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A friend introduced me to the concept of Skytrak (affordable golf simulator) last Christmas and I haven’t been able to sleep ever since. For the last couple of months, I’ve been lurking around in this forum trying to figure out what the best simulator setup would be for my 2 car garage. I was originally planning on getting the net return pro with white hitting screen, but quickly decided to go with a bigger screen (8’ X 14’) as I had the extra space in my 2 car garage.
First off, thanks to all of you on this forum who have shared your experience and insight into the world of golf simulation. You’ve made this process a lot easier, and a lot more fun!
Key considerations:
What I used for my golf simulator / movie theater build:
BONUS ITEMS: I purchased a few other things to make the man cave even better…
All in I spent about $7,000 USD, but you could probably build something similar for about $4,000 if you don’t want to move your garage door opener & you already have a high end laptop to run a simulator.
Well, that’s about it. I want to once again thank all of you who have inspired me during this process and I hope this post can help someone else as they build or improve on their golf simulator / movie theater.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Jeff
First off, thanks to all of you on this forum who have shared your experience and insight into the world of golf simulation. You’ve made this process a lot easier, and a lot more fun!
Key considerations:
- I wanted to be able to quickly put away the simulator if needed
- I wanted it to be safe as I have 2 young kids that would also be using the golf simulator
- I wanted the simulator screen to double as a movie screen / home theater (BONUS)
- I wanted the simulator screen to be quite and have a high quality image (minimizing screen door effect)
- I wanted to be able to open or close the garage door even if the simulator screen was down (nice to have)
- I wanted it to look “professional” even though I was building it myself
- I didn’t want the projector to cast shadows on the screen while playing (preferred short throw projector)
What I used for my golf simulator / movie theater build:
- ($2,300) Skytrak with play and improve package – I wanted the WGT integration, but it’s not necessary. You could get by with the Game Improvement plan so you can use other simulators (i.e. The Golf Club Game – TGC, Jack Nicklaus, etc…)
- ($995) TGC Simulator – I wanted to have access to 100k + golf courses, play multiplayer with friends, and join in on the tournaments
- ($199) Creative Golf 3D – I bought this to keep my kids interested in practicing golf
- (included) WGT – it’s a good option if you don’t want to buy a computer to run your other simulators, WGT works on iPhone / iPad
- ($600) Par2Pro Super Quiet High Quality impact screen (SQHQ) – I got an 8’ X 14’ screen that is finished with grommets and Velcro (soft side). I don’t have much to compare this to, but this screen is amazing. The sound on impact is very low, the bounce back is minimal (1 or 2 feet), and the picture quality looks fantastic for both golf simulation and movies. The impact screen looks to be of very high quality, it has a nice thickness to it, and the finishing around the border is looks very professional. Thanks Par2Pro for letting me in on the SQ-Beta
- ($100) TEMPORARY – 1” EMT frame connected to each side of the garage about 8’ height stretching 20’ across. I used 2 8ft EMT poles coming down so I could frame my screen 14’ feet across and 8’ height (See pictures). I purchased the EMT fittings from a local swap meet vendor who supplies tarp equipment, but you can get a good deal on fittings at tarps.com I was originally going to make it so I could just lift the frame up and have it hang from the ceiling when not using it. But I’ll soon be converting this to an automatic sportscreen that will function just like my garage door opener.
- ($580) COMING SOON The Sports Screen – I bought a 16’ X 9’ automatic sports screen that I’ll hang from the ceiling, and I’ll just Velcro the Par2Pro SQHQ screen to it once it arrives. This uses a rollup functionality and will make it really easy to put the simulator screen away when not in use. Thanks Captargo, Drmuzoid, mikeingp, scottiedawg66 for the inspiration!
- ($730) Viewsonic short throw projector – PJD6552LWS - I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to center the projector on the ceiling because of the garage door, so I wanted a projector that could mount off center (ceiling or floor) and use horizontal and vertical keystone to correct the offset if needed. FYI… After learning more about using keystone and experimenting with it, I don’t recommend using keystone unless you really need to. The picture quality starts to look really bad when using keystones to correct from being off center. You start to see different size pixels in the area of the screen that is furthest away from the projector (doesn’t look good).
- ($749) I’ve since upgraded to the Optoma 1080Darbee the quality of this picture is much better than the Viewsonic. I think the Viewsonic might have looked a little brighter, but the resolution on the Optoma is night and day different.
- ($18) Universal Projector mount – used to mount the projector to the ceiling
- ($400) Liftmaster 8500 Jackshaft Garage Door – I ended up centering the projector after deciding to convert my “old school” garage door opener with a Liftmaster 8500. This wasn’t totally necessary, but I’m really glad I did it. It made the garage feel much more open and allowed me to put the projector exactly where I wanted it. Thanks to Boerdoc and mp1972 for the recommendation in another thread!
- ($350) Pro Turf 6’ X 10’ Golf Mat – this originally came with my net return pro golf package and seems to work just fine. Instead of cutting holes for the plastic tees, we just use the tomahawk tees . The kids love how the glow when the red Skytrak light shines on them. Thanks for the recommendation BamaGambler In addition, I’m planning on buying the Country Club Elite hitting strip or Divot Action to use as another option with the pro turf mat.
- ($1,000) Acer Predator Laptop – to run simulators, your computer needs to have a really good graphics card and other requirements, so I went with this laptop for portability.
BONUS ITEMS: I purchased a few other things to make the man cave even better…
- ($550) JBL 5.1 soundbar with subwoofer – BEST PURCHASE I’VE EVER MADE! I got this on sale at Fry’s hoping it would make movie watching at home more enjoyable vs. the projector speakers
OMG, we never need to go to the movies again. This is not only a speaker, but it also acts as the receiver. You can just plug everything into the back of the soundbar using HDMI and choose what source you want to use. I mounted the soundbar towards the top of my ceiling above my screen, put the subwoofer in the corner, and found 2 places for the back surround speakers and ran the HDMI straight across the ceiling to the projector. The sound is amazing! - ($30) Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard – I use this so I don’t have to worry about the laptop getting damaged by accident being so close to the hitting area. I put the laptop off to the side and just use the keyboard to control the laptop/simulator
- ($44) Laptop Stand – I use this to hold the wireless keyboard and the various remote controls (projector, JBL, spotlights) right in front of the skytrak for easy access
- ($37) Spotlights – to make it easier to see the ball and keyboard without compromising the picture quality. Thanks @shardak
- ($12) Bungee ties – used to connect my Par2Pro SQ screen to the 1” EMT frame (temporary until I get the sportscreen up)
- ($17) Power strips with USB – I got 2 of these for the various items that need to be plugged in or charged occasionally
- ($24) Strips to Hide Wires – I use these on the ceiling to hide the various wires running to and from my soundbar and projector
- ($69) Amazon Firestick – I use this to watch HULU, Netflix, etc… through my projector on my big screen
- ($59) Stackable Chairs – I bought 6 stackable chairs from IKEA when playing with others and for movie night
All in I spent about $7,000 USD, but you could probably build something similar for about $4,000 if you don’t want to move your garage door opener & you already have a high end laptop to run a simulator.
Well, that’s about it. I want to once again thank all of you who have inspired me during this process and I hope this post can help someone else as they build or improve on their golf simulator / movie theater.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Jeff
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