Verona (WSYR-TV) - It's already hosted one of the world’s top athletes only a few weeks ago, and now the Turning Stone Resort is preparing to host a whole field of top golfers.
The PGA tour will make its richest fall tour stop this week at the resort.
For the Turning Stone, setting up for this event is much harder than hosting Tiger Woods in a charity skins game about a month ago.
"Instead of just having 20 or 30 security personnel for a one-day event, we have tons and tons of security out in the parking lot [and] here on property following particular marquee players, so there are a lot of things that are drastically different," says Monte Ortel, Turning Stone Resort Championship Managing Director.
The number of volunteers goes from about 100 for Tiger’s appearance to roughly 1,100 for the Turning Stone Resort Championship.
Preparation was still going on Monday for the tournament, which will be a seven-day long event, with corporate hospitality tents, sponsors, bleachers, scoreboards, video monitors, 132 golfers in the field and thousands of spectators -- much of it accomplished in the last few weeks.
"Turning Stone and the Oneida Indian Nation should be really proud of being able to pull off both events in such a short period of time, successfully,” Ortel says.
There’s another big difference in the two events: Tickets are still available for the first day of the Resort Championship on Thursday at $60 apiece.
The crowd was limited to 3,000 people to see Tiger Woods play -- and the cheapest ticket was over $300.
Tournament’s impact to be felt across central NY
While Turning Stone will reap some significant economic benefits from the tournament, the rest of the region can also benefit from it.
Though the event takes place at the Turning Stone’s Atunyote golf course, marketing and tourism experts say to think of it as being separate from the rest of central New York is wrong -- which is why they say the championship is a win for everyone.
"It'd be no different than if Orlando tried to define itself without including Disney World,” says Syracuse Convention and Visitor’s Bureau President David Holder. “You've got to look at these partners that you have. Our region is bigger than the City of Syracuse, bigger than Onondaga County."
The tournament will give the entire country a chance to see just what central New York is like.
"When the commentators talk about the event and talk about the accommodations and the professionalism of the facility, certainly that has a positive effect on the central New York community as well," says SU professor of marketing Scott Lathrop.
Lathrop says the annual return of such a high-level event furthers the region's reputation as well.
“That type of reputation is something that you need to take time to build, but once it is built we have a strong brand image for the community that helps to attract other visitors and other conventions and other events as well," he says.
Holder adds, "These guests coming in for the tournament will be coming through our airport here in Syracuse. They're going to have chance to be exposed to what our area offers."
The Golf Channel, which is watched by nearly a million people a day, will carry all four days of the Turning Stone Resort Championship.
