Tee Strike material from Synlawn for hitting mat and/or surrounding trim?

[Gstmike]

I'm really anxious to get my sim up and running and I am at the point where I need to decide on whether to put surrounding turf around my mat, cover my entire sim area floor with hitting mat material (Synlawn Tee Strike), or surround my hitting mat with nice carpeting for more of a home theater feel when not golfing.
I really want to get a bit more input before I pull the trigger as the tee strike material is expensive. I didn't find much on the forum so I'm putting the question out there.
I think a nice carpet around the mat almost looks classier but I see the appeal of having the floor with matching turf to integrate with the simulator image.

It seems some have complained of elbow issues after long sessions with the CCE mat which is what I currently have. I am definitely interested in less punishing options as well and if the Synlawn Tee Strike material is somehow less punishing. It's going directly on tile floor.

Any/all input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks all.

[kalcormier]

I have a CCE mat as well. I recently started having pain in trail shoulder. I'm wondering if its from the mat or just all the repetitions. I would hate to cut into my CCE to add an insert. I have seen people recommend the DivotAction Togo. It has a metal piece that slides under the CCE to hold it stable. Interested to see what gets recommended.

[Stingreye]

It took 6 months but CCe took its toll on my hands wrists and elbows. Switched to a diy divot action and the pain was gone in a couple days without backing off on the frequency of hitting balls. I have both the divot action and now fiberbuilt. I haven’t decided which I prefer yet. I like them both for different things.

[wbond]

Totally agree on the divot action and FB, each has it's own pluses and they are both worlds better than the CCE in terms of lessening pain.

[cspin]

Gstmike,
The decision on flooring around your hitting mat is driven by a few things. If you use carpeting you're probably not going to get a realistic roll when putting. If you don't care about putting, or don't have a sim that accurately measures it, go the carpet route. I have seen sims with black or grey low pile carpeting that look really cool. You can get a good putting turf for not much more money than a decent piece of carpet. $4 a sf gets you nice putting turf. Another issue is whether you want the ball to role off your hitting mat and onto the putting turf without it hopping around. For that you will need to flush the putting turf up with the hitting mat surface. That can be a challenge and add cost depending on your sim room. I would not use a tee line turf like Tee Strike to cover the entire sim area, unless you got an incredible deal on it and you don't care about putting accuracy. I built my sim in the garage and put down interlocking foam tiles to build the floor up, and then layed a roll of putting turf on top of the foam tiles. It matches up with the height of the mat. I had to cut a square out of the putting turf (and foam tiles) to recess the hitting mat. Cutting the putting turf was a bit nerve racking, but took my time and it came out nice.

Good luck!

cspin

[Ericft]

Cspin, what putting turf did you use? Any pictures? I am also working on options of hitting area coverage in basement on concrete. I think the full swing carpet with hitting stance mat looks cool but so does the full turf option. Would carpet padding be enough to build up to the level of a stance mat?

[kalcormier]

I'm not cspin but I can answer because I just did a ton of research on turf. Just installed mine this week. He has NP50 in the basement and PL306 in the garage. I went with True Turf from GrassTex which is the same as STI NP50. NP45 is another popular option which is the same as MoneyPutt. Most companies will send you samples. I don't know about the carpet padding. Most guys either build a plywood subfloor or use interlocking foam tiles.

[Ericft]

Thanks for the update kalcormier,
why did you chose grasstex? Do you mind letting me know their price per sqft? Thanks.

[kalcormier]

I went with Grasstex because they had a very high quality turf and the customer service was good. I told them what I was trying to do and the guy sent me about 10 different samples. It worked out to about 3.50 a sqft.

[Ericft]

Thanks for the info.