Sweetgrass Golf Course Named 2021 Michigan Golf Course of the Year

By Tom Lang

Island Resort & Casino’s Sweetgrass Golf Course, has been selected as the 2021 Michigan Golf Course of the Year by the Michigan Golf Course Association (MGCA). 

The honor automatically qualifies Sweetgrass for consideration of National Course of the Year in 2022. Michigan courses have a great national track record recently as that same honor was bestowed upon the Gull Lake View’s Stoatin Brae in early 2021 – and Boyne Highlands’ Heather course in 2019.

The Upper Peninsula resort is 13 miles west of Escanaba, in Harris. It opened Sweetgrass in 2008 to great reviews and in 2011 became the annual host course for the LPGA Symetra Tour’s Island Resort Championship.

“To be recognized by our peers and this wonderful organization is a testament to our staff who has done an exceptional job of operating Sweetgrass at an extremely high level since its opening, as well as our community who has supported us with the Symetra Tour and allowed us to give back and support them. This is a community wide recognition,” Tony Mancilla, general manager at Island Resort & Casino said in a statement.

The MGCA Course of the Year Award honors a member course that meets four criteria: unique characteristics of the course; exceptional quality of ownership and management; outstanding contribution to its community; and significant contribution to the game.  

Jada Paisley, executive director of the MGCA, said Sweetgrass hits the mark. 

“The MGCA is thrilled that Sweetgrass is the course of the year,” she said. “It’s just the second time an Upper Peninsula course has been chosen, and it fits all the criteria and more for this award. Island Resort & Casino provides a wonderful golf experience to its guests and with the Hannahville Indian Community has made an incredible impact.”