TPC Wisconsin: The Golf Club Strick and Tiz Built

In 2022, Wisconsin golf heroes Dennis Tiziani and Steve Strick contacted GrahamSpencer for help with a strategic re-branding of Madison, Wisconsin’s Cherokee Country Club as they transformed it into one of only 30 Tour Players Championship courses worldwide: TPC Wisconsin. The $15 million renovation of the venerable 1962 track, clubhouse, swimming pool, and tennis facilities was underway in the late fall of 2021 when we began work. After a robust round of GSearch to help inform the club’s new positioning and marketing strategies, our responsibilities included managing the transition to the TPC brand identity, creating a new members-only brand identity, and producing extensive video content to help tell the story of the makeover.

Because the new venture lacked visual tools to sell a golf course that was under extensive renovation – but would reopen in the summer of 2023 at significantly higher initiation fees and monthly dues, we needed to move quickly to create images and tools that help spur membership development efforts.

The members-only identity features a majestic sandhill crane in flight against a golf ball moon. For decades, Cherokee CC members have enjoyed sharing their golf course with these beautiful birds. Owner Dennis Tiziani has invested vast sums of money protecting the flora and fauna of TPC Wisconsin, which adjoins Madison’s most important ecological feature – the sprawling 2,000-acre Cherokee Marsh. As a result, the course will surely earn designation as an American Audubon Society course.

GS Founding partner Jay Graham attended the video’s first screening at a gathering of former Cherokee members who were contemplating joining the new club. About 125 prospective members were in attendance.

“After a brief introduction of the video, we hit play,” said Graham. “Not a single person got up and left the room during the 35 minutes of running time. People laughed in all the right places and there were very few dry eyes in the house during other key storytelling parts. It was gratifying to be approached by many viewers after the meeting, all of whom said they appreciated and loved having such a detailed and carefully crafted look into the making of a club they hoped to join in 2023.”

After a brief introduction to the video, we hit play. Not a single person got up and left the room during the 35 minutes of running time. People laughed in all the right places and there were very few dry eyes in the house during other key storytelling parts.

–Jay Graham, Founding Partner, GrahamSpencer