BRODHEAD — Since 1926, the Decatur Lake Golf Course has been an integral part of Brodhead and the surrounding community. It was a thriving golf club and training ground for several generations of the high school golf team, a gathering place for families and friends making memories of walks across the manicured greens and under the massive oaks, or of a hamburger at Billy’s Sand Trap.
For nearly a century, both human visitors and wildlife found solace and refuge on the shady slopes of the golf course, marveling at the forested bluffs along Decatur Lake and the Sugar River. According to the Southern Wisconsin Land Conservancy, the new owner of the “front nine” and a new land trust organization in the region, that experience will remain untouched for centuries to come.
Today, a new tradition is unfolding on the “front nine,” as millions of five-foot-tall sunflowers bloom in a blaze of yellow in former fairways and roughs. Planted as a “smother” or cover crop, the sunflowers are the first step in restoring the course to resemble the early landscape encountered by settlers in the region.
Several hundred species of native grasses and wildflowers will be put in place to succeed the sunflowers. Over time, the new planting will develop a dense and deep-rooted sod in the sandy loam soils. This combination of a diverse above ground plant community and below ground growth of roots will soak up rainfall and nutrients that would otherwise find their way more quickly to the adjacent Sugar River. This means cleaner water for the Sugar River and below ground aquifers.
The new conservation future of the golf course will feature public access to nature trails for recreation and education and more. SWLC is seeking ways to find the best uses for the club house and other structures and facilities on the property.
Two ideas are to partner with local food producers, who see potential for vegetable growers and grass-fed meat producers and to explore the use of the commercial kitchen for creating products for direct sale to local restaurants and consumers and to serve at onsite events and gatherings.
