The Island Resort & Casino on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula already has two popular 18-hole championship courses — Sage Run and Sweetgrass — and is now adding a new 9-hole course to meet heightened demand at one of the largest golf, casino and entertainment destinations in the Midwest.

The Cedar Course (Kishki in Potawatomi) is being built near the Sage Run site, but will be an entirely separate 9-hole layout that’s part of a $19 million capital investment project that includes a new golf shop at the Sweetgrass and a 17,000-square-foot expansion to the property’s existing convention center.

“We are very busy in the summer and often booked on both of our other courses in the morning,” said Island Resort & Casino General Manager Tony Mancilla. “We decided to add nine holes to accommodate our guests looking for early morning tee times before they head home.”

Michigan is home to more public golf courses than any other state in the country, according to the National Golf Foundation — almost 740 in total. Michigan has the third-most golf resort properties in the U.S., behind only California and Florida.

Golf architect Paul Albanese, who also designed Sage Run and Sweetgrass, has incorporated popular template greens complexes inspired by those at historic courses like National Golf Links on New York’s Long Island and Prestwick in Scotland.

“We are taking some great concepts from the golden age of course architecture in the early 1900’s,” said Albanese. “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.”

Also in the plans are church pew bunkers, like those at Oakmont outside Pittsburgh, and a short par 4 inspired by the 10th hole at Riviera in Los Angeles. While a timetable hasn’t been announced, the new course likely won’t open before 2026.

There will be a mix of three par 3 holes, three par 4s and three par 5s at the Cedar Course, which will be routed on rolling land next to the front nine of Sage Run.

“The land we have for Cedar is perfect for the concept,” said Mancilla. “The course will wind through a valley with gently rolling hills and some elevation. It will be less severe land than Sage Run but have more movement than Sweetgrass – somewhere right in-between.”

The name Cedar (Kishki) is derived from being one of the four sacred medicines of the Potawatomi people and is known for its protective and purifying properties. The course logo will pay tribute to tobacco, another sacred medicine. Cedar complements the existing courses, Sweetgrass and Sage Run, to complete the representation of medicines that, in Potawatomi culture, represent the connection to the earth.

In addition to the course, Cedar will offer a short course complex of sorts that features multiple greens and a variety of teeing areas allowing for short and mid-level par 3 shots that can be played in all directions. This concept hasn’t been finalized.

The new, 3,000-square foot golf shop at Sweetgrass will overlook the golf course’s 9th and 18th holes, which share the same double green complex, and feature a pro shop, covered outdoor terraces, full-service bar, locker rooms with guest showers, and an upper deck that overlooks the golf course.