(WXYZ) — Island Resort & Casino in the Upper Peninsula announced it is adding a new nine-hole golf course to go along with its two 18-hole courses.
According to Island, the new course is part of a two-year roject that will include a new golf shop and additional convention space.
The nine-hole golf course will be called the Cedar Course (Kishki) and will be designed by Paul Albanese, who designed the resort's two other courses - Sweetgrass and Sage Run.
Sweetgrass was tied for the 9th-best public course in Michigan and Sage Run was tied for the 12th-best course in Michigan, according to GolfWeek.
According to the resort, the new course will be inspired by golden-age architecture, focusing on natural landscapes and template greens inspired by C.B. Macdonald's National Golf Links and Prestwick.
“We are very busy in the summer and often booked on both of our other courses in the morning,” GM Tony Mancilla said in a statement. “We decided to add nine holes to accommodate our guests looking for early morning tee times before they head home. We are not adding to Sage Run but making these nine holes their own course.”
Kishki means Cedar in Potawatomi and is one of four sacred medicines known for its protective and purifying properties, according to the resort. The logo will pay tribute to tobacco.
“We are taking some great concepts from the golden age of course architecture in the early 1900s and incorporating them into the Cedar course,” Albanese added in a statement. “The course will feature some of the game’s most popular green templates like the Punchbowl, Double Plateau, and even a Juniper hole like the famous 6th hole at Augusta National. Many Midwesterners have not experienced this kind of architecture, so we wanted to give them a flavor of what it would be like to play overseas or from that era.”
“We are also going to have a variety of different-length holes, short par-4s inspired by holes like No. 10 at Riviera, maybe a short par-3, and even church pew bunkers like Oakmont," Mancilla said.
It will be routed on rolling land adjacent to Sage Run.
Cedar will also offer a multi-hole complex with multiple greens of short and mid-length par-3 shots to be played in all directions.
The golf shop that's being built will overlook Sweetgrass' 9th and 18th holes, be 3,000 square feet, and include an upper deck with a full service bar, showers and locker rooms.
Island Resort & Casino is located about 15 minutes west of Escanaba.
