Three Former Top-100 Courses. Two Nights. About $900.
Listen, I don’t expect you to put this at the top of your golf-trip bucket list.
I’m throwing out the curveball option.
Imagine flying somewhere cooler than Texas, spending two nights at a casino resort, and playing three different golf courses…all of which have previously appeared on Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Public Courses in America list.
The package can come in around $900 depending on dates and hotel selection.
Welcome to Central New York.
The Setup
Fly into Syracuse, grab a car, and about 35 minutes later you’re at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona.
Let’s establish expectations immediately:
This isn’t Pinehurst. It isn’t Bandon. And it isn’t particularly fancy.
That’s also not the point.
Turning Stone offers a Champions Package with two hotel nights and one round each at its three championship courses: Atunyote, Kaluhyat and Shenendoah.
You can check in, park the car and essentially never leave until it’s time to fly home.
There’s a casino, bars, a steakhouse, Italian, Asian and plenty of casual food. Play golf during the day, eat and have a few drinks at night, sleep, repeat.
Simple.
Three Very Different Golf Courses
The surprising part is the golf pedigree.
Atunyote
The headliner.
Tom Fazio designed a manicured parkland course that previously hosted the PGA Tour. Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar both won Tour events here.
It’s the polished course of the three: pristine ponds, immaculate conditioning and the strongest “destination golf” feeling at the resort.
Golf Digest once ranked it No. 55 among America’s public courses.
Kaluhyat
Then things get mean.
Robert Trent Jones Jr. used the rolling terrain, wetlands and woods to create the toughest of the three courses.
There are forced carries, elevation changes approaching 50 feet and plenty of opportunities to donate golf balls to Central New York.
Golf Digest once ranked Kaluhyat No. 71 among America’s public courses.
Bring extra balls.
And perhaps lower expectations for your score.
Shenendoah
Shenendoah is the change of pace.
The Rick Smith design moves between open, almost links-like stretches and traditional wooded Upstate New York golf.
It has also spent time on Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Public list, reaching No. 52.
Three courses. Three different personalities.
That’s what makes the weekend work.
The Texas Heat Escape
Then there’s the weather.
Central New York isn’t exactly famous for tropical vacations, which is precisely why we’re discussing it.
In August, Syracuse’s average high is around 81 degrees. September drops to roughly 74, with average nighttime temperatures around 53.
For a Dallas golfer who has spent three months checking the weather app and seeing numbers beginning with a nine or ten, that’s practically sweater weather.
Mornings can be cool. Evenings can be cool.
You can play golf without wondering whether the cart has enough water to keep you alive.
Want to Explore?
You don’t have to stay inside the Turning Stone bubble.
Drive about 30 minutes south through rural Central New York and you’ll eventually reach Hamilton, home of Colgate University and Seven Oaks Golf Club.
This is where the trip gets a little weird, but in a good way.
Seven Oaks is an old Robert Trent Jones design sitting among the rolling hills around Colgate’s campus. It hosted the NCAA Division I Championship in 1977 and was named the No. 1 public course in New York in GolfPass’ 2026 Golfers’ Choice rankings.
Hamilton itself is tiny.
The surrounding area is rural.
You’re driving past farms and small towns rather than subdivisions and six-lane highways.
After living in Dallas, that’s kind of the point.
The Fall Version Might Be Even Better
If you can push the trip into late September or early October, things get more interesting.
September historically brings highs in the mid-70s and cool nights. By October, average highs around Syracuse are closer to the low 60s.
Add fall foliage to the rolling terrain and suddenly this strange little golf trip starts making a lot of sense.
Pack a quarter-zip.
Who Is This Trip For?
This isn’t the trip I’d recommend if you’re looking for five-star hotels, celebrity restaurants and bucket-list nightlife.
It’s for the golfer who has some airline miles and thinks:
Why not?
Fly somewhere you’ve probably never considered.
Play three courses with legitimate national golf pedigree.
Spend a couple nights gambling, eating steaks and arguing about who blew up on Kaluhyat.
Maybe drive through the countryside and play an old Robert Trent Jones course at Colgate.
Then fly home.
