ESCANABA, Mich., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Island Resort & Casino’s original course, Sweetgrass, has been named the 2022 golf course of the Year by the National golf course owners Association (NGCOA). The announcement was created leading up to the January NGCOA Golf Business Conference 2022 in Orlando.
The NGCOA hand-picked its winner supported four criteria: quality of golf course, quality of possession and management, outstanding contributions to the local people and important contributions to the sport of golf.
“When we tend to received the Michigan golf course of the Year award back in October, we tend to were terribly excited,” aforesaid Tony Mancilla, general manager of Island Resort & Casino. “Michigan encompasses a heap of nice courses, therefore simply winning our state was large. currently to earn the national award and recognition is that the cherry on high. I recently talked with alternative courses homeowners concerning however this is often a giant deal, as a result of it’s over almost having a good golf course. you have got to try and do a lot of things for the sport and facilitate promote golf, and we’re doing that on plenty of various levels.”
Island Resort & Casino, Michigan’s higher Peninsula’s largest resort destination, sits 13 miles west of Escanaba in Harris, and is closely-held and operated by the Hannahville Indian Community, a federally recognized Potawatomi Indian Tribe. The casino initial opened as a bingo hall in 1981, then in 1991 enlarged with the Chip-In Casino on its gift website. The late 1990’s saw the enlargement of the casino, a showroom and convention center. future decade brought more major enlargement with the Palm Tower rooms, a lot of restaurants and a lot of golf.
One of the resort’s 2 courses, Sweetgrass opened in 2008 to rave reviews. Designed by Paul Albanese, Sweetgrass options an open layout with a number of golf’s most fun greens to putt (Redan, Biarritz, Island and Double-Green), additionally as some tremendous strategic holes — together with the renowned island inexperienced No. fifteen and a finishing par-five hole on either side. Throughout the course, golfers also will come across an expensive history of the Hannahville Indian Community, with holes named when ancient Potawatomi clans, villages, allies, medicines and symbols. The dedication to nature and therefore the area’s heritage makes for a unique golf expertise. The course additionally plays host to the Symetra Tour’s Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass.
One of the areas that Sweetgrass was hand-picked for, and therefore the resort management takes pride in, is its contribution to the community through the Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass, that debuted in 2011 and has become the premier community event within the region. The robust children Campaign – YMCA is that the event’s official charity and guarantees that every one children, in spite of financial gain, have a chance to receive free YMCA memberships. alternative native charities and nonprofits have additionally received over $250,000 raised from the tournament’s price ticket sales.
“The Symetra Tour event raises concerning $100,000 annually, and that is concerning one-quarter of the complete YMCA annual funding in membership scholarships,” explained Mancilla. “It provides under-privileged children of economically troubled families an opportunity to fancy time at the YMCA.”
The YMCA golf program is additionally supported by this effort, providing clubs for teenagers to use and youth golf clinics for them to participate in throughout the tournament.
“I suppose the largest issue has the pros play and therefore the children watch them,” aforesaid Mancilla. “It’s exciting once they are here taking part in. they’re young golfers making an attempt to create their approach and attain a large goal. And we’re right within the middle of it, watching. Hopefully the insufficient youngsters can suppose they will sleep with, too.”
