In the planning stages

[Shanks]

I've been emailing back and forth with a reseller to determine my setup. I'm currently taking quotes on finishing my basement and I plan on putting a simulator in there as soon as the construction is done. I'm doing hardwoods on half, and then turf on the half where the simulator is going. I believe that I have landed on purchasing the Eye XO. I have several friends who are lefty and want to be able to play without having to move anything on the ground. I don't want to have a Trackman behind the hitting area for someone to trip on. My space that I'm looking at is 14' deep, 15' wide, 12' ceilings.

My only questions that I have left would be:

1. Hitting mat - I obviously will need something with center strike. I was offered Super Tee 10x5 for $500, Tartan Turf Country Club 10x5 for $995, Fiberbuilt 9x4 for $1199. Which way would you guys recommend?

2. Projector - Is 4k worth it? The area will be doubled as a movie area occasionally so I'm leaning towards it but the projectors are 3x the cost.

3. Enclosure - I was thinking about mounting rails to the ceiling with heavy blackout curtains for retractable side baffles and possibly another that goes across the top for something to catch balls from hitting the ceiling. Again, with trying to make this a "flex" area, I was trying to make anything that I can moveable.

4. Putting - How is putting going to work on this? With the hitting mat sitting on top of the turf, will it be a problem just putting from the hitting area of the mat and then having it roll off onto the turf?

[3on3putt]

1. Fiberbuilt is the most recommended. If the budget allows for it, go for it. You can do a Fiberbuilt hitting strip between two cheaper stance mats that will give you righty/lefty play for much cheaper than the $1,200 Fiberbuilt. I believe the hitting strips are about $250. Throw a cheaper stance mat on each side of it and you can do it all for $500.

That being said, with only 15 feet of width, you may not be able to hit from the center. You might need to have two hitting areas that are offset from center. The width of my room is about 13 feet and I hit off-centered a little. I think 15 feet is probably about the threshold for center hitting. May want to consider two off-centered hitting spots just for comfort and peace of mind.

2. Use the search tool to find some threads on 4k and whether or not it's worth it. Some pretty mixed opinions. One thing to note is that golf impact screens will not give the same image quality as a dedicated movies screen will, even with a 4k. I'm of the opinion that if you're going to invest in a 4k projector for movie reasons, you should also invest in a second projector screen that is an actual movie screen and have a way for it to retract up and down from the ceiling just in front of the impact screen so you can switch between golf and movies pretty seamlessly. Golf screens are textured to withstand the blow from a golf ball hitting it at high speeds, so they aren't quite as smooth as a regular projector screen.

3. There's no reason you can't just leave the enclosure up all the time. It's not going to be in the way of watching movies or sports.

4. Yes, you will putt from the same surface that you hit from. If you want, you can have a putting mat that extends from the hitting mat to the screen so the ball has a continuous roll on one flat surface all the way to the screen as opposed to having it drop off the hitting mat after a couple feet. I found that judging the speed of putts got a lot easier when I put down a putting mat. Some people also have a subfloor with the hitting mat built in so the surface is level all the way to the screen (and you can add putting cups this way too).

[gojoholo]

14ft deep is a bit tight. You won't have much room in there for guests or anything else.

[Shanks]

14ft deep is a bit tight. You won't have much room in there for guests or anything else.

I say 14' deep, but that's just where the turf is going to stop. The full dimensions of the room are 32' deep x 15'wide x 12' tall. I plan on putting the seating off of the turf.

[gojoholo]

Cool. That's a great space. As 3on3putt says 15ft wide is about the bare minimum for left/right hitting. With the Uneekor centred you'll have a maximum of 8ft from the ball to the wall (the wall behind you). Try swinging your driver in that space to see if it fits your swing. Probably best to try it with something not too solid standing in for the wall 😁

[Foreman33]

First - I just got my EYE XO up and running and I'm very happy with it.

1. You didn't mention Truestrike, perhaps intentionally. I just got it and I really like the hitting surface. I got the academy version with the intention of lefties and righties hitting off it. The stance mat is too small on each side to hit driver. If i had it over again I would buy the Truestrike gel insert and lay it into the floor, flat with my stance/putting surface. I'm not a big Fiberbuilt fan because the surface seems too bristle-ey to me and the ball sits up too much.

4. Currently my Truestrike sits on top of the rest of my flooring. Putting is totally fine but I will eventually build a subfloor and recess it into that. As 3on3putt said, it will be better to have one even surface. But it works fine for now.