NCAA Division II Northern Michigan University will join a group of nine Division I schools — Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Detroit Mercy, Kentucky, Bowling Green, Central Florida, Middle Tennessee and South Dakota State.

South Dakota State’s director of golf, Casey Van Damme, is the tourney host after he was instrumental in creating and bringing this tournament to the Upper Peninsula. Van Damme is a native of Perkins and graduated from Mid Peninsula High School before attending Marquette University and graduating from NMU in 2000.

While Wildcats’ golfers will naturally generate interest for U.P. residents, the biggest draw at the event should be MSU’s James Piot, this event’s defending champion who recently won the U.S. Amateur title with several of the latter rounds televised.

A native of the Detroit suburb of Canton, Piot survived a grueling test at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, and won the 36-hole final match over Austin Greaser 2 and 1, becoming the first golfer from Michigan to win this prestigious title.

Sage Run Golf Course is shown under a low sun near Harris. (Photo courtesy Island Resort & Casino)

Other top players vying with Piot include Alex Goff of Kentucky, Johnny Travele of Central Florida and Kevin Jegers of Middle Tennessee.

The format at the 7,300-yard Sage Run will be a two-day, 54-hole stroke play format.

“The course proved to be very challenging and popular among the players the last time we hosted the event in 2019 and we expect to see a lot of exciting shots throughout the course with its variety of short and long par-4’s and reachable par-5’s,.” Island Resort general manager Tony Mancilla said. “It will be a fun challenge for all the players.”

Mancilla adds that bringing in alumni and families of the players and attracting local galleries and volunteers will be a great way to acquaint avid golfers with the beauty and natural setting of the region’s newest championship course.

Selected by Golf Digest as one of the Best New courses in the country, Sage Run features a variety of rugged terrain, including a massive drumlin that course designer Paul Albanese likens to Royal County Down, a Northern Ireland golf club rated among the world’s finest.

“We are very excited to return to Island Resort and have these players and teams experience this fun and challenging venue once again,” Van Damme said. “Sage Run is a different type of venue and has certainly evolved since the last time we played it. It will be exciting to see how the players challenge the course this time.

“We prefer to see Sage Run play long and feature fast greens for this tournament. College players and teams want to separate and identify the best and they want to be challenged. Sage Run will certainly do that.”

For more information on the tournament, visit online at www.islandresortgolf.com.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.