Cherokee Country Club in Madison, Wisconsin, has appointed a team comprising PGA Tour Design & Construction Services, engineering firm Snyder & Associates and Heartland Ecological Group to develop a golf course renovation plan. 

The plan, which will be submitted to the US Army Corps of Engineers and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, is part of a project to bring the entire facility up to modern standards. 

“With no significant renovations since the property’s construction in the 1960s and after much careful consideration, we feel this is an important next step for Cherokee golf course,” said Dennis Tiziani, president of Cherokee Park, the firm that operates the private country club. “We have put together a strong team with environmental, engineering and course design experience to ensure we optimise and integrate environmentally favourable characteristics into the property. After extensive research, we have concluded this level of upgrade will be a benefit to the environment, the community and our members.” 

Plans will focus on improving turf through drainage conditions, combatting build-up that has reduced waterway depths and quality on the property, and improving the naturalised vegetative conditions within the property by removing invasive species and establishing native species and plants. 

“We have owned and protected the Cherokee Marsh ground for 50 years before turning it over to the city,” said Tiziani. “We are investing a substantial amount of money to care for and protect this marsh even further. My passion is the protection of the environment on the north side of the Cherokee Marsh.”  

The project will incorporate recommendations from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Office of Sustainability, with the goal of the course becoming a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.