The city of Madison Parks Division is partnering with Michael and Jocelyn Keiser and the Madison Parks Foundation to reimagine and reinvest in the Odana Hills Golf Course.
The Keisers have donated funding to the golf course. The Odana Hills course will build on a successful collaboration to transform the Glen Golf Park.
“We are fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the Keiser family and the Madison Parks Foundation to support our community’s future by giving Odana Hills the investment this amazing public park deserves,” Madison Parks Superintendent Eric Knepp said in a statement. “Generations of memories have occurred at Odana and this work will ensure that there are many more years of memories made at this special place.”
In 2021, Michael and Jocelyn Keiser approached Madison Parks offering to donate their professional knowledge, expertise and construction services to provide a redesign of the Glenway Golf Course.
The reimagined Glen Golf Park reopened in 2022. The number of golf rounds played, and revenue generated at the Glen increased by more than 40%.
From an ecological standpoint, the Glen’s redesign increased native area plantings by over 1,000%, which substantially improved the quality of natural habitat, while reducing the amount of land intensively managed as turfgrass.
The proposed Odana Hills project would follow a similar model to the Glen but utilize a more comprehensive project. The course redesign and construction project, involving the tees, greens and some course routing, would be supported entirely through private donations from the Madison Parks Foundation led by the Keiser family’s donation.
The extent of improvements will depend on final cost estimates and additional donor support, but the baseline of improvements will be consistent with the Glen project. The project will begin in the fall.
Madison Parks will present an outline and timeline of the proposed project plans at the March 11 Board of Park Commissioners meeting.
