By Tom Lang
From the Motor City to the Upper Peninsula, Michigan golfers are rediscovering one of the Midwest’s most compelling golf regions — a destination shaped by long summer days, cool breezes, and landscapes that shift from rolling farmland to rugged northern wilderness. What began decades ago in northern lower Michigan with the rise of major golf resorts has steadily expanded. Today, that momentum stretches across the Mackinac Bridge and into the central Upper Peninsula, where a new chapter in Midwest golf is being written.
At the heart of this evolution is Island Resort & Casino near Escanaba, now recognized as one of the region’s premier multi‑course destinations. Even the journey — crossing the Straits of Mackinac and following the sweeping shoreline views along U.S. 2 — creates a sense of arrival. It feels remote, unspoiled, and deeply connected to the game’s purest traditions.
A Destination Built on Architectural Identity
Island Resort’s rise began with a single standout course. Today, it has grown into a multi‑course experience defined by variety, strategy, and a commitment to thoughtful design. That identity is now expanding again with the introduction of the Cedar Course, a new nine‑hole layout set to open for preview play in Fall 2026.
The name Cedar — Kishki in Potawatomi — reflects its cultural significance as one of the four sacred medicines, symbolizing protection and purification. But its meaning extends further: Cedar represents a design philosophy rooted in the Golden Age of golf architecture, where strategy, angles, and creativity mattered more than sheer length.
Sweetgrass: The Gateway Experience
To understand Cedar’s role, it helps to begin with Sweetgrass, the resort’s original course designed by Paul Albanese. Since opening in 2008, Sweetgrass has become the resort’s signature experience and was named the 2023 National Golf Course of the Year — a remarkable achievement just 15 years after its debut.
Set across open, prairie‑style terrain, Sweetgrass is home to the Island Resort Championship, one of the premier events on the EPSON Tour, the official “Road to the LPGA.” Its broad fairways, native grasses, and sweeping sightlines give it a distinctly Midwestern character. Yet beneath that openness lies a layer of architectural sophistication.
Sweetgrass’s green complexes are its defining feature. Albanese incorporated Golden Age templates — a Redan, a Biarritz, a double green — that subtly nod to early design traditions. The par‑3 12th, with its dramatic Biarritz swale, and the island‑green 15th remain two of the most photographed and memorable holes in the region.
Sage Run: Rugged, Bold, and Unapologetically Different
A decade later, Albanese returned with a dramatically different vision. Sage Run, which opened in 2018, offers a rugged counterpoint to Sweetgrass. Routed through hardwood forests and along exposed ridgelines, it introduces elevation changes rarely seen in Midwestern golf.
Bold, physical, and visually striking, Sage Run feels closer to the windswept traditions of the British Isles than the flatland courses many associate with the region. Its design earned national attention, including recognition on Golf Digest’s list of “Best New Courses, 2019.”
Together, Sweetgrass and Sage Run form a deliberate contrast — open versus enclosed, lyrical versus muscular, traditional versus dramatic. Cedar adds a third dimension.
Cedar: A Strategic Nine‑Hole Masterclass
“We are very busy in the summer and often booked on both of our other courses in the morning,” says Tony Mancilla, General Manager of Island Resort & Casino. “We decided to add nine holes to accommodate our guests looking for early morning tee times before they head home. We are not adding to Sage Run but making these nine holes their own course.”
Cedar is not an expansion for expansion’s sake. It is a focused architectural statement — a nine‑hole course built around strategy, angles, and the timeless principles of early‑20th‑century design.
“We are taking some great concepts from the golden age of course architecture in the early 1900s and incorporating them into the Cedar course,” says Albanese. “The course will feature some of the game’s most popular green templates like the Punchbowl, Double Plateau, and even a Juniper hole like the famous 6th at Augusta National.”
From the opening tee shot, Cedar’s intent is unmistakable. The first hole, “The Bottle,” narrows as it moves away from the tee — the opposite of modern design trends. Inspired by National Golf Links of America, it immediately forces golfers to weigh aggression against risk.
The course’s centerpiece, the par‑5 sixth, is a layered, three‑shot journey that blends multiple Golden Age concepts. A deep Himalaya bunker guards the tee shot, while a sprawling Sahara hazard dominates the landing zone. The boomerang‑shaped green, inspired by Alister MacKenzie, rewards imagination as much as precision.
Two holes later, Cedar shifts tone with a short par‑4 modeled after Riviera’s iconic 10th. Tempting yet treacherous, it challenges players to decide how bold they want to be — and punishes imprecision around a sharply contoured green.
For architecture enthusiasts, Cedar will feel like a curated tour through design history. For everyday golfers, it simply feels fun, strategic, and refreshingly different.
A $19 Million Investment in the Future
The Cedar Course is part of a broader $19 million expansion that underscores Island Resort’s confidence in the future of golf and group travel. The resort recently added nearly 17,000 square feet of convention space, including a grand ballroom capable of hosting up to 1,200 guests — a move that has already boosted midweek occupancy and strengthened its appeal for corporate events and weddings.
A new 3,000‑square‑foot Sweetgrass golf shop, built in a traditional Hardy Plank style, overlooks the finishing holes and serves as both a retail hub and social gathering space, complete with terraces, locker rooms, and communal areas.
A Five‑Course Summer Golf Adventure
Island Resort’s popular “Perfect Foursome” package has long allowed guests to pair Sweetgrass and Sage Run with two of the Upper Peninsula’s most celebrated courses: Greywalls and Timberstone. Greywalls, with its dramatic rock formations and Lake Superior vistas, offers a rugged, almost surreal experience. Timberstone, near Iron Mountain, winds through forests and wetlands with dramatic elevation changes.
With Cedar’s debut, that foursome effectively becomes a five‑course rotation — adding a strategic, Golden Age‑inspired dimension to an already diverse lineup.
The resort offers customizable 1‑ to 4‑night packages with up to four rounds of golf, priced from $136 to $772 depending on the season.
A Place Worth the Journey
Golfers come to Island Resort for many reasons: the value, the variety, the architecture, the cool northern air, and the long summer evenings that seem to stretch forever. But most return for something simpler — the feeling that this remote corner of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula offers an authentic, unspoiled golf experience.
Here, great courses, thoughtful design, and genuine hospitality come together one memorable round at a time.
Plan your trip now — whether it’s for this summer or fall. You won’t be disappointed. Book now to save on your out-of-this-world golf experience today.
For more information about Island Resort and Casino and its golf packages, visit islandresortgolf.com.
