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Hello Everyone. My name is Dave and I have a golf problem!!! Been lurking for about a year and finally decided that now was the time to begin my little project. This one is going to be kind of unique just do to the space I have...which is kind of unlimited.
Yep, I have a really big space. This is going into a barn/former auto collection museum. There are two parts to the barn. Overall, were working with 36'x100'. The front half has a ceiling that is probably 30' high but half of it has a loft with a ceiling height of probably 11-12' You can easily swing a driver . The rear half is the larger portion...I would estimate 36'x60' and a ceiling height of 15-20'. I haven't measured that. The building is fully finished, heated and cooled which is pretty awesome. Even has a full bathroom. We currently use it as a glorified man cave/cigar lounge/storage building!! If I had an unlimited budget, I could do some really cool stuff!!! Sadly, that is not the case.
So that is the good news. The bad news is I don't live in this house. It is essentially a cottage 2hrs away from our home so I'm not planning to invest in a full blown simulator. The plan is to slowly work our way to that. Looking at a starting budget of about $5k with the possibility of going to $10k if we decide to add a putting green (something like pro putt systems etc).
The second piece of bad news is this building lacks wifi. The house is across the street and the barn is about 50-60 yards from the house across a paved street. Since the building has its own electrical meter, the cable company insists we purchase an additional service package for this building, which is something I would really like to avoid. I could probably use a splitter at the pole and run wire across the street overhead but that probably isn't optimum.
So as I am plotting this out, I see the following challenges.
Wifi - Do I need it with a Skytrak (the likely choice based on current needs), or can I just run a cable to an iPad Pro and then maybe from the iPad to a projector? And if I do need it, any ideas how to wirelessly get it from the house to the barn?
High ceilings (metal in the back). I like the idea of hanging a net from a track and being able to slide it away when not using it, but that probably won't work with my high ceilings. It also poses a challenge in regards to hanging a projector. I have a ton....a TON of electrical outlets around the entire perimeter of the building, but nothing in the ceiling and it is fully finished. Access would be a huge challenge. While it would be much simpler to build this under the loft, I think I would prefer to have it in the rear of the building. I could put the hitting bay on one side and the putting green on the other, utilizing about 20' or so of the rear portion. Man, I wish I knew how to add pics. I will start reading up on that next!!!
So I'm currently leaning toward the Skytrak (w metal protector) based on costs and features and perhaps a new iPad Pro as mine is obsolete (gen 1). A nice matt like Truestrike and some astroturf. I think we want a widescreen and maybe a tad higher than the avg 8 or 9'. Not sure of the brand yet, so if you have any ideas there I would appreciate reading them. Probably need some netting on the sides as my kids are in their early 20's and bring a lot of non-golfing friends so I imagine the occasional hosel rocket. What am I missing? At this point I am looking for a driving range app. Down the road perhaps upgrading the LM and adding sim software. Baby steps!!! I did read about some sim package through Skytrak. Is it any good?
Last question. Do you need a net behind a impact screen. That seems like it would be unnecessary. I apologize in advance as I am sure I will have a LOT of other questions as this process begins. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Yep, I have a really big space. This is going into a barn/former auto collection museum. There are two parts to the barn. Overall, were working with 36'x100'. The front half has a ceiling that is probably 30' high but half of it has a loft with a ceiling height of probably 11-12' You can easily swing a driver . The rear half is the larger portion...I would estimate 36'x60' and a ceiling height of 15-20'. I haven't measured that. The building is fully finished, heated and cooled which is pretty awesome. Even has a full bathroom. We currently use it as a glorified man cave/cigar lounge/storage building!! If I had an unlimited budget, I could do some really cool stuff!!! Sadly, that is not the case.
So that is the good news. The bad news is I don't live in this house. It is essentially a cottage 2hrs away from our home so I'm not planning to invest in a full blown simulator. The plan is to slowly work our way to that. Looking at a starting budget of about $5k with the possibility of going to $10k if we decide to add a putting green (something like pro putt systems etc).
The second piece of bad news is this building lacks wifi. The house is across the street and the barn is about 50-60 yards from the house across a paved street. Since the building has its own electrical meter, the cable company insists we purchase an additional service package for this building, which is something I would really like to avoid. I could probably use a splitter at the pole and run wire across the street overhead but that probably isn't optimum.
So as I am plotting this out, I see the following challenges.
Wifi - Do I need it with a Skytrak (the likely choice based on current needs), or can I just run a cable to an iPad Pro and then maybe from the iPad to a projector? And if I do need it, any ideas how to wirelessly get it from the house to the barn?
High ceilings (metal in the back). I like the idea of hanging a net from a track and being able to slide it away when not using it, but that probably won't work with my high ceilings. It also poses a challenge in regards to hanging a projector. I have a ton....a TON of electrical outlets around the entire perimeter of the building, but nothing in the ceiling and it is fully finished. Access would be a huge challenge. While it would be much simpler to build this under the loft, I think I would prefer to have it in the rear of the building. I could put the hitting bay on one side and the putting green on the other, utilizing about 20' or so of the rear portion. Man, I wish I knew how to add pics. I will start reading up on that next!!!
So I'm currently leaning toward the Skytrak (w metal protector) based on costs and features and perhaps a new iPad Pro as mine is obsolete (gen 1). A nice matt like Truestrike and some astroturf. I think we want a widescreen and maybe a tad higher than the avg 8 or 9'. Not sure of the brand yet, so if you have any ideas there I would appreciate reading them. Probably need some netting on the sides as my kids are in their early 20's and bring a lot of non-golfing friends so I imagine the occasional hosel rocket. What am I missing? At this point I am looking for a driving range app. Down the road perhaps upgrading the LM and adding sim software. Baby steps!!! I did read about some sim package through Skytrak. Is it any good?
Last question. Do you need a net behind a impact screen. That seems like it would be unnecessary. I apologize in advance as I am sure I will have a LOT of other questions as this process begins. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
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