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I have been looking at this forum for some time trying to get ideas for my own simulator setup.
I would have never guessed I would become as obsessed as I have with getting this project done!
It is with a lot of ideas from this forum that I was able to get my setup complete enough to at least take pictures to share with the group.
I started out with an Optishot 2 and a hitting net. It didn't take long for me to figure out that it would not satisfy what I was going for. I went to a buddies house and he
had a Skytrak with enclosure setup. I knew that what I had would never be good enough for me so I decided to bite the bullet and go for it!
I wanted to make sure that if I invited the guys over that they would think it was cool enough to want to play and maybe make a weekly event out of it.
Without breaking the bank I went with the Skytrak and set out to build, as cheap as possible, a full setup.
Here is a breakdown of my build and the cost.
Obviously there is no getting around the Skytrak and the TGC software price...it is what it is.
After that I feel that I did pretty good overall trying to keep the cost down. It did help that I had an old projector. (I'm sure I will upgrade this eventually)
It's not bad but it isn't a short throw projector so I have to keep the lights low. This is why I have a few LED lights that help.
I didn't go with the top of the line Car's screen. I decided to settle for the preferred (middle of the road) screen. I figured if it wasn't good enough I would upgrade down the road.
So far it has worked very good for me. Because I haven't hit off a better screen maybe I don't know the difference??
I was going to keep it very clean and not have the netting on the sides but I'm too paranoid for my wife and kids to hit a crazy shot and blast the golf cart. So for lack of a better idea I made my "Noodle Trees" and filled buckets with quickrete. It doesn't look the best but they do the trick and give me peace of mind! Plus when I'm done playing I can fold them in and protect the screen.
I was going to put the enclosure up against the wall but I didn't like how the garage opener stuck out as much as it did. So I just brought it in front of the opener. It actually cleans up my
garage because the enclosure kind of acts like a partition wall.
Anyway I thought I would put this out there for anyone looking to do the same thing. If I can answer any questions or if anyone has any ideas I haven't thought of I'm open for anything.
Half of the fun was building this setup!
Now I'm looking to get our weekly league going with the guys.
I'm sure this project will never be done as I'm always looking for ways to make it better......
I would have never guessed I would become as obsessed as I have with getting this project done!
It is with a lot of ideas from this forum that I was able to get my setup complete enough to at least take pictures to share with the group.
I started out with an Optishot 2 and a hitting net. It didn't take long for me to figure out that it would not satisfy what I was going for. I went to a buddies house and he
had a Skytrak with enclosure setup. I knew that what I had would never be good enough for me so I decided to bite the bullet and go for it!
I wanted to make sure that if I invited the guys over that they would think it was cool enough to want to play and maybe make a weekly event out of it.
Without breaking the bank I went with the Skytrak and set out to build, as cheap as possible, a full setup.
Here is a breakdown of my build and the cost.
| Description | Purchased From | Price inc. Tax |
| Skytrak w/ game improvement plan | TGW | $2,090.77 |
| TGC Software | Skytrak | $795.00 |
| Ultimate Super Tee 5x5 Golf Mat | ebay | $199.99 |
| Turf was from high school field | n/a | $0.00 |
| Keyboard & Mouse | Amazon | $17.20 |
| Computer cart | Amazon | $51.99 |
| TGC Computer game for building | G2A | $16.14 |
| Projector Optima hd20 | Already had it | $0.00 |
| 8x10 Screen | Carl's | $395.20 |
| 3 8x10 nets | ebay | $134.85 |
| 1 4.5x10 net | ebay | $26.60 |
| Elbows for enclosure | A1 Tarps | $87.99 |
| 10 1' EMT | Menards | $70.09 |
| 1 1' EMT & Zip ties (100) | Menards | $9.87 |
| Black material for covering sides/top | Joann Fabrics | $26.77 |
| Lamp/buckets | Menards | $35.12 |
| Foam boarders | Atwoods | $10.70 |
| $3,968.28 |
After that I feel that I did pretty good overall trying to keep the cost down. It did help that I had an old projector. (I'm sure I will upgrade this eventually)
It's not bad but it isn't a short throw projector so I have to keep the lights low. This is why I have a few LED lights that help.
I didn't go with the top of the line Car's screen. I decided to settle for the preferred (middle of the road) screen. I figured if it wasn't good enough I would upgrade down the road.
So far it has worked very good for me. Because I haven't hit off a better screen maybe I don't know the difference??
I was going to keep it very clean and not have the netting on the sides but I'm too paranoid for my wife and kids to hit a crazy shot and blast the golf cart. So for lack of a better idea I made my "Noodle Trees" and filled buckets with quickrete. It doesn't look the best but they do the trick and give me peace of mind! Plus when I'm done playing I can fold them in and protect the screen.
I was going to put the enclosure up against the wall but I didn't like how the garage opener stuck out as much as it did. So I just brought it in front of the opener. It actually cleans up my
garage because the enclosure kind of acts like a partition wall.
Anyway I thought I would put this out there for anyone looking to do the same thing. If I can answer any questions or if anyone has any ideas I haven't thought of I'm open for anything.
Half of the fun was building this setup!
Now I'm looking to get our weekly league going with the guys.
I'm sure this project will never be done as I'm always looking for ways to make it better......
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