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Hi,
at the start of the pandemic I managed to get an order in early for a net world sports golf cage and mat/rubber base.
After putting this up in the garden and building some decking for the golf mat, I placed an order for a Mevo+ launch monitor as I thought it would be nice to see the ball flight in practise mode.
I then got the crazy idea that I might be able to build a golf simulator in the garden.
I bought a short throw projector as I was also thinking about a projector to use with my other lockdown project - some decking and an inflatable hot tub in the garden.
I then bought an archery panel and some black tarpaulins to replace the netting in the golf cage.
Then I extended the golf mat decking to accomodate a putting strip, but then I had to build an an extension to the decking to put the Mevo+ on so there was a flat surface to the putting surface.
Then I built a box to protect the projector from ball strikes and a perspex box for more projector protection.
The archery panel I bought had a black material backing to increase the light rejection. However as this wasn't waterproof I had to buy an extra black tarpaulin to cover the back of it.
The tarpaulins also weren't the advertised 3m x 3m. I knew that they would fold some of the material back when making the borders, but they were quite a bit shorter in one of the directions, so I placed them with the gap was at ground level and taped some black damp-proof course to them to fill the gap to the ground. Plus more damp proof course to over the cage edges to stop any light bleed.
I had neglected to consider rain and so, after rushing outside to fight the gravitational pull of many gallons of water ballooning the roof tarpaulin down towards the ground after a session of rain, I had to order some more steels and joints to build something that woould push the tarpaulin into a dome so that the water would run off.
I needed the water from the roof to drain off the edges of the roof tarp so moved the damp proof course to the insides of the cage to allow the water to drain down the insides of the cage.
However this mean the water makes the ground very muddy and the mud splashes up on to the archery panel, and also coats the golf balls that fall from the panel.
And over time the water caused the intermittent tape sections to come away and the interior damp proof course to fall away.
I am replacing all the damp proof course now so you can see lots of light bleed, but one replaced corner is shown.
The tarpaulins were originally attached using those elastic bungee things, but over the year both the bungees and the tarpaulins stretched, so I have replaced them all with cable ties. This has meant that I have been able to get the archery net taughter which is good as it needs to be pretty flat with the short throw projector.
When the astroturf mat extension is in place it looks like it might be sturdier than it is, so invariably a mate stepped on it and broke it. This version uses chicken wire to hold the astroturf in place, so it is lighter and easier to move. I have castor wheels on one edge for moving it, but they get clogged up with mud at this time of year.
The mat gets very wet with the rain, and I have to use a wet-and-dry vacuum on it every now and again.
Lastly, when it is raining, the enclosure is the preferred toilet area for the dog, meaning that I have to clean it all out before a practise session so that mud is the only thing that the golf balls fall back down into...
So, in conclusion, I should have just kept the net in the golf cage and just used the golf range functionality of the Mevo+, feeding an Ipad screen on a tripod (possibly in something to protect it against rebounds from the cage).
The decking extension and astroturf mat extensions were only needed to support putting, which I wouldn't have needed if I wasn't using the simulator.
And to top it all off - I have decided to sell the house and move to Wales where the chosen house does not have a big enough garden to accomodate the cage !
So it's all coming down and won't be reused - or the steels might in the garage to build something secure to lock my bikes to.
So if anyone in Surrey would like a free wooden box to project their projector, or to buy a second hand net world sport golf cage before I take to Wales and repurpose it, shout now :-)
Andrew
at the start of the pandemic I managed to get an order in early for a net world sports golf cage and mat/rubber base.
After putting this up in the garden and building some decking for the golf mat, I placed an order for a Mevo+ launch monitor as I thought it would be nice to see the ball flight in practise mode.
I then got the crazy idea that I might be able to build a golf simulator in the garden.
I bought a short throw projector as I was also thinking about a projector to use with my other lockdown project - some decking and an inflatable hot tub in the garden.
I then bought an archery panel and some black tarpaulins to replace the netting in the golf cage.
Then I extended the golf mat decking to accomodate a putting strip, but then I had to build an an extension to the decking to put the Mevo+ on so there was a flat surface to the putting surface.
Then I built a box to protect the projector from ball strikes and a perspex box for more projector protection.
The archery panel I bought had a black material backing to increase the light rejection. However as this wasn't waterproof I had to buy an extra black tarpaulin to cover the back of it.
The tarpaulins also weren't the advertised 3m x 3m. I knew that they would fold some of the material back when making the borders, but they were quite a bit shorter in one of the directions, so I placed them with the gap was at ground level and taped some black damp-proof course to them to fill the gap to the ground. Plus more damp proof course to over the cage edges to stop any light bleed.
I had neglected to consider rain and so, after rushing outside to fight the gravitational pull of many gallons of water ballooning the roof tarpaulin down towards the ground after a session of rain, I had to order some more steels and joints to build something that woould push the tarpaulin into a dome so that the water would run off.
I needed the water from the roof to drain off the edges of the roof tarp so moved the damp proof course to the insides of the cage to allow the water to drain down the insides of the cage.
However this mean the water makes the ground very muddy and the mud splashes up on to the archery panel, and also coats the golf balls that fall from the panel.
And over time the water caused the intermittent tape sections to come away and the interior damp proof course to fall away.
I am replacing all the damp proof course now so you can see lots of light bleed, but one replaced corner is shown.
The tarpaulins were originally attached using those elastic bungee things, but over the year both the bungees and the tarpaulins stretched, so I have replaced them all with cable ties. This has meant that I have been able to get the archery net taughter which is good as it needs to be pretty flat with the short throw projector.
When the astroturf mat extension is in place it looks like it might be sturdier than it is, so invariably a mate stepped on it and broke it. This version uses chicken wire to hold the astroturf in place, so it is lighter and easier to move. I have castor wheels on one edge for moving it, but they get clogged up with mud at this time of year.
The mat gets very wet with the rain, and I have to use a wet-and-dry vacuum on it every now and again.
Lastly, when it is raining, the enclosure is the preferred toilet area for the dog, meaning that I have to clean it all out before a practise session so that mud is the only thing that the golf balls fall back down into...
So, in conclusion, I should have just kept the net in the golf cage and just used the golf range functionality of the Mevo+, feeding an Ipad screen on a tripod (possibly in something to protect it against rebounds from the cage).
The decking extension and astroturf mat extensions were only needed to support putting, which I wouldn't have needed if I wasn't using the simulator.
And to top it all off - I have decided to sell the house and move to Wales where the chosen house does not have a big enough garden to accomodate the cage !
So it's all coming down and won't be reused - or the steels might in the garage to build something secure to lock my bikes to.
So if anyone in Surrey would like a free wooden box to project their projector, or to buy a second hand net world sport golf cage before I take to Wales and repurpose it, shout now :-)
Andrew