CHAMPIONSGATE, Fla. – Want to beat a bucket of range balls near the tourist corridor in Central Florida? If you’re looking to throw in dinner and a cocktail and do it all under the lights, check out the new Eagle’s Edge range with Toptracer Range technology at Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate.
Hardly a week goes by without a golf club – typically multiple clubs – announcing the installation of a Toptracer Range. The popular tech tracks a golf ball’s flight with a system of cameras and sensors then projects its flight onto a screen. If you’re reading this golf story, you’ve surely seen the tech at work on TV broadcasts of the PGA Tour.
There are other similar systems, with Trackman’s radar-based system being a prime example. All such systems are designed to elevate the range experience from merely beating a bucket of balls, giving players data about their practice shots or allowing them to virtually play famous courses as a video game come to life.
Since being acquired by Topgolf in 2016 and rebranded from its original name of Protracer, Toptracer’s tech has taken off and been installed at more than a thousand facilities. The company says on its website that there are now more than 24,000 Toptracer hitting bays.
Many private clubs have installed a few bays with food and beverage options for members, especially in colder climates where courses might be closed seasonally. Plenty of public-access ranges also have installed Toptracer tech, where players can hit balls and monitor their results on a monitor. There already were several facilities in Central Florida to have installed the tech, such as Tee It Up Golf Driving Range in Oviedo, some 20-30 minutes of driving northeast of downtown Orlando on the opposite side of town from the region’s theme parks.
The new public-access Eagle’s Edge at ChampionsGate ramps it up several notches, combining a high-end pub scene and Toptracer tech on the southwest side of Orlando not far from Disney World.
Eagle’s Edge offers 30 ground-level hitting bays playing out to an un-netted range, which on the far end serves as the practice facility for ChampionsGate’s two full-size golf courses, the National and International. The new Toptracer Range was constructed where coach David Leadbetter’s golf academy formerly resided.
The 6,000-square-foot Eagle’s Edge includes dining and a central bar just a few hundred yards out the back door of the massive Omni hotel, with food and drinks delivered to each bay. Raised and lit targets large and small were built on the half of the range closest to Eagle’s Edge, giving players something to aim for night or day. Shots are tracked on monitors adjacent to the high-end hitting mats, and balls are supplied via a machine with the swipe of a club in front of a sensor, the same as at a Topgolf facility.
The total Eagle’s Edge experience is much more like a Topgolf, which helped define the industry term of “eatertainment,” than it is a regular range. Hang out on a couch watching TV with a craft cocktail and plate of nachos, or pound balls with purpose; the choice is yours.
And like the targets at a giant Topgolf facility, those at Eagle’s Edge light up when a ball strikes home and the bayside screen registers the hit. Many players will spend most of their time whaling at a driver to see how far they might be able to hit a ball, but on opening night it was just as fun for the more serious golfers in attendance to try to make the lights dance with wedge shots bouncing off the smaller targets closer to the bays.
“With Eagle’s Edge, we are transforming the way our guests partake in the game and event gatherings through an all-encompassing venue that brings state-of-the-art technology, topline service and unmatched food and beverage offerings,” Scott Tripoli, general manager of Omni Orlando at ChampionsGate, said in a media release announcing the opening of the facility.
Each of the 30 hitting bays can accommodate one to six players. Walk-ups are accepted, but it’s best to reserve a bay via opentable.com. The price of a bay varies on demand, but expect to pay $40-$58 per hour depending on date and time as judged by a recent glance at the booking site – that price is the same per bay regardless of one player or six. The facility also accommodates large groups. Players can use their own clubs or swing with clubs provided at each hitting bay.
Check out a selection of images of the new facility and its Toptracer tech below.