Armin Walcher

Forever green

It was 26 years ago that we - Rainer and I - met for the first time.

Neither of us really knew at the time ...

... HOW AND WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO US. WHEN IT CAME TO GOLF COURSES, RAINER WAS STILL A BIT GREEN BEHIND THE EARS AT THE TIME AND I WAS SOMETHING LIKE THE GREAT UNKNOWN AT THE FOOT OF PICHLARN CASTLE. HE WAS ALREADY AGILE, AMBITIOUS AND ENTERPRISING BACK THEN. I WAS STILL MORE OF A YOUNG WHIPPERSNAPPER.

He told me that he came across me and this job BY ACCIDENT. Neither of us had any idea that we would grow together like this. But he immediately saw the potential that lay dormant in my quiet hills, the harmoniously embedded sand pits and my dreamy ponds. It was Rainer who gradually turned me into what I am today. Over the years, we developed into almost inseparable companions. For me, he is now my FAVORITE HEADGREENKEEPER and for everyone else: one of the most renowned golf attendants in Austria.

HONESTLY, we golf courses are generally not exactly famous for our naturalness. But Rainer has made an example of me without meaning to. Thanks to him, one hectare of my 18 is purely natural, a habitat for a diversity of species that many a nature reserve can only dream of. At dawn, the deer do their rounds and the hares are already hopping merrily from the green into the nearby forest. Later, the butterflies flutter from flower to flower and the duck family comes waddling along to collect the apples that Rainer has crushed for them with the golf cart.

Here you breathe slowly. Everything has its time here.

The golfers also like my naturalness - and they like Rainer too. They make no secret of it. They wave to him from afar. They look forward to chatting with him - and I'm happy when they praise me for my lush green, my earthy character. I am already very grateful for my location: THE BEST PLACE FOR A PLACE. At the foot of the castle, amidst silver lime trees, next to cows, farms and deciduous spruce forests, perfectly guarded by our big brother, the Grimming.

HOWEVER, the hours pass as quickly for me and my golfers as they do for Rainer. Early in the morning, when it's still dark, he gets to work. He knows that there is a lot to do for him and his EIGHT-HEADED TEAM. You can't afford to dawdle and daydream, you have to get down to work, with heart and soul and tangible action.

It can happen, he says, that you burn the entire right side of your body trying to repair a pump that has overheated. In the middle of the night. Then you ask the night porter to get help and in the meantime jump into the castle fountain to cool off. But because the waiting time is long, the scalded Rainer climbs out again, waters my parched greens and finally has to be stopped by the rescue team from arranging the work schedule for the dawning day.

RAINER LIKES ACTION, he wants to move, wants to change - and at the same time wants to let me and nature have our way. He does it. Day after day, FOR 26 YEARS. Soon, however, my favorite head greenkeeper will be retiring. He has paved the way for me to continue to be nurtured and cared for in his spirit. Will Rainer soon be swinging a golf club over my hills instead of a rake? Probably not. But he will find many other good reasons to visit me - it's in his nature.

“When I wake up at four or five in the morning and the ducks are waddling along - those are moments when you think, what a nice job I have.”