Environmentally friendly walk

Haven't walked up to and over the golf course at Ottobeuren for ages. Our old faithful Border Flash who died last summer hated the sound of golf balls being hit and so we had avoided it. And in the last year or so massive earthworks and dam building operation has been underway at the point in the hamlet where we park the car to start the walk.

The road closed signs have now gone and as it was a very pleasant, warm sunny Saturday afternoon thought it worth a visit.

The dam is an EU coordinated project to help with all the problems of the Danube flooding that happens from time to time and effects a dozen or so countries. It is only put into operation under extreme circumstances and the land that is flooded behind the wall is normal farming meadows for which the farmers then get compensation for having to clear up the sticks and debris that such an event leave behind.

Very surprisingly up on the golf course, nothing was happening. Nothing except at the clubhouse where the car park was chock-a-block with Porsches, Audis. Mercs & BMWs. Lots of friendly (they all greeted scruffy Luna & I in proper traditional Bavarian manner with a "Grüss Gott") well-dressed people heading into the clubhouse. Then read there had been a large tournament and they were assembling for the prize ceremony and dinner.

Further on the golf course which one can walk directly through, there are a number of old traditional fruit orchards - Streuobstwiese. - Meadow Orchards where trees are allowed to grow to a larger size and generally one waits until the fruit drops to the ground. The apples are used to make juice for which there are numerous small commercial pressers in the are where anybody can get their own fruit turned into juice. They use old fashioned endangered varieties. The juice is sold at the clubhouse. 2018 they made 600 litres of juice from 840kg of apples.

They are planting up new areas with apple trees and encouraging the young from local schools and the old pensioned off gardeners to work together on maintaining them. Alongside this they have a beekeeper maintaining hives on the course and again they sell the honey at the club, the money going into further environmental projects.

For the fairway & green maintenance, they have stopped artificial harmful herbicides & pesticides. Naturally also in the apple orchards which are there to encourage bees and wildlife in general. I didn't see any specific reference to increasing the number of ponds to attract further biodiversity of amphibians but saw one or two water features which I am sure are new.

Very rewarding and uplifting experience:
WIN for the environment
WIN for the young & old generations
WIN for the Golfclub image

Only 25% of the 600 odd German golf clubs make a profit & ottobeuren despite its comparatively harsh climate is amongst them.

Top left: back entrance to the course with the dam to the left and centre-right Ottobeurens Basilica.
Top right: the clubhouse. Nobody sipping Pimms outside as the prize ceremony in full swing
Bottom left:  newly planted young apple orchards
Bottom right: details of the apple orchard scheme with the sponsors and names of the various old apple varieties planted.