Simply Grand
A Grand Hotel Experience is history come to life – and there is good golf too
By Tom Lang
A trip to the Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island is certainly a rare golf trip experience.
And that’s the way it should be.
A trip to Mackinaw Island and the historic hotel that dates back to its doors opening in 1887 is not just a ‘history tour’ – but rather all guests actually live inside the grandiose history itself. To say that guests can step back in time to a simpler lifestyle is not just a marketing tagline – it’s reality.
The hotel has 388 distinct rooms. Again, the word distinct is often a marketing tagline – but not here. Not a single room looks like the other because the designs are all unique from one another in colors, furnishings and theme.
As most every reader knows, no cars – just horses, bicycles and walking are allowable island transportation features.
The Grand Hotel and the island in general is not just for seekers of the historic lifestyle of a previous century. The entire theme and goal for everyone – whether a one-day visitor or a long staying guest – is to slow down and experience ‘Island Time.’
Grant DeMoss is the director of golf at the Grand Hotel and has seen it all because he grew up on the island in the summers. His uncle used to be the head chef in the hotel’s massive kitchen.
“As a kid it was very cool to kind of live in a time capsule here, and kind of envision what it might have been to live back then,” he said. “As a kid growing up I was really into the idea of going to the fort, and when you get off the ferry there’s carriage rides – you don’t see that day to day (off the island). I think all the horses bring a different side out of people. For people who understand Island Time it gives you a good excuse to move at a leisurely pace.
“As a kid I just loved exploring the island, and as a parent it’s a little easier to let your kids go explore the island than a city like Detroit or Toronto. They are locked on the island. There are lots of trails and historical stories at different sites.”
My wife fell in love with all the trails and famous rock formations like Arch Rock and Sugar Loaf (a tower of limestone), along with St. Ann’s cemetery, the butterfly house, Fort Holmes, and the incredible elevated views of the water, Mackinaw Bridge and Round Island lighthouse to name a few. Her reaction after returning from a day of island exploration was ‘best day ever.’ Her response was so emphatic, I knew I would also lose her for day two because she had so much more to see.
But that’s okay – a trip to Mackinaw Island and the Grand Hotel offers so many different options, including maybe the grandest of them all; the newly-remodeled Ester Williams Pool. It’s named after the competitive swimmer and movie star who made a Hollywood film on location here in 1947.
The pool complex includes an excellent large jacuzzi and separate pool area for the adults, overlooking the Straights of Mackinaw and the Mighty Mackinaw Bridge. Private cabanas are available for rent and the larger pool is very kid friendly (or those who are handicapped) with a walk-in ground level end that gradually feeds into deeper water.
The Golf:
My wife’s chosen absence allowed me to test out the 18-hole golf course with no guilt. The Jewel is made up of the Grand Nine (holes 1-9, with the Grand Hotel looking over your shoulder) and the Woods Nine, a 15-minute horse carriage ride to the northern part of the island for holes 10-18. Both nines were designed several years apart by legend Jerry Matthews, who recently passed away at the hotel in September. (a full story in our October magazine).
The Grand has the most elevation changes and is filled with holes that range from narrow fairways to very generous. The premium lookout is the tee at Hole 7, a really long par three (245 yards) with a huge drop to the green surrounded by water in back. Most golfers playing it safe will benefit with a long ball that stays a little short and can be chipped up and down for a possible par. The sightlines of the bay where all the ferries come in are wonderful. One day there was a very large lake-going cruise ship docked off land for day visitors.
The Woods Nine resembles a more typical Michigan trek through the woods, with modest elevation changes making for interesting sightlines and a variety of playability choices. My favorite stretch of holes is 12-14. Hole 12 is a gorgeous par 3 over water, then 13 gives the golfer a new look with several outcroppings of rocks to carry after the drive, while on approach to the right-to-left slanted green. Hole 14 is another par 3 but can be played from two very different and highly elevated tees that make the hole completely different.
All in all, the Jewel is what you want in a resort course; fun, not overly-brutal and attractive to the eye.
Onsite historian Bob Tagatz – who came to the Grand Hotel for a three-year deal and stayed 27 years and counting – said that in 1904, there were 1,200 large wood frame hotels with 200 rooms or more, built by transportation companies. The Grand Hotel is only one of 11 left standing. Taking one of his guided tours is a must.
“We have many four-generation guests, and the year before Covid hit I had my first 5th-generation guest,” he said. “I attended a wedding in the tee garden one year where a young lady got married at the same spot her great grandmother got married. We’re not just rooms and food, we provide memories and if we do a good job, generation after generation comes back.”
