Golf soars to a new level

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HARRIS - A championship golf course will be unveiled Wednesday, adding to the legacy of top-caliber golf in the Upper Peninsula.

Sweetgrass Golf Club will make its long-awaited debut with a dedication ceremony and invitational outing behind the Island Resort and Casino. The complex is owned and operated by the Hannahville Band of the Potawatomi Nation.

The 320-acre course was designed by Paul Albanese of Albanese and Lutzke of Clawson. Albanese was the architect for renowned TimberStone Golf Course in Iron Mountain, which opened in 1998 and was given 5-star distinction by Golf Digest in 2005.

Sweetgrass has partnered with TimberStone and Greywalls Golf Course in Marquette, which opened in 2005 and has also received extensive national acclaim.

Tribal chairman Ken Meshigaud said packaging the three courses "makes it even more attractive" for golfers and tourists to visit the Upper Peninsula. "They know they can play three championship caliber courses."

Greywalls pro Marc Gilmore, while addressing the media at a gathering Monday, said "what a partner to have for them (Sweetgrass) to step on board and take us in on their coattails. This will be a great little triangle of golf in the U.P."

A stay-and-play package has been created with the three courses, with lodging at the Island Resort and Casino.

A variety of golf packages will be available at Sweetgrass (906-723-2251). The base green fee rate is $75 but members of U.P. Golf Association clubs and residents of the three neighboring counties can play for $45, including a cart with a GPS system.

"We created a very sustainable golf course design that is very important to the native tribe," said Albanese, who indicated Sweetgrass "is one of the best courses I've designed in my career.

"The owners had a commitment to the course. We added some things that we needed. We had a good relationship working with the owners to figure out their goals and objectives and desires and put into a form that meets their expectations."

Meshigaud said "from day one that was somewhat destined. He came in with ideas and we had our own ideas meshed and melded together."

The course gathers on the traditions of the Potawatomi and uses the Native American's ideal of protecting the land. "I think we've done that with this course," said Meshigaud. "We protected the wetlands and enhanced some of the high land of the terrain."

Albanese paid close attention to Native American themes in the design. "This is not a literal translation. We took stories, legends and history of the tribe and used that as a way to be creative with forms and evolve the forms," he said of some bunkers that have the shapes of deer and rabbits.

However, the shapes will not be that visible to players, with Albanese comparing it with people who look at clouds and imagine what they look like. "We are creating a story based on imagination," he said. "Don't be out there looking for antlers or the legs."

The fourth hole, called Michigami, utilizes wooden posts that represent the remains of a fort when the Wyandotte and Ottawa joined with the Potawatomi to build a fortified village. In the 1650s, according to the course yardage booklet, this fort was used to repel attacks from the Iroquois.

"We created a golf hole out of the story and it sets up very well for a redan (fortress in French) green," Albanese said, noting cedar posts were placed on the fairway hillside. "Fescues blow over the top. It is a little reminiscent of the fort."

Course superintendent John Holberton likes the fescue, especially when it waves in the wind. "Just the contrast between green and the reddish-brown waving in the wind," he said, noting it will be really impressive when the growing process nears completion.

Holberton was superintendent at Bay Mills Resort in Brimley for nine years before joining Sweetgrass. Wild Bluff has received a 4-star designation from Golf Digest, and Holberton said "you can't knock the beauty or the views (at Wild Bluff Golf Course), but playability wise this is better. If a person misses these fairways, they are in trouble.

"I think this is going to be a better golf course than Bay Mills."

He raved about the state-of-the-art irrigation system installed by Dan Grassi Enterprises. He can turn it on from anywhere through his cell phone.

Sweetgrass will stretch from 5,036 yards to 7,275 yards. No. 6 is the longest hole, a daunting 630 yards from the tips.

The middle white tees, which will probably be used by most players, cover 6,425 yards. In comparison, Escanaba Country Club is 5,974 from the whites, Gladstone Golf Club is 6,003, Terrace Bluff is 6,060, the Highland Golf Club is 6,128 and Irish Oaks is 6,364.

Director of Golf Dave Douglas said some of the greens "have severe undulation but most of them are subtle undulation. They are big, so you can have some long putts."

There is also a complete practice facility with chipping and putting greens, bunkers and several target greens comparable to the one at Wild Bluff. However, it will not be ready for use when the course opens.