More Golf is Coming to Michigan’s U.P.
By Tom Lang
As a golfer myself, it is gratifying to know golf courses are taking note of the public’s booming interest in the sport to invest in and expand their facilities. Among these is the Island Resort and Casino, near Escanaba in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Island Resort was known as a regional casino option when it first added the highly-rated Sweetgrass Golf Course in 2008. Sweetgrass soon became the longtime host of one of the EPSON Tour’s favorite stops on the schedule. This June will mark the 13th year of the pro tournament. The winner earns an exemption into the Evion Championship, an LPGA Tour major.
Remarkably, in 2022 and only its 15th year of operation, Sweetgrass also earned the National Golf Course of the Year award – which honors great golf while also recognizing a property’s commitment to growing the game and supporting their communities.
Ten years after Sweetgrass opened, Sage Run was added to give the resort 36 holes – which still might not be enough. So, plans are underway to add 9 more holes to Sage Run – but we’ll get to that in a minute.
Island Resort’s general manager Tony Mancilla recently told me that Sweetgrass was doing about 16,500 rounds per year when they added the second course, and now it’s over 25,000 rounds each year. Sage Run hosted over 17,000 rounds in 2023. These are large numbers considering the golf season is even shorter in the great Up North.
“(Bandon Dunes developer) Mike Keiser is famous for saying one plus one equals three,” Mancilla told me. “That when you add a second course, it’s not going to double your rounds, it will more than double your rounds, and we are experiencing that right now.”
This growth, plus the incredibly-fair pricing for the resort’s hotel accommodations and golf options, make Island Resort and Casino one of the best golf resort values in the entire Midwest.
Code: don’t wait to book your trip.
Mancilla said by mid-March the resort will be about 70 percent full with reservations for summer golf; Memorial Day through the end of September. He said there is still lots of space but don’t delay, “because it’s going fast.”
“We have invested a lot into our golf hospitality area, hiring three dedicated people who really understand golf from the customer side on building great packages and what golfers are looking for.”
Beyond the golf courses, Island Resort has wonderful casino games, slots, poker, bingo and table games – and SI SportsBook by Sports Illustrated. Its showroom also hosts entertaining concerts all year long.
Then there is the Drift Spa and the regionally-renowned Horizons Steakhouse on the top floor of the hotel tower on the property, offering an incredible panoramic view of the Sweetgrass Course and surrounding U.P. countryside.
“We’ll have golf groups from 12-to-40 people and they are here several days,” Mancilla said. “I know when I go on trips, about halfway through I’m sore and tired, and think, ‘I sure could use a massage.’ We have that available at Drift Spa and not everyone knows it. And especially if you’re older like I’m getting (age 55), I just wake up sore,” he said with a chuckle.
The increased demand for golf packages was the driving force behind the resort’s $30 million expansion in 2022. Renovations featured the 11-story Palm Tower, with 138 guest rooms and golf suites, which brought the property’s guest room total to 454. Also included in the expansion is Horizons Steakhouse, aptly named because it is located on the top floor of the Palm Tower featuring the best views in the region across the expansive horizon of the U.P. Then there is Splash Island, a family pool with waterpark features.
Horizons has been so successful in its initial years that beginning this year Mancilla said they will be providing breakfast as a package add-on, but beginning in 2025 the plan is to include it in golf packages.
“We usually have anywhere from 100-200 golfers who want breakfast in the morning before their rounds, so that’s a direction we are going.”
The prairie links-style Sweetgrass layout meanders to a wide-open vista where many greens and flags can be seen in the distance. The highlight of this course is very fun green complexes. For course architecture geeks, you have a Redan, Biarritz, Island, and Double-green. The back nine also included arguably two of the best par-3's I have played. The 12th (full disclosure my only career hole-in-one) features one of the coolest Biarritz holes and the par-3 15th requires an accurate shot with a short iron into an island green.
Like Sweetgrass, Sage Run was also designed by Paul Albanese and is a bold contrast to the other. Selected by Golf Digest as one the “Best New” courses in America in 2019 and ranked 20th in Michigan's top courses by Golfweek, Sage Run offers a more rugged experience with hardwoods, open areas, and a massive ridge that Albanese likened to Royal County Down in Northern Ireland.
Breaking News: An Expanding Sage Run
Now for the breaking news you will first see here: Mancilla announced that a new 9 holes are seriously in the works at the Sage Run property, which is Island Resort owned but situated about 6 miles away and connected by a free shuttle service.
Albanese is set to design it as well. Mancilla explained that the intention of the new nine is to give golfers an additional 9-hole round in the afternoon or evening if they played 18 – or a nine-hole experience for golfers who might have a long day ahead and want to squeeze in more golf but still have time to drive home in the afternoon.
“We are in the process to find the nine extra holes to help accommodate these extra tee times we’re going to need.” Mancilla said. “We have walked the property. We are in the stages of getting a logging permit to clear some trees. It’s looking good and our goal in two years is to be over 50,000 rounds.”
He stressed that the holes have not been designed yet, but said that Albanese will have full freedom to create his vision – but where possible they would like to do some ‘tribute’ holes. They want to log the property first. Ideally that will happen early this summer. “So, ground has not been broken, but plans are underway.”
“We want to do something different from Sweetgrass and Sage Run that are already there,” Mancilla added. “So, we are saying to Paul, design the holes and make the course fit right, but if you have the chance to add some bunkers, maybe do ‘church pew bunkers’ like at Oakmont, or maybe build a punchbowl green. Then it becomes unique because a lot of people do not get a chance to play a once-in-a-lifetime-deal like the Chicago Golf Club (location of the real punchbowl) or Oakmont, so if the land is right and we have the chance to add that – and we might not be able to – but let’s add those things in there and share the history with our guests.
“So, if Paul can add those types of things, we will make them a tribute to other ideas that people might never see otherwise.
“What we want is to add something with big fairways with unique green complexes, so you don’t feel like you’re playing Sage Run’s third nine, you’re instead playing a whole different nine. That’s what we’re going for.”
Knowing the folks at Island Resort and Casino, they’ll get it right – just like everything else on property.
For more information about Island Resort and Casino and its golf packages, visit www.islandresortgolf.com or call 877-475-4733.
