Turning Stone Resort Championship

September 20 - September 23, 2007
Atunyote Golf Club at Turning Stone
Verona, NY
Par: 72 / Yardage: 7,482
Purse: $6 million with $1.08 million going to the winner
Defending Champion: Inaugural Event

Tournament facts:

Results & Scores 2006 B.C. Open that was held at Turning Stone

Box Score of 2006 B.C. Open which was held at Turning Stone

Tournament facts:

Tournament information:

Course information:

The Turning Stone Resort Championship is the first professional event to be played at Atunyote since the course was called into emergency duty at the 2006 BC Open after rain and flooding in Binghamton, NY almost forced the cancellation of the event.

The course features Penn Links Bent grass on the tee boxes and fairways, which are cut at 0.3" and 0.4", respectively. The rough is a 4" cut of Kentucky Blue Grass, while the greens are a 0.12" cut of Penn A-4 Bent Grass. The greens on the course play relatively fast, with a Stimpmeter of 11 feet. This can primarily be attributed to the small cut of Bent Grass lining the putting surface.

Atunyote, which in the local native language Oneida means "Eagle," offers spacious fairways, large undulating greens, 63 steep-faced bunkers, and water coming into play. The largest body of water on the course measures just over 13 acres and runs along three holes including No. 18.

In its short existence, Atunyote has still managed to accumulate much critical acclaim. In 2004, it was ranked one of the "10 Best New Public/Resort Courses", and GOLF Magazine ranked it as one of the "Top 10 New courses you can play."

The Buzz:

It will be interesting to see if this PGA Tour fall series is really viable. The fields will be lacking marquee names and in a way will resemble Nationwide Tour events.

Yes the race for the top spot on the money list is still on, but it is impossible (mathematically possible, but, trust me, not feasible) for anyone other than Tiger to win it. This fall series is just about players that are in the top 125 winning more money. For others it will be all about retaining their PGA Tour cards for 2008 by finishing in the top-125. For others it will be making sure to finish out the year in the top-150 so that they will have some tour privileges in 2008.

One thing that has been overlooked is the race to get into other events, including majors. Not only do players qualify for majors through the final money, but also the World rankings, which will still be going on for the next seven weeks

Let me give you an example of what I mean. Let's look at the players right now on the money list between 22 and let's say 40. Yes, John Rollins is 22 right now and is probably safe to stay in the top-30. But take a player like Tim Clark. At No. 29 he could very easily fall out of that top-30 and not get to play in the Masters. The same for someone like Lucas Glover. At 40th on the money list he will be looking for a productive seven weeks to get him into the top-30 and earn invites to events like the Masters.

The same for the World Rankings. Those in the top-50 of the final world ranking in December get invites to the Masters. Right now Davis Love III is on the bubble at No. 50. Since Love doesn't qualify in any other category he is looking to either get into the top-30 of the money list, which could be difficult since he is 80th right now, or try to maintain his top-50 status. For Love the stakes are high because he has played in the last 17 Masters and doesn't want to miss it. So look for him to play in some of these fall series events.

A couple of other things that players will be thinking of are getting into the top-70, which gets you into the limited field events like the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial. Also, winning an event in the next seven weeks punches you a ticket to open your season in Maui in the Mercedes-Benz Championship. So, yes these next seven weeks will mean something to a lot of players.

Here are some things to look for this week:

Photo: © Christopher Condon/Wire Images The 18th hole of the Atunyote Golf Club in Verona, NY, home of the inaugural Turning Stone Resort Championship..

For the average golfer like you and I, the Atunyote course is tough. But for the professionals on the PGA Tour this course is a breeze. Last year when it played host to the B.C. Open the average score was 70.891, making it 44th ranked out of 55 courses. In looking at the holes, it only had one ranked in the top-200 on the tour in 2006, the 11th. It was the 46th hardest with a 3. 331 average for the par 3 hole.

• Key stat for the winner:
  Looking at stats from the 2006 B.C. Open, putting was the important element of those at the top of the leaderboard.
• Playing has to be a birdie machine, those that make the most will win.
• Running the par 5s will help, that means the winner will have to hit it long. Length will rule the roast over accuracy.
• Scrambling is also very important because it's not that demanding around the greens at Atunyote. So greens hit isn't as important as being able to get up and down on those missed.
• Good putters should have a field day this week. Last year John Rollins won while leading in putting and five of the top-ten also were high in putting.