More Golf Coming to the U.P.

Island Resort and Casino adding new Cedar Course

By Tom Lang

It’s a well-known fact that Michigan has the most public golf courses in the United States.

Now we’re getting one more.

The new Cedar Course in the Upper Peninsula is being bult right now just west of Escanaba on the Island Resort and Casino property at Sage Run.

The resort has started with nine-holes (opening in 2026), and designed in a way for a second nine to be added to the adjacent land in the future.

Additional building plans to begin in July will be work on a short course, practice area and an extension of the driving range.

According to visionary GM Tony Mancilla, the holes have all been shaped, with the trees gone and the dirt moved. “It looks like a golf course now, just without grass,” he said. “In the middle of April, most if not all drainage will be in, irrigation will be started, a pond will be finished up. 

“And seed in the ground is planned for June. The bent grass should grow quickly. It will look like what it’s going to look like by September.”

Mancilla said everything with the process has gone well, and without fear of jinxing himself, said progress is ahead of schedule.

“We are developing it about two months faster than originally planned,” he told me. “The tree clearing was a wait for federal government approval, but once that got done, the guys got in there and cleared it out real quick. The biggest logger in the U.P. went in there and took everything they needed to take, and once that all happened everything moved real quick.”

Michigan-based course designer Paul Albanese, who developed both of the highly-ranked Sweetgrass and Sage Run at IRC, is also doing Cedar.

“We all looked at the property and agree the land is somewhere between that of Sage Run and of Sweetgrass,” Albanese told me. “It’s not quite as dramatic as Sage Run as far as the elevation changes up and down, and it’s not as low-slung as Sweetgrass. It’s got some good rolls, some really interesting features and we’re trying to do a design concept from the golden age, for every hole.

“Tony and I went through (a couple dozen) green styles that have been used throughout the history of golf architecture, and we picked nine of them.”

Albanese said a punch bowl, a Redan and a double plateau greens are in the works.

“After clearing the trees, we got a feel for how beautiful the land is. We knew it was beautiful when we looked at the topo maps, and when I tromped through the woods it looked like it would be good. Then it was a great surprise how beautiful the land is.”

Mancilla agreed.

“As far as elevation and features, the land kind of falls between both courses (Sage Run and Sweetgrass),” he said. “It’s not similar. I always tell people that when you play Sweetgrass one time and Sage Run another, you won’t believe you’re even in the same county because they are so different. 

“At the Cedar course, the hills roll, but roll a little bigger than Sweetgrass, but they’re not as big as Sage Run and there’s no intimidating shots like you (have) up those par 3s at Sage Run.

“This is why Paul Albanese was able to use a lot of Scottish templates,” Mancilla continued. “Because it’s that kind of terrain (you’d find in Scotland). It’s a little more rolling, but it’s not extreme. So, once again, you’re going to play this third 9 and it’s going to feel different.”

The Cedar will eventually become 18 holes. For now, the new nine will more quickly fill a need in the near-term.

“We started with nine first because we needed to fill more early-morning tee times, and building nine is a lot faster than building 18,” Mancilla said. “We wanted to get the nine going because we have a lot of customers who come in late and want to play, but there’s not enough time to play 18 (before sunset).”

He explained on the flip side, that golfers who might have a half day drive home on their last day at the resort can fit in a final nine holes easily and still head out before or near lunchtime and get home at a reasonable hour. 

“That was the reason we did the nine to start. It’s being designed to add the other holes, and there is land to do it. The next stage is probably some more hotel rooms and probably the other nine.”

Island Resort and Casino currently has 454 rooms. Some include golfer suites in the newest tower that consist of two connected, large areas with plenty of well-spaced sleeping room for four. 

Mancilla said that at least another 50-60 rooms need to be added somewhere on property because they are sold out 99 percent of the time from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Favorite Holes:

In Mancilla’s opinion, the first hole is really dramatic as it plays down a valley. 

“So far, just riding the property on a cart, that’s the one that sticks in my mind the most. That first tee shot is really cool. It looks like Pasatiempo, an Alister MacKenzie course in (Santa Cruz) California. That’s what it looks like. You’re down in this valley looking up to a green. It’s really cool.

“And No. 4, it’s a par 5 that plays along a ridge. You can play it far to the right, there’s a lot of room between there and the 6th hole. No. 4 and 6 border each other. You can bail it out, you can slice it. But if you hit it down the left side you’re going to see the green.”

He added that it’s a par 5 where if you lay it up you will see the green. If you go for it you have to be on the left side, or the green will be hidden behind a mound (toward the right). 

“It’s probably the best designed hole from what I can see right now,” he said. “There’s so many ways to play it. No. 1, visually, is probably going to be the best hole. But strategically, that No. 4 hole sticks out.”

Green Complexes and U.P. Fun:

Albanese pointed out that much care went into selecting wonderful green complexes that will intrigue and delight golfers. He said that every hole’s green complex will try to emulate a golden age design concept. Example: the green complex of the 6th hole at Augusta National. He said as it’s planned now the hole will play downhill but not have the large valley between the tee and green you see in Georgia on TV.

“We believe it’s a classic par three, yet it might get overlooked often,” Albanese said. “You don’t hear people talk about ‘Juniper’ as it’s called. But we looked at the contours of the hole and hope to emulate it. So, when you’re on that green you’ll get a similar flavor as if you were playing Juniper at Augusta.”

Because he grew up in the western U.S., Mancilla often has friends and family visit in the Upper Peninsula.

“I grew up in Idaho and I have old college friends and I have family all over the country, and I can tell you that everyone who comes to the U.P. has fun. Sometimes we play golf, other times I take them to the Bridge, or we go to Munising and see the Pictured Rocks. But everybody has fun here. 

“It’s one of those places that if you’ve been here and experienced it, you want to come back. And in the golf world, we offer great golf, but do so at a really great rate. You can play both of our courses and stay two nights and pay maybe $320. It’s not cheap golf, it’s high-end golf. We put a lot of money into the courses, a lot of conditioning. So, you’re playing country club golf at a really good price.

“When people think of us, I think our courses stand toe-to-toe with anybody. But when you wrap it all up together, I think you have a more fun experience.”

Find your fun at:  https://islandresortgolf.com/