(Wisconsin State Journal Photo)
The Madison, Wis. club is owned by Dennis Tiziani, a former University of Wisconsin golf coach whose son-in-law is pro golfer Steve Stricker. An application filed with the state Department of Natural Resources seeks to redesign the 57-year-old course by mining about 10,000 dump truck loads of sand from under it, to improve turf conditions and water quality while reducing runoff. A recent National Golf Foundation analysis found that course improvements are necessary for Cherokee’s survival.
The owner of Cherokee Country Club in Madison, Wis. is seeking permission to fill acres of wetlands as part of a multimillion-dollar effort to turn the 55-year-old course into one of the state’s premier golf courses, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Deteriorating conditions and dwindling membership, the club says, require a complete redesign of the course, which has not undergone major changes since it opened in 1964, the State Journal reported. Cherokee is proposing to redesign the course to draw top-level players and spectators from across the region.
To do that, Cherokee says it needs to mine about 10,000 dump truck loads of sand from under the existing course in order to raise the playing surface and improve the turf conditions, disturbing nearly 10 acres of wetlands, according to an application filed earlier this month with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the State Journal reported.
According to the application materials, Cherokee aspires to qualify as a Tournament Player Club course that would benefit from its ties to pro golfer Steve Stricker, owner Dennis Tiziani’s son-in-law, the State Journal reported.
It would be the first TPC-branded course in Wisconsin, the State Journal noted; the closest of the current 30 TPC courses are in the Twin Cities and Quad Cities.
Buck Sweeney, an attorney for the club, said the project will improve water quality and reduce runoff into the Yahara River while also restoring degraded wetlands, the State Journal reported. “We’re improving the natural resources,” Sweeney said.
The economic impact of construction alone will be about $39 million, the club claims, and the renovations will result in about $8.6 million in additional spending each year, it adds, as thousands of members, guests, professional players and spectators flock to the club.
“I think there’s a huge economic benefit,” Sweeney said. “This has the potential to be the premier course in Dane County. This is going to be a gem that people are going to want to live by and be members of.”
According to the application, the proposed renovations entail filling about 5.5 acres of wetlands, plus 1.3 acres of waterways, the State Journal reported. Conversion of existing uplands would result in a net loss of 2.3 acres of wetlands, which Cherokee would mitigate by paying to create new wetlands elsewhere.
The proposal entails dredging some of the existing ponds and removing a layer of peat to access sand deposits that run up to 40 feet deep, the State Journal reported. Sand and silt would be used to fill wetlands and provide better turf, while the peat, as partially decayed organic matter, would be used in the creation of new wetlands within the course.
Jan Axelson, president of the Friends of Cherokee Marsh, which surrounds the golf course, told the State Journal that she wants more information about the impact on water quality and how the work would affect the peat.
“You don’t just remove a layer of peat and put it back,” Axelson said. “It’s quite fragile in that sense.”
Dave Fujara, president of the Cherokee Park Neighborhood Association, said he believes most neighbors would support the improvements as long as water flow, dredging and wetland preservation are amply addressed, the State Journal reported.
There are concerns about increased traffic, particularly if the club hosts major tournaments, Fujara said, as well as the potential for flooding or contamination from runoff into a channel that flows into the Yahara River.
Though bordered on three sides by the city of Madison, the club is actually located in the town of Westport, giving the city little say in the permitting process, the State Journalnoted.
The project will require approval from the DNR and Dane County.
Travis Schroeder, a DNR waterway and wetland field supervisor, told the State Journal the agency plans to request more information from Cherokee before considering the application, and has not determined what level of environmental review will be required.
“For me, it’s a little different than what I usually see,” Schroeder said. “It is quite a bit of excavation.”
In 2018, the DNR granted the Kohler Co. a permit to fill about 3.6 acres of wetlands for a proposed golf course near a popular state park south of Sheboygan, though a judge later threw out the permit, saying the agency did not have enough information to gauge the harm to the environmentally sensitive area (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/new-kohler-co-course-on-hold-as-judge-rejects-environmental-permit/). A circuit court is now considering Kohler’s appeal, the State Journal reported.
Unlike Kohler, Cherokee is an existing golf course seeking to fill and modify degraded wetlands, the State Journal reported.
Cherokee CC says the project will actually reduce stormwater runoff into the Yahara River and improve wetland conditions, replacing invasive species with native plants. And by dredging ponds and replacing undersized culverts, the club says it can improve water flow through the 153-acre property, the State Journal reported.
“Our end goal is to leave this property in a better state,” said Scott Anderson, an engineer who worked on the project design.
Steve Wenzloff, a consultant with PGA Tour Design Services who worked on the Cherokee redesign, said the rising groundwater table has left fairways soggy and unplayable, and the course design has not changed with the times, the State Journalreported.
“In 60 years, a lot has changed in all sports,” Wenzloff said. “You’re seeing more fit players—faster swing speeds and significantly increased driving distances.”
But the club also needs a renovation to survive, according to its application, the State Journal reported.
An economic-impact analysis conducted by the National Golf Foundation (NGF) says Cherokee lost more than half its members between 2007 and 2019, and membership has fallen to less than 40% of the threshold for economic stability, the State Journalreported.
The improvements will not only make Cherokee a destination course, they’re essential for the club’s survival, the NGF analysis said.
“[Clubs] in this condition have two possible futures—they either upgrade the physical plant or continue to experience declines in membership to a point where the club is no longer financially viable,” the analysis states. “The consequences of not going forward with a program to enhance [Cherokee CC] are certain: [It] will eventually cease to be a viable golf club facility.”
Tiziani, the former University of Wisconsin-Madison golf coach who has owned Cherokee CC since 2001, declined to answer questions about the project until the DNR approves the application, the State Journal reported.
“I’m not going to do that until I get the permit,” Tiziani said. “I can’t tell you anything.”
However, Tiziani disputed the $25 million construction budget cited in the permit application materials, the State Journal reported. “There’s no way it can be $25 million,” he said. “That’s not true.”
After finding that Madison residents have 30% more access to golf than the national average, a city task force last year recommended that the city close half of the 36 holes at its Yahara Hills Golf Course and contract with a private company or nonprofit to run its nine-hole Monona Golf Course on the East Side, the State Journalreported.
While acknowledging the saturation of municipal courses, Madison Parks Superintendent Eric Knepp told the State Journal that he wouldn’t view a revamped Cherokee course as competition, but as an asset for competitive golfers seeking something more challenging than the public courses, which cater to casual golfers.
“I think it’s good to have options and opportunities,” Knepp said. “It’s filling in a spectrum of choices for golfers.”
Rob Jansen, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Golf Association, said improvements to any of the state’s roughly 500 courses would benefit the sport, which saw a roughly 20% surge in play over the past year, the State Journal reported.
“When one course in an area gets upgraded, that really lifts the tide for everyone,” Janson said. “Any time a course in the state goes through an upgrade, I think that is great for Wisconsin golf and golfers in the state.”
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