Now Open: Cedar Course at Island Resort
By Tom Lang
On a recent trip with my wife to the Upper Peninsula – which this year was voted the No. 1 Golf Destination in the country by USAToday’s 10Best Awards – a tour of the new Cedar 9-hole course at Island Resort & Casino (IRC) was in order.
Impressive, cool, and classic design are just a few of the adjectives I’ll use – making it the newest must-play course in Michigan.
“It’s going to be our best nine holes when it’s done (growing in),” IRC general manager Tony Mancilla told me.
That’s an astounding statement when golfers consider the two award winning courses already in the Island Resort portfolio – Sweetgrass and Sage Run – are both ranked in the top 15 public courses in Michigan by GolfWeek.
My gut tells me I agree with Tony.
The land on which the Cedar Course travels and the Paul Albanese design is clearly a cross-section between Sweetgrass and Sage Run. It has a lot of openness elements like Sweetgrass but also shows off some land features like the more rugged Sage Run.
I truly enjoyed the layout (of three each par 3s, 4s and 5s) which takes design cues from famous golf courses all over the world. No holes are true replicas, but they borrow so many of the same features that it will make for a great experience.
The par three No. 7 in particular is the same green dimensions and undulations as No. 6 at Augusta National.
My favorite hole is No. 4 with the big mound to the right side of the green.
“No. 4 is featured after London Links hole 16 in Scotland,” Mancilla said. “At the real London Links, there’s a ditch on the right and a lot of fairway on the left, so most golfers go up the left side, the same side of the tall mound guarding the green.
“Our hole is flopped. All the danger is on the left where the big falloff is, with a lot of fairway to the right. And in order to get to the green (due to the huge mound on the right) you have to play up the left side, or maybe lay up so you can see the green. It’s the same strategy, but flipped.”
I also really like No. 2, which has the long sand trap going across the entire fairway in front of the railroad ties that divide the fairway and forces golf shots to go up in the air to the elevated remainder of fairway that leads to the green. A very unique touch.
No. 1 is a stunner to look at and to navigate the traps on the opening hole – and No. 9 has the ‘church row’ bunkers guarding the right side of the fairway, with a bonus being a punchbowl green. In the future, that hole will become No. 18 when Island Resort adds nine more holes and inter-connects them all.
Sugar Maple trees are scattered throughout the layout that help frame some of the holes but in no way does the nearby woods or forest encroach play.
For a brand new build, the grass is in really good condition and the greens are absolutely wonderful. This will be a fabulous extra nine holes for any golf groups that want to come play and squeeze in the extra experience. IRC can add dozens more tee times now in the morning by allowing people to play the back at Sage Run first, then jump over to the Cedar. Or golfers can just play Cedar alone to squeeze in nine more holes before they go home from their trip.
“We think Cedar is going to do well and it’s designed for 18,” Mancilla said. “We’ll work on that second nine once we get some other projects done around here.”
More information can be found at: www.islandresortgolf.com
