Featured Golf Trip: Island Resort & Casino

Let’s turn our attention this week to a bit of an under-the-radar golf trip option in Michigan.

Located in the state’s Upper Peninsula, ​Island Resort​ has a little bit of everything—a couple very solid 18-hole golf courses on property, a brand new 9-holer with some fun hat tips to standout holes across the country, stay-and-play packages that allow your group to tack on a top 100, and a casino-resort to try your luck and lay your hat after the day’s golf.

Let’s take those bits piece by piece, starting with the two 18-hole tracks on property, both designed by Michigander Paul Albanese. ​Sweetgrass​ is a pristinely conditioned, links-style layout that looks stunning from above, what with the golden native grasses framing the lush rough and fairways. It’s 15th is a true island green. Though you may not have heard of it, Sweetgrass holds its own in a golf-rich state, ranked among the top 10 publics in Michigan in Golfweek‘s new state-by-state ​list​.

That was the property’s first course, built in 2008. A decade later, it added Sage Run. It comes with dramatic elevation change and sits on rugged terrain. “Sage Run combines many of the elements that make Michigan a great golf state—mind-bending topography, dazzling views, outstanding course conditions—to yield a tremendously varied and wild golf experience,” ​writes​ Wisco Golf Addict.

The tee sheet has apparently remained full, because the resort brought Albanese back out. This time, the Pete Dye disciple has ​added​ some golf variety in the form of a 9-holer with a twist: the Cedar course, as it’s called, pays homage to the golden age of golf course architecture. Not only are there templated touches like a punchbowl and boomerang greens, but there are also a few holes based on some standouts from the era. There’s a church pew bunker nodding to Oakmont, for instance, and a short par 4 that’s a rough recreation of Riviera’s iconic 10th.

So, three worthy golf offerings on property. And yet it would appear that, particularly for out-of-staters, the real unlock at Island Resort happens when you book stay-and-play. There are packages to tack-on a trip to ​Greywalls​, the iconic Mike Devries design where massive rock formations sit right alongside greens. Greywalls is ranked 49th on our ​composite top 100​ public golf courses in America. ​Timberstone​ is the other tack-on option work a look.

That’s a lot of golf to pack in, but by night, you’ll sort of have everything else right there and accounted for—food, bed, and a little post-golf games of chance. All for some very palatable prices, as you’ll see below. Pencil this one in next time you’re needing an easy and affordable golf getaway.