Cherokee CC reopens as TPC Wisconsin following Steve Stricker redesign

Cherokee Country Club in Madison, Wisconsin, has reopened as TPC Wisconsin following a course redesign by PGA Tour player Steve Stricker and PGA Tour Design Services. 

“I’ve lived on this course for many years,” said Stricker. “This is my home. I consider it a privilege to bring my PGA Tour career experience to bear on its re-envisioning and I have totally enjoyed working on the project with PGA Tour Design Services. TPC Wisconsin will play to exact PGA Tour standards. It’ll be a fair test for players of all levels, and yes – it’s going to be exceptional.”  

All features of the Cherokee course, which was originally designed by Larry Gill and opened in 1962, have been rebuilt, turfgrass has been replanted and a new irrigation system has been installed. Some holes have been re-routed to improve green-to-tee walks and to create improved hubs of greens and tees, which now also have spectator mounding. 

As the course is situated close to the Cherokee Marsh, part of an extensive wetland complex of more than 2,000 acres, TPC Wisconsin has restored more than 35 acres of degraded wetlands to improve water flow, floral diversity, pollinator habitat and grassland bird nesting areas. The redesigned course also features waterways and water features to improve water quality, fisheries and amphibian habitat and other aquatic species diversity. TPC Wisconsin worked with the local women-owned Heartland Ecological Group, Inc. to complete a comprehensive ecological restoration plan as part of the club’s restoration. 

The club is also redeveloping its practice facilities, including an all-season range. An enhanced golf learning centre is scheduled to be completed in 2024. 

“The redesign of the course has gone exceptionally well; we’ve raised our fairways two to four feet to ensure drainage and playing surface perfection,” said Dennis Tiziani, owner and president of TPC Wisconsin. “The work that has been put in on the property from 2021-2023 is an engineering marvel and an ecological miracle. I’ve been around the game of golf for a very long time, and I assure you that what we’ve created is not only going to be a challenging course, but a memorable one.” 

The course will host the PGA Tour Champions’ American Family Insurance Championship in 2025.