Evo opens doors to golfers
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/11/2023 (873 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Austin Dobrescu watched as friends rolled putts on his indoor practice green. Over his shoulder, he could hear a driver smashing a golf ball, then the immediate thud as it hit the screen and the subsequent oohs and ahhs from the rest of the group.
It was a night he dreamed about last year and the culmination of countless hours of planning and building Evo Golf Performance and Social Club.
“I finally got to step back and take a breath,” said Dobrescu, who opened his indoor golf training facility officially on Thursday.
Brandon's Austin Dobrescu has opened Evo Golf Performance and Social Club on Pacific Ave. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
“I was hanging out, seeing everyone have a good time and seeing the potential that the place could have on weekends and evenings. Energetic, music’s going, good feel to the place and it really showed me the opportunities there could be in the future.”
Evo, located at 545 Pacific Ave., features four Foresight Sports GCHawk simulators available for public bookings. Golfers can play more than 60 courses or use the simulator’s practice range and variety of games, such as closest-to-the-pin challenges or long-drive competitions.
It also has three areas reserved for members — two practice bays with GC3 launch monitors and hitting nets, the 400-square-foot green with Puttview technology and a workout area.
Memberships range from $140 to $600 per month with the tiers including different amounts of monthly simulator time.
As a former NCAA Division I golfer who tried his hand as a playing professional for a few years and made a cut on the PGA Tour Canada, Dobrescu wanted to create a space that not only offered fun for golfers during long Manitoba winters but also emphasized performance and improvement.
“There’s different levels or different parts of your game everybody needs to work on,” Dobrescu said. “We really tried to put everything together and be able to provide a full package where you could beat balls if you want, roll putts on our Puttview, get a lift in, work on mobility stuff, work on different movements that are going to help you in your golf swing and consistently be able to move properly.
“A lot of people just show up to the first tee and they wonder why some days they hit it well and some days they don’t. Your body’s always changing so being able to put yourself in the best position to swing similar every day is really key.”
Austin Dobrescu is certified through Titleist Performance Institute to train golfers' strength and mobility in the gym at Evo. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
That’s where Dobrescu, not just his facility, comes in.
He’s now a PGA of Canada professional and spent the last winter teaching lessons at Mulligan’s Driving Range when he wasn’t working on Evo. Dobrescu is also certified through the Titleist Performance Institute to train golfers in the gym.
He’s offering group and private lessons at Evo, booked through austindobrescugolf.com.
Something he’s heard a lot recently is people wanting to wait until spring for lessons. His rebuttal is that it’s actually the best time of the year to make changes since it takes time to adjust and it can be hard to quantify improvements on the golf course.
“We’ve got a facility with the technology you can completely trust,” Dobrescu said. “We’ve got club data, perfectly accurate ball data and the numbers popping up on the screen, you can trust them.”
For those who want to keep the competitive juices flowing, Evo is running leagues. The current one features two-player teams who book time each week to play a round of best ball, with prizes for closest to the pin, weekly skins and season-long winners. It plans to offer more leagues in the new year.
Evo is open daily from 8 a.m. to midnight, with all bookings online at evogolf.ca.
Evo features four Foresight Sports GCHawk simulators to play course and practise on its driving range with accurate golf ball data. One of the four simulators also has club data to track swing speed, path and more. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
“I’m stoked. It’s been a long time coming, as I was transitioning out of playing pro golf, working on this since last November,” Dobrescu said.
“Lots of long days but we’re finally here, we’re open and it’s a rewarding feeling. Having a team around me, a lot of support from friends and family, I wouldn’t be able to make it happen without them so really grateful and really happy to be able to do this in my hometown and help the golf community.”
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com
» X: @thomasmfriesen