Sweetgrass is a sweet place to tee it up

Sweetgrass Golf Club, opened in 2008, is a course that looks and feels like a links despite its location miles from the nearest body of water (in fact, the resort’s name is quite deceiving in that regard). But after a round at Sweetgrass, golfers will find that the track more than lives up to its moniker; this is a sweet place to play.

The name Sweetgrass refers to an aromatic herb and sacred plant employed in the tribe’s peace and healing rituals. In its native form, sweet grass is used as one of four traditional Potawatomi medicines (along with cedar, tobacco and sage). The plant is found along the course where it serves as part of the knee-high rough.

At Sweetgrass, there were many options for Albanese on a site that occupies more than 300 acres. Nominal earthmoving was employed on the relatively flat property and native prairie grasses were nurtured to accentuate the course’s unity with nature. The prairie, meadow and cedar forest on the property allowed Albanese to build strategy and shot values into every hole on the 7,275-yard layout.

Albanese also rescued a half-dozen old railway bridges from the Michigan Department of Transportation to use on cart paths and to cross wetlands, giving a historic feel to the course.

Golfers will find mostly expansive fairways (some 80 yards wide) and ultra-smooth and fast putting surfaces. It’s crucial to find the correct portion of the putting surface or you’ll cope with long and tricky lag putts. Tee shots on several holes offer risk-reward opportunities, while bunkers and water hazards are strategically positioned to defend par.

Because of its flatness and the surrounding areas, winds can buffet Sweetgrass and add a new dimension.

Sweetgrass looks and plays like a links course, but it’s very playable with very generous fairways. The Band claims there are 47 acres of fairway turf at Sweetgrass, almost 50 percent more fairway space here than an average course. That means golfers have a great chance to get a good drive in play and put themselves in a good position to attack the greens complexes.

Sweetgrass has received a lot of attention for two of its par 3s. No. 12 plays 214 yards from the tips and has a 60-yard long Biarritz-style green that’s a veritable rollercoaster. If the cup is cut on the back-top shelf and the tee shot is short, a three-putt (or more) is likely.

Although mid-length at 168 yards, the 15th features an island green in a lake. Both the putting surface, which jibes with the casino’s name, and the hole’s moniker, “Turtle” (the Potawatomi hold the turtle and its wisdom in high esteem), abide the course’s thematic elements.

The ninth (547 yards) and 18th (550 yards) share a green and a strategic pond and are played past a series of stepped waterfalls. No. 9 ascends to the landing area before heading further uphill past a huge bunker in mid-fairway to an elevated green. The closing hole is more wide open, with a series of pot-bunkers at the end of the fairway near the green.

In its first year of eligibility, Sweetgrass was named No. 20 in Golfweek’s 2009 “Best Courses You Can Play” and one of “America’s Best New Courses” by Golf Digest. Since then it was listed by Golfweek as one of its “Best Casino Courses” and by Golf Magazine as No. 13 among the “Best Courses You Can Play” in Michigan.

Sweetgrass was named the National Golf Course of the Year by the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) in both 2021 and ’22 and is home to the Epson Tour’s Island Resort Championship, which just conducted its 12th annual rendition.

The course’s location adjacent to the hotel makes stepping up to the first tee convenient for golfers. The rooms in the upper floors of the tower provide a panoramic view of the ninth and 18th holes and the far horizon, maybe even the nearest body of water.