Golf


short course also being developed. Wolfgang Mayer is a qualified agricultural machinery engineer, but has spent twenty years involved with Hetzenhof in its various guises, having accepted a permanent position in 1993. Four years later he completed his studies in golf course maintenance.


He is supported by two highly qualified


greenkeepers in brothers Karl and Fritz Hieber, with Gerd Zwickl, Eberhard Hinderer, Peter Nützschke, Markus Maier and Oliver Riess offering additional support on a part-time basis. Depending on the time of year, there are between four and six staff on duty at any one time caring for approximately 140 acres. Both Course A, Hohenstaufen, and course B, Rechenberg, begin and end on the flat Schurwald terrain. In between lies the ‘valley of tears’, which includes five fairways traversing significant elevation changes and steep slopes.


The third C course, called Stuifen, is the longest of the three courses and completes the 27-hole Championship course.


On such undulating terrain getting maintenance equipment onto the course is difficult, with only two access points, one close to the machinery shed and the other from the B297 main road! “With such a difficult area to cover, only the more experienced greenkeepers are allowed to use equipment on the most undulating areas of the course,” explains Wolfgang, “with the part-time helpers tending the more level areas.” Wolfgang went on to explain that, on such a complex and potentially dangerous terrain, it is important to know where team members are at any given time so, in 2001, he introduced GPS tracking from measurements taken across the whole terrain. “This gives everyone peace of mind should any accidents or incidents


occur,” he states.


In addition, he has programmed a database that allows employees to enter maintenance tasks they undertake. This includes fertiliser applications, mowing and any mechanical or maintenance work. This allows the course’s annual requirements to be accurately mapped. There’s no drainage or irrigation on any part of the site. Marcus believes that a trained greenkeeper can see with his own eyes where any problems might occur. “With such a complex topography, there are a number of micro-climates we have to contend with,” he reasons. “So, a ‘one fix’ programme simply would not work here. It’s fair to say that, because of the climatic variations, different areas of the course require different mechanical maintenance and fertiliser applications. On such an ecologically sensitive site,


Marcus is only too aware that his working methods should be as sustainable as


“With such a complex topography, there are a number of micro- climates we have to contend with, so a 'one fix' programme simply would not work here”


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