative word.
I bring this up now because I will have the pleasure to return to Turning Stone, assuming all goes well, in a week’s time. Over the course of 48 hours, the Scrambler and I will leave Buffalo-Niagara at 5 am on a Saturday morning, drive to Verona and play 72 holes of golf. We will also eat like Kings and sleep like babies. We might even work out if the mood suits us.
Turning Stone rises like an empress…oh, wait, that’s a Toto song from the 1980s. It does rise above the central NY plain, however, with a certain majesty. Within its environs, much enjoyment is to be had, at a 24 hours per day pace. The only regret I ever have is departing. It’s a wondrous place where those with solid incomes enjoy the finest that life has to offer. I’ll report back on how well we survived our trip east over Memorial weekend.
