By Jan Axelson
Northside News

The Cherokee Country Club is progressing with plans to modernize the Cherokee Golf Course while also improving water quality and wildlife habitat on the site. In March, Dave Olescuk, vice president of operations at Cherokee Country Club, coordinated a public meeting to share the plans. Members of the project team were present to provide details and answer questions.

Steve Wenzloff of PGA Design Services explained that golf courses typically undergo renovation every 10 to 20 years, but the planned renovation would be the first for the almost 60-year-old Cherokee course.

A major reason for the renovation is rising groundwater levels, which have caused much of the course to become saturated. The plan proposes raising the playing surfaces using sand excavated on site. 

Environmental improvements will include enlarging and deepening the ponds in the drainageway that feeds into the upper Yahara River. With increased ability to capture sediments from stormwater runoff, the ponds will help keep the river and its downstream lakes clean. The renovation will also replace areas of invasive plants with diverse flowers, grasses and other natives that have greater value as food and shelter for wildlife.

The design team has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for permitting. The project also requires a permit from Dane County for erosion control and stormwater management. Construction is expected to begin in late 2021 or early 2022.

Wenzloff stated that the renovated course will follow Wisconsin’s Golf Industry Best Management Practices, which aim to balance performance and economic impact with environmental stewardship and community. An eventual goal is for the course to be designated a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.

Concerns of members of the public attending the meeting included the effect of increased traffic in the area due to a possible increase in the number of tournaments. Wenzloff responded that major tournaments will be required to prepare and submit traffic control plans. Others expressed concerns about increased flooding. Wenzloff indicated that the course will continue to function as a floodplain and filtration basin, and the plan will result in no net change to the floodplain as required by law.