HARRIS, MI. – The Island Resort & Casino in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula already has two golf courses that offer variety for their players. So, now they have a third course that will split the different style-wise between the two.
Michigan architect Paul Albanese, who designed the first two courses – Sweetgrass and Sage Run – has also designed the third one. Officially it’s called Kishke. That’s the term for Cedar in the Potawatomi language. When it opens, projected for August of 2026, it’ll be known as the Cedar Course.
Sweetgrass was the first course built on the property and is widely recognized as one of the best in golf-rich Michigan. Sage Run opened in 2018. It’s a fun course to play, but somewhat controversial. It is certainly not easy.
Matt Sly, the course superintendent at Sage Run, says Cedar will be “a hybrid.’’
“It’ll be similar in yardage to the other two, but it’ll be a little more challenging than Sweetgrass, but not as hard as Sage Run,’’ said Sly. “It’ll have the wide, bentgrass fairways like Sweetgrass and rolling terrain like Sage Run.’’
There are a few more things you should know about this two-year project, planned as a $19 million investment.
While the new course will have no replica holes, it is being inspired by “the golden age of golf architecture.’’ That wasn’t the case at either Sweetgrass or Sage Run, and players will notice the difference.
“We wanted to give them a flavor of what it would be like to play overseas or from that era in the early 1900s,’’ said Albanese. “We are taking some great concepts from that era and incorporating them into the Cedar Course.’’
Most easily recognizable will be the church pew bunker on the ninth hole, reminiscent of Pennsylvania’s Oakmont – site of the 2025 U.S. Open. No. 6 has an enormous bunker left of the green and is called the Sahara hole. No. 7 resembles the Juniper hole at Augusta National, annual site of the Masters. The par-5 second hole also looks intriguing with a long row of railroad ties clearly evident at this early stage of construction.
One other thing: the Cedar Course will have a six-hole partner. An unusual short course is being constructed near the ninth green. It’ll have two double greens and two regular greens.
Sweetgrass, Sage Run and Cedar are all names of the Indian tribe’s medicinal plants. A fourth, Tobacco, is also being mentioned. That suggests another course project could be in the works.
“We are building nine holes now with the hope of adding another nine in a few years,’’ said Sly.
A Michigan State graduate, Sly arrived on the scene 18 years ago as part of the crew that built Sweetgrass. He stayed around and is now more involved than just being superintendent at Sage Run. He also coaches the boys and girls teams at Bark River Harris High School, which is located next to the Island Resort & Casino. The teams play their matches at Sage Run, and the girls team was recently crowned the champion of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula schools.
While the new course is the major talking point going forward, other big projects have already been undertaken. The Convention Center at the Island Resort & Casino received a 17,000 square foot addition that opened in June. Now there’s 30,000 square feet of convention space.
A new pro shop at Sweetgrass is also open now. It offers a great view of the double green complex that serves both the No. 9 and 18 holes. That becomes a major focal point of the course, which already has an island green at No. 15.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, check islandresortandcasino.com.