Golf in Harmony with Nature
Our golf course is a habitat for plants and animals—and at the same time a place for recreational sports. Sustainability and biodiversity are integral to everything we do.
Many thanks to Manfred Heinl and the Greenkeeping-Team!
Love of nature
Our philosophy at GC Reichsstadt Bad Windsheim: Preserving nature, promoting diversity, and developing the course responsibly.
From the Main Valley to the Steigerwald
From the “Franconian Plain”—a heavily farmed plain bordering the Main Valley to the south— the “Steigerwald” rises in gentle, undulating to hilly slopes.
The Steigerwald is a nature park and ranks among Germany's most valuable deciduous forest areas: In an assessment by the Ministry of the Environment, it ranked fifth out of 24 deciduous forest areas. Its biodiversity is considered outstanding.
A mosaic of habitats
This is precisely why the region is a worthwhile destination for ornithologists, botanists, entomologists, and foresters.
Our approximately 70-hectare golf course is situated in a largely open, flat basin in the Steigerwald—characterized by a mosaic of small plots comprising orchard meadows, vineyards, wooded backdrops, hedgerows, and, in exposed areas, occasional patches of heat-loving steppe heath forests.
Biodiversity is part of everyday life here
Under these circumstances, “biodiversity” is no stranger here.
The song of the nightingales accompanies golfers throughout their round from early spring into early summer—one of the most beautiful experiences of nature. Later in early summer, the connoisseur can hear the tree frog calling from its “singing perch” in the tangled hedges.
Open ground, flowering areas & rough
The charm of the “open countryside” never ceases to captivate us: fields of flowers in spring and summer, the clearly visible structure of hedgerows in winter, and unmowed rough areas that serve as refuge and overwintering sites for insects and small creatures.
Far from the noise of traffic—yet still close to the city and easily accessible—the complex offers both tranquility and a chance to experience nature.
Golf & Nature – Our Philosophy at the Reichsstadt Bad Windsheim Golf Club
Support through time, space, and targeted measures
Time and space are key factors in naturally dynamic development processes. In addition to these two “basic ingredients,” we support existing biodiversity through targeted “interventions”:
- Piles of dead wood
- Wild bee hotels
- variably arranged flower beds
- Rock habitats
- Structures for natural hedge development (Benjes hedge)
- Preliminary design (developed individually for each hole)
- Responsible Use of Water as a Resource
- Planting native trees and shrubs in harmony with the surrounding landscape
Minister Thorsten Glauber honors our golf club
On August 1, 2023, the golf course of the Reichsstadt Bad Windsheim Golf Club was admitted to the Bavarian Flower Pact following years of excellent preparatory work by Gerhard Müller and Manfred Heinl.
The certificate was presented during a ceremony at the Thalkirchen Golf Course in Munich. Minister Thorsten Glauber personally presented the award. On this occasion, the BGV’s “Blühpakt” agreement with the ministry was also extended for another three years. Our golf club is now one of the 41 clubs in Bavaria to have received this award to date.
The entire board supports all activities aimed at promoting biodiversity and preserving natural habitats for animals and insects. More than half of the 72 hectares available to the Reichsstadt Bad Windsheim Golf Club are designated as natural habitats for flora and fauna.
Thorsten Glauber – Minister of State for the Environment and Consumer Protection
Manfred Heinl (right) – Head of the Golf and Nature Working Group
Highlights: Golf & Nature
Insights into biodiversity, flowering areas, and habitats on our grounds.
