By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
With spring on the horizon, golf is in full swing at Dubsdread Golf Course in Orlando, Florida. In addition to Dubsdread’s 6,153-yard golf course that was built in 1924 and renovated in 2008, they celebrated the opening of their newly renovated driving range last October, and public golfers from across Central Florida have been flocking to experience it for themselves.
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Michigan-native Steve Brewer, the facility’s PGA of America Director of Instruction and four-time Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Growth of the Game Teaching Professional, has called Florida home for 22 years and has been at Dubsdread since 2008.
He shared some details of the exciting range renovation for this month’s edition of Investing in Your Range.
“When I arrived here in 2008, they had just completed a two-year golf course renovation, which also included a new driving range,” Brewer explains. “The range was simple, but functional, with lights added for nighttime play.”
Brewer says that the recent range project was more of a transformation than a renovation, “light years ahead of where they were before.”
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“The City of Orlando owns the facility and strives to keep rates affordable so we can reach as many people in our community as possible,” Brewer adds. “Although we’re a busy course with upwards of 70,000 rounds per year, we wanted to consider where we could increase revenue, and a new learning center and upgraded practice facility experience was proposed.”
Brewer and Dubsdread management from Troon brought city officials to another nearby Troon property to show them the possibilities that could be created at Dubsdread — this was before the pandemic. After COVID, the discussions reconvened and took shape in 2023 with the hardcore planning process and specific concepts they wanted to implement.
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“After going through the extensive permitting process, we broke ground in April of 2025, closed our public practice space during the summer and reopened with a fresh new look last October,” he boasts.
The “transformed” Dubsdread driving range consists of 40 hitting bays, 36 of which are equipped with ball-tracking technology with user screens in each bay so golfers can gather data, compete against other golfers or enjoy a totally new social experience.
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The covered structure protecting the hitting bays was built by Oviedo, Florida-based Cover the Tees.
“The Cover the Tees team was awesome to work with,” says Brewer.
With lights already in place and a new covered structure built, they added a new snack shack near the entrance to the range itself, offering treats such as drinks, hot dogs, sausages and other snacks.
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“We are an aqua range that has always had some pretty specific targets,” Brewer details. “We have middle and right peninsulas with color-coded targets that have been integrated into the ball-tracking system. We look forward to adding water-based targets as well.”
With little room between the hitting bays and the lake, golfers hit into the water and onto the 10-yard-wide peninsulas. Course staff will pick the dry areas, and balls in the water float to the edges, where employees retrieve them with a net.
They also added a 3,000 square foot short game area for chipping and pitching, with putting practice taking place at the practice putting green located near the first tee. Also added was a state-of-the-art learning center.
“The old Learning Center had a dedicated strip of mats where you could fit 10 or 11 golfers at a time,” says Brewer, “that was alongside a small short game area where we’d conduct our lessons and clinics. With this project, we extended the length of the driving range and built a 2,000-square-foot Trackman Performance and Education Building. This space has two Trackman teaching bays with retractable screens and garage doors, extensive clubfitting and club repair services, a large classroom where most of our group clinics are initiated, a huge short game area exclusively used for chipping, pitching and putting instruction and an expanded outdoor hitting area that can accommodate more than two dozen students.”
As mentioned, the goal of the City of Orlando and the Dubsdread team is to be accessible to their community at large. With affordable greens fees, a one-of-a-kind driving range and extensive programming, Brewer and the rest of the Dubsdread team are answering the call and making a positive impact on their customers, creating a stellar experience with every visit.
For more information about Dubsdread Golf Course, log on to their website today.
