First Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass on tap

For the first time since 2005, the Futures Tour will visit Michigan. The Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass is set for June 24-26 at Sweetgrass Golf Club in Harris in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

It's also the first major pro golf championship in the U.P. since the Canadian Tour's Bay Mills Open ended in 2004. Solid crowds are expected to attend. Tickets are $10 for all three days.

It's too bad Futures Tour events don't get any TV coverage because for many Michigan golf fans it will be their first look at the Sweetgrass course, designed by Paul Albanese of Plymouth.

Here are some story lines to watch:

* A number of professional players with Michigan ties will be in the field, including: SHASTA AVERYHARDT of Flint; LAURA BAVAIRD (Western Michigan University) of Grosse Ile; LAURA KUENY (Michigan State University) of Whitehall; ALISON MEYER (Ferris State University) of Duluth, Minn.; rookie AIMEE NEFF (Michigan State) of Carmel, Ind.; and ELISE SWARTOUT (Western Michigan) of Ann Arbor. AVERYHARDT became only the fourth African-American in the history of the LPGA Tour by qualifing through the LPGA’s annual “Q-School” last December. She has competed on both tours throughout the 2011 season.

* Continuing with the minority theme, Native American Cheryl Mitchell of Strongville, Ohio, was invited as a local exemption. Mitchell, 32, a mother of two, turned professional in 2004 after winning the 2003 Ontario Women’s Amateur Championship. She is a member of the CN Canadian Women’s Tour. As a college player at Kent State University, she was twice named to the All-MAC Conference First Team. She also was named to the Mid-Continent Conference First Team twice while attending Michigan’s Oakland University for graduate studies. Mitchell represents the Potawatomi Nation, which owns Sweetgrass Golf Club and the Island Resort & Casino.

* The second local exemption, awarded to a local amateur, went to Marquette Senior High School player Carley Saint-Onge. The three-time defending Michigan High School Athletic Association Upper Peninsula Division I medalist will play at Michigan State University this fall.

4. Four tournament winners from the current 2011 LPGA Futures Tour will play: KATHLEEN EKEY of Sharon Township, Ohio, winner of last week’s Ladies Titan Tire Challenge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; LISA FERRERO of Lodi, Calif., winner of the Symetra Classic in San Antonio, Texas; TZU-CHI LIN of Taichung, Taiwan, winner of the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic in Winter Haven, Fla., and RYANN O’TOOLE of San Clemente, Calif., winner of the Santorini Riviera Nayarit Classic in Mexico. O’Toole is a three-time tournament winner on the LPGA Futures Tour and a former contestant on the Golf Channel’s “Big Break” show. She is also a 2011 LPGA rookie and plays on both tours. Eight of the top-10 money winners on the current 2011 money list will be in the field.

* Two "Big Break" winners will be in the field. Model and professional golfer BLAIR O’NEAL of Tempe, Ariz., also will be in the field. O’Neal, who won the Golf Channel’s “Big Break Dominican Republic” last fall in a field of men and women professionals, was featured in Sports Illustrated’s annual 2011 “swim suit issue” in a full-page ad for Cobra Golf. O’Neal played collegiately at Arizona State University. CARLING COFFING of Middletown, Ohio, won last year’s “Big Break Sandals Resorts” show.

For more, visit sweetgrassgolfclub.com/championship.