(HARRIS, Michigan) – Hannahville Indian Community is building a new golf course here in the Upper Peninsula as an amenity to its Island Resort & Casino, a complementary second course to award-winning Sweetgrass Golf Club.
If Sweetgrass is indicative of what’s to come, the currently unnamed new course will be highly regarded; it is scheduled to debut in 2017. Sweetgrass has been named a top course in the state by both Golfweek and GOLF Magazine since opening in 2008 and annually hosts the LPGA Symetra Tour’s Island Resort Championship.
“One golf course is a course, two is a destination,” said Tony Mancilla, Island Resort & Casino general manager. “We believe the new course and new spa we’re building – combined with our existing resort amenities and established golf-visitor appeal – will draw more people who stay longer and spend more.”
Paul Albanese, of the golf course architecture firm Albanese & Lutzke, was chosen to author the new course, which will be dramatically different than Sweetgrass. Ground was recently broken in open spaces but the majority of tree removal for fairways will take place this winter.
“The land is very hilly; a lot of vistas where you can see 20 miles,” said Mancilla. “The land is so good that we’re expecting the new course to be first class.”
Like with Sweetgrass, the Hannahville Indian Community directed Albanese & Lutzke to create a design that respects the land, making it fit the terrain as naturally as possible.
Golf industry veteran Albanese, who designed Sweetgrass, describes the main feature of the property as a “drumlin,” a long, sloping ridge that’s an outcome of past glacier movement in the region. He said it runs through the heart of the property and is prominent.
“The drumlin climbs 100 to 120 feet in some areas,” said Albanese, an East Coast native and Harvard grad. “The goal is to allow golfers to experience the drumlin throughout the entire course. It comes into play several times, in different directions; up, down, over and through. We are very happy with how the routing came out. We are really excited; I can’t see how it won’t be one of the top courses in Michigan.”
The new course, about six miles from the resort on adjacent Hannahville land, will be played roughly two-thirds through trees, with rugged features like non-manicured bunker edging. There will be a sprinkler system installed down the middle of each fairway but the intent is to allow the grass to brown out toward the fescue edges. Mancilla said there will be a drivable par 4 on each nine, and a good mix of long and short par threes and fours.
Regarding the overall look, Albanese said: “Think Royal County Down – lots of earth tones, browns and tans – it’s what the landscape calls for.”
Additional information: http://www.sweetgrassgolfclub.com/ or call 877-ISL-GREEN.
About Sweetgrass and the Island Resort & Casino
Owned and operated by the Hannahville Indian Community, a band of the Potawatomi Nation, Sweetgrass Golf Club and the Island Resort & Casino are located in the unspoiled beauty of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Designed by Paul Albanese, the 18-hole championship course is renowned for its historic, rescued bridges and its greens, including a Redan, a Biarritz, an Island and a shared green.
The resort’s highly popular golf package, the Perfect Foursome, starts at just $230 per person after Sept. 21 and includes a two-night stay and rounds of golf at Sweetgrass and nearby TimberStone and Greywalls, also ranked on Golfweek’s top-15 in the state. Various other package combinations – as short as one-night stay/one round of golf and as long as four-night stay/three rounds of golf – are also available.
Sweetgrass provides a dedicated on-site golf concierge and VIP Room where groups enjoy comfortable living room-style seating, private dinners, gaming tables, beverage service, televisions and direct access to the golf course, pro shop and open fire pit.
Boasting more than 1,200 slot machines and 24/7 Vegas-style gaming, the Island Resort & Casino (www.islandresortandcasino.com) offers slot machines, craps, Blackjack, Spanish 21, Three-Card Poker, Let It Ride, Roulette, Bingo and more. The resort’s award-winning poker room features live action as well as a full tournament schedule.
The Island hosts top musical headliners from a variety of genres in the intimate, 1,327-seat Island Showroom. Lodging options at the resort include finely appointed guest rooms, 14 elegant suites and a 53-site RV Park, open until Nov. 30.
In addition to Five Bridges Pub and Five Bridges Steak and Seafood House, other on-site resort dining options are Firekeeper’s Restaurant, which specializes in casual dining, Coral Reef Grille and the new T. McC’s Sports Bar, with a menu that ranges from classic appetizers to burgers and specialty wraps.
The property is easily accessible via a pair of regional airports in Escanaba and Marquette and is also an easy and scenic four-hour drive from Milwaukee and two hours north of Green Bay.
For more information, see http://www.sweetgrassgolfclub.com or http://www.islandresortandcasino.com/.
Sweetgrass Golf Club – one of the newer golf courses in the state and already a top 15 or better course in some rankings – will soon have a companion course that’s of a completely different design and feel.
And if it the new layout doesn’t become a top five, the owners will be more than disappointed.
Contact:
Dan Shepherd
Buffalo Brand Invigoration Group
703.891.3320
dshepherd@buffalobig.com
BuffaloBIG.com
Justine Hong
Buffalo Brand Invigoration Group
703.940.3521
jhong@buffalobig.com
BuffaloBIG.com
