How Fun Is This...

[jdgould]

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:

• 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

[Mekongmike]

Great list and photos Jeff...! Thanks for taking the time as it really helps us Newbies. My desire is to have my SIM look like yours. It takes a "Village" so many thanks to so many here who have/are posting their suggestions and results.

Mekongmike

[jdgould]

Mekongmike I totally agree, it takes a village and thanks for the compliment. I've learned so much about golf simulators reading through this forum. It's a bit addicting this whole golf simulator thing... Now I find myself buying new drivers just so I can go home and compare them against my old driver using Skytrak. Now my elbows are starting to hurt from hitting so many balls.

[jdgould]

UPDATE: I removed my 1" EMT piping and upgraded to a 16' automatic Sportscreen. I hung the sportscreen right underneath my garage door supports so that I never had to worry about someone accidentally opening the garage door while the impact screen was down. In other words, I can lift my garage door up and down even if my impact screen is being used.

The automatic sportscreen works very well and rolls up and down just as fast as my garage door opener (~10 seconds).

Instead of installing my impact screen on top of the black "hockey" screen that comes with the sportscreen, I just hung my white impact screen directly on the roller using the velcro that was included with my finished par2pro HQSQ screen. I inserted the metal pipe that comes with the sportscreen at the bottom of the impact screen to try and keep the impact screen tighter for a better picture, but on the right side, the metal pipe fit really tight at the bottom and the screen looks a little bunched up.

In addition, because the sportscreen is 16', it does bow a little bit in the center and causes the impact screen to fold a little on the sides as it rolls up (even with the metal pipes adding weight at the bottom while it is rolling up). After you roll the screen down, the wrinkles go away simply by hitting the screen a couple of times with your hand.

All in all, I'm extremely impressed with how easy it is to setup and take down my simulator in my garage, now that I'm using the sportscreen (Pictures Attached).

[Greekpsu79]

Can you tell me how far it it from your roller to the floor? Do you have any issues with balls going above the screen?

[jdgould]

Greekpsu79 my screen is 8 feet tall. We hit from around 8 feet back and no one has ever hit the top of the screen or chipped one over it. A normal 56 degree wedge hits about 2/3 up on the screen. I hope that helps.

[Sramp17]

Looks good! glad to see it is all working out for you. When I order mine I will probably be ordering a sportscreen that spans 12 feet so hopefully I can avoid the sag in the middle of the screen because that will annoy me I think.

How is the bounce back using just the SQ screen from par2pro without a backing behind it?

[gnomike]

Just wanted to say thank you for spending the time to put all that detail into a post. Very cool of you and very much appreciated. Gave me a bunch of useful information and ideas. quick question re. the laptop... I almost pulled the trigger on that exact model but held off... unsure whether the laptop version of the gtx 1060 would have enough "oomf".... how has your experience with it been so far? Are you pleased with your choice or do you wish you'd gone for a slightly faster gpu model...?

[jdgould]

Hey gnomike, thanks for the compliment. I've been completely pleased with my laptop so far, it has plenty of "oomf". I only use it to run SkyTrak and TGC and haven't had any issues related to the laptop itself. In regards to the gtx 1060, I think it's probably overkill for all of the latest simulator requirements. Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.

BTW... in case you are going down the route of using a sportscreen. I removed by metal pole at the bottom of my screen and replaced it with a fiberglass stick that came with my sportscreen and I'm now able to make the screen tight at the top and bottom by tying the stick to the bungee on both ends. The wave in the bottom of my screen was really bothering me and now it looks much better. I'll try and post an updated picture in the next day or two.

[gnomike]

I figured that would be the case (wrt laptop). One gets so wrapped up in the research and then the specs' comparisons that it's easy to get carried away. From my reading I was convinced (not really but close) that only a b*llbuster 1080ti would do the trick... which was pretty confusing since I can run JNPG on my notebook that only has a 940MX.

Actually, the sportscreen wasn't on my radar until I read your post, but now it is! I haven't begun my build yet, since I won't move in to the new house for another 20 days. There is a dedicated room that I've earmarked in which I will set up an angle iron mounted screen. It's a tight fit for a sim room, though, so if the finished product ends up being too cramped for a good experience, then I'll be redoing everything out in the garage... with the sportscreen!

[Pat S.]

Hey gnomike, thanks for the compliment. I've been completely pleased with my laptop so far, it has plenty of "oomf". I only use it to run SkyTrak and TGC and haven't had any issues related to the laptop itself. In regards to the gtx 1060, I think it's probably overkill for all of the latest simulator requirements. Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.

BTW... in case you are going down the route of using a sportscreen. I removed by metal pole at the bottom of my screen and replaced it with a fiberglass stick that came with my sportscreen and I'm now able to make the screen tight at the top and bottom by tying the stick to the bungee on both ends. The wave in the bottom of my screen was really bothering me and now it looks much better. I'll try and post an updated picture in the next day or two.

I would be really interested in hearing more about what you are doing at the bottom of your screen to cut down the waves. I'm not sure what you mean by "tying the stick to the bungee on both ends." Very cool of you to share all of the details with us. Thanks!

[jdgould]

Pat S. S. The sportscreen came with a thin 1" X 1/4" fiberglass stick type of thing that is intended to put through the center of the black sportscreen. However, I'm not using the black sportscreen so I decided to put the fiberglass stick through the bottom of my white impact screen to add a little weight. The fiberglass stick has small circles drilled right in the center of the stick so I took a white bungee ball and threaded it through the hole in the stick and connected it to the bottom grommet on my Par2Pro impact screen. The fiberglass stick was a little longer than 16 feet so I had to cut down one of the sides and drill my own hole. If you do it right, connecting the stick to the bottom grommet of your screen should pull the bottom of your impact screen to the sides and remove any waves in the screen. You could also probably pull the bottom of the screen real tight and just velcro it to the stick to make it tight and remove any waves.

Here's the bungee ball I used. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'll try and remember to post a picture when I get home.

I hope that helps.

[jc523]

nice work, @jdgould!

i'm starting to research my own garage build, and I plan to do something similar, but have a few questions about your setup.


how, exactly, is your sportscreen mounted? is it mounted directly to the garage door rails? it's hard to tell from the pictures.

also, have you noticed any issues with not using the sportscreen mesh behind the impact screen? I was under the impression that the combination of the two would help with the longevity of the impact screen.

do you feel like you need any sort of side curtains, or ceiling protection? I was planning to do something similar to p3eps garage build for drapes and ceiling net.


your component list and comments are very well done! it's been very helpful, so I'll have to do a similar summary once I complete my build.


thanks again!

[jdgould]

jc523 I still love my setup. I’ve had no issues with my automatic sportscreen or my HQSQ screen. The mesh sport screen is not necessary. I also don’t use side curtains or a ceiling protector. I’ve had maybe 3 wedge shots hit the ceiling after a year of playing, depending on how far back I move the hitting mat.

Ive had a couple of friends shank their shot, but the metal protective case blocks the ball from going sideways, I even have a Mylar mirror on my wall

The sport screen is mounted directly under my garage rails and on one side I have a pole to support the sportscreen from bowing. This was necessary because when I opened the garage door, the sportscreen bowed and it looked like it would dislodge from the brackets holding it in place. I’ll attach some pics.

[Deuce]

Thanks for the fantastic and very detailed write up! Great stuff for those of us still trying to put together a plan.

[jdgould]

Thanks Deuce, let me know if you have any questions. I'm still loving this exact setup now with TGC 2019!

[Morini]

Hi jdgould,

This thread is a bit old right now. I am tempted to follow your example and not use the sportscreen. I figure it looks a bit cleaner (but not sure as I have nothing to compare it to), and reduces bounce back. Is it still working well for you? The most important question for me is how far from the wall you need to be as I am a bit tight for space, and would prefer to leave 12 inches, not 16.

[jdgould]

Morini I am still extremely pleased with my setup! I've been using it now for about a year and a half with no complaints.. In regards to your question, I have my sports screen set about 18" away from my garage door and even with that much space a low shot that moves the screen more (because it's low) the ball will occasionally still hit the garage door lightly. So I'd encourage you to hang your screen with at least 18" or you'll need to tie your screen to the wall so that it can't move very much at all, causing more bounce back...

I hope that helps!

[Aaijala]

Great write-up and very helpful as I plan out my garage upgrade from Net Return with screen to a more custom build. How did you anchor the EMT temporary pipes to the floor? Did you bolt into the cement? Also- do you have a link to the Sportscreen? I’m a newbie and not familiar.