New Simulator Build

[Jswalla11]

Hi All,
I am in the beginning stages of researching a golf simulator build for my basement and I am thrilled I found this forum.
I would like to get “out the door” for less than $20,000.00. I looked into the Foresight "Sim In a Box" but think I may be better off buying items a la carte.
I have attached a few photos of the basement. Room dimensions below:

• Width: 12’ 3” (147”)
• Length: 17’ 3.5” (207.5”)
• Height: 8’ 9” (105”)

The purpose of the room is more for practice and entertaining guests. The next challenge – I am a lefty and would prefer a simulator that I do not have to move when playing with right handed golfers (which the foresight would require (I believe)).
Below is a rough combination of what I had in mind..

• Simulator/Launch Monitor --- TBD??
• Screen: Carl’s Place Golf Enclosure with Impact Screen (8.5 x 11) – Frame Dimensions: 139.1 x 107 --- About $3,000.00 --- Can these frames be cut down at all?
• Ceiling Mount Monitor – TBD – About $1,000.00
• Computer – TBD --- About $1,000,00
• Mats --- TBD --- Price: TBD
• Am I missing anything??

As I mentioned, I am totally new to this and not set on any of the items above.. Any recommendations, brands, vendors etc… would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks a lot!

[3on3putt]

1.) Since you have a narrow room, you won't be able to have righties and lefties hit from the same spot. You'll need to have one hitting spot on the left side for lefties and another on the right for righties. I would think that an overhead launch monitor might work best for that. The Mevo+ (which goes behind you) is popular for righty / lefty situations and has a range of like 18 inches I think, but your hitting spots might have to be separated by more than that. Plus you have a higher budget to go for something bigger. I'm no expert in overhead units so I'll defer that to someone who is.

2.) Where are you seeing 3 grand for a screen and enclosure? Carls sells enclosure setups for less than a grand that even include screens. https://www.carlofet.com/shop/golf-s...%288.5x11.5%29

3.) When you say "ceiling mount monitor" do you mean a projector? If so, then $1,000 is in the right neighborhood but will likely cost you less. You have the budget to go 4k though.

4.) $1,000 for a good gaming computer is in the right neighborhood (maybe a little more for 4k).

5.) Hitting mat -- expect to spend a few hundred bucks. With your budget you can lean toward something on the higher end like a Fiberbuilt.

6.) As far as sim software, a lifetime subscription to TGC19 is $900 (varies a little bit by launch monitor). E6 is also popular. Not every sim software is supported by every launch monitor system so your software options will depend a little bit on which launch monitor you go with.

7.) Your ceilings are a bit low. Have you tried swinging a driver down there yet?

[Foreman33]

Welcome!

1) Screen/Enclosure: I agree with 3on3putt, don't spend 3k on a screen/enclosure. You can get a Carl's premium screen with enclosure for ~$1200. They can customize it for you if you want to "cut down" the size some. https://www.carlofet.com/shop/golf-s...%288.5x11.5%29

2) Launch monitor: This may be your biggest challenge due to your room width. I don't know of anything you'll be able to use that you won't have to move for righties/lefties, but I don't know much about Mevo+ and Skytrack. I'm a big fan of Uneekor but I don't think that'll work since your room isn't wide enough for a middle hitting spot (hitting area is too small on Uneekor for you).

3) Hitting mat: I think you have it in your budget to do a subfloor (foam mats or plywood) with putting surface. I'd recommend doing this with a hitting insert. You can do it for the same cost as a higher end all-in-one stance mat and hitting surface. Then you get a flat surface that's better for putting and the same hitting surface. Your ceiling height may be a limiting factor in this, though. The most popular hitting surfaces are Fiberbuilt, Quattro, Divot Action, CCE (many claim hard on joints), and Truestrike.

4) I assume you mean ceiling mount projector, not monitor? $1000-$1500 is very doable. There are some 4k projectors at the high end of that range but they may require a better computer. Use www.projectorcentral.com to filter for projectors that fit your space.

5) Software: I'm a big fan of TGC 2019. Thousands of courses, reasonable cost and no subscription fee. I've never used E6.

Good luck!

[linkkingx]

The left/right thing is your biggest hurdle here since your room is a little too narrow for a centered hitting position. I've seen setups using two GC2's, one for left and one for right. I know it works with FSX, but I'm not sure how it would work with other software. You can hunt around and find used ones for around $4500-$5000 each, but it can take some time to find them. The other option would be to get them through foresight for a little more and you'll be forced to buy the FSX software for $3K. You could also just go with one GC2 or GCQuad and just move it back and forth. If you have the spots on the floor clearly marked it might not be too bad. I've also seen people with a Mevo+ set up on a slide rail so it can be moved back and forth easily. I think the GC Hawk has left and right hitting positions that sort of meet in the middle so that might be an option too depending on the detection area.

[Foreman33]

GC Hawk may be your best option but it'll blow your budget. Click the link and scroll down a bit and you can see dimensions for left and right hitting areas.

https://www.foresightsports.com/gchawk-guide

[Sixmudd]

Hi All,
I am in the beginning stages of researching a golf simulator build for my basement and I am thrilled I found this forum.
I would like to get “out the door” for less than $20,000.00. I looked into the Foresight "Sim In a Box" but think I may be better off buying items a la carte.
I have attached a few photos of the basement. Room dimensions below:

• Width: 12’ 3” (147”)
• Length: 17’ 3.5” (207.5”)
• Height: 8’ 9” (105”)

The purpose of the room is more for practice and entertaining guests. The next challenge – I am a lefty and would prefer a simulator that I do not have to move when playing with right handed golfers (which the foresight would require (I believe)).
Below is a rough combination of what I had in mind..

• Simulator/Launch Monitor --- TBD??
• Screen: Carl’s Place Golf Enclosure with Impact Screen (8.5 x 11) – Frame Dimensions: 139.1 x 107 --- About $3,000.00 --- Can these frames be cut down at all?
• Ceiling Mount Monitor – TBD – About $1,000.00
• Computer – TBD --- About $1,000,00
• Mats --- TBD --- Price: TBD
• Am I missing anything??

As I mentioned, I am totally new to this and not set on any of the items above.. Any recommendations, brands, vendors etc… would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks a lot!

Also, fwiw, if you do go with Carl’s enclosure, it won’t come with the emt/conduit to set the screen enclosure on. You will need to get that at hardware store that sells it, and get the sizes cut as needed. I am not really sure how much that would add. Maybe it’s included in your $3k estimate? Better to estimate higher vs. lower I guess. If you’d rather not deal with going here and there for enclosure parts, then there are places that sell full enclosure kits that have everything you need

[Foreman33]

I think the EMT for my 13x8.5x5 enclosure was ~$150. I used a sawzall to cut it. Easy if your modestly handy. All-in cost for Carl's premium screen enclosure was around $1500. I'd buy it again.

[jasonreg]

GC Hawk may be your best option but it'll blow your budget. Click the link and scroll down a bit and you can see dimensions for left and right hitting areas.

https://www.foresightsports.com/gchawk-guide

I looked closely at the Hawk when I was going to use a single bay garage and offset hitting positions. The hitting area is offset Left and Right but it is really limited to how far you can go (and yes - crazy expensive). Take a close look at the hitting diagrams if you go this route.

[Treyc321]

The EyeXO hitting area is 12” wide, QED is 18”. Depending on what your swing looks like you may be able to get away with either. Figure hit 6.5’ from the wall which puts the hitting are right in the middle for the XO. If it is too close to the wall you basically have 1/2 a foot more to move over. QED obviously gives you more leeway but you need marked balls for all the analysis.

[brymerica]

I have a somewhat similar space in width and height, although have more room in the length.

You can definitely get out the door for far less than your budget, so depends if you want to save money and do it for <10k or spend more on a better launch monitor.

Enclosure: Carl's - can get the 8.5 x 11 in the DIY version (10 x 10foot EMT costs around $100). The premium screen and side netting will run around 1300 from Carl's (plus the extra 100 for EMT) - total around 1500 max.

Projector - lots of options that are good on this forum.

Sim/Launch monitor - if you have a budget that high, can go with some of the suggestions above. Cheapest option would probably be mevo+ given that you have just enough space (8-9 feet to screen, 8 feet to mevo+. May need to move it though for righty v lefty.

Post photos of what you end up building.