My Build 3.0 - Maybe the final one???

[gene438]

Well, I have been at this for a couple of years now and I thought I would try to put everything in one place. I've had a lot of questions, some discussions, some failures and some success...so here is my current setup. I'll start with the pics and then try to give as much detail as it can.








OK, now some stats:

1)Room is 22 x 25
2)Screen is 17 x 10
3)Protee System
4)Screen direct from mfg. (Ordered with all guys on this forum), tied with bungee cords and tarp clips. I have emt frame bolted to ceiling/floor. Behind the screen are thick moving blankets and a canvas tarp. I get zero bounce. You will notice that there is 1.5 feet trough between screen and putting surface. All balls hit screen and collect in this area.
5)Optima 1080 projector
6) Synlawn turf
7)Putting green is 15 x 22. Turf comes in 15ft width some made the most sense so as to not have any seams.
8)The subfloor system is 3/4 in plywood on top of 2 x 4's laying on their side. Then 1/4 carpet padding then the 1/2 synlawn turf. This comes out to about 2 3/4 which matches up with protee mat
I purposely overdid the 2x4's plus I stuffed with insulation to kill any noise when walking. Results were great...solid floor, no noise, feels great.
9)Electronics (computer, projector, sound system, protee mat, lights, etc) are all controlled by Google Home. Simply go in and say "Hey Google, start the golf simulator" and everything comes on.
10) Added wood flooring in viewing area and I have one row of 3 theater style seats with recliners on order.
11)Frame around the screen is simply heavy black curtains.
12)5 holes on putting green and I think my longest put is about 20 feet.
13)My protee mat is about 9.5 feet from screen. This is the same as the projector...so, my projector is basically over my head right next to the light for the protee. Works great, no issues.
14)Yes, the original protee mat has been replaced with one made by The Simulator Guys. Great mat, tighter turf which gives better feedback than the fiberbuilt and luckily matches my putting green.

That's the basics.....also wanted to share that I think this has been a great investment. My family uses the room for various functions:

1)Me - Golf
2)Kids - HTC Vive or Virtual Reality Room
3)Wife - Loves watching her exercise videos on the big screen and having all that open space on the putting green to workout.
4)Family - Movie theater
5)Added karaoke system - Don't ask.

The above is my attempt to help you justify the costs....just do it, you'll be glad you did,

OK, I tried to cover as much as I could think of.....any questions, just let me know.

Gene

[lpott6]

Thanks....first, I way overbuilt mine with the 2 x 4’s but I wanted mine solid .... I did not put anything underneath... I layed the boards wide side down which gave me the right height. I stuffed around the boards with regular insulation. Then I nailed down the 3/4 plywood and sealed the seams and other rough spots with caulk...I did not want any lines or bumps coming through....The turf I bought had a 1/8 foam padding which turned out to be perfect.... if yours does not, you might consider carpet padding ......

Hi Gene, Love your build and I am going to emulate it in mine. Can you elaborate on the 2 x 4 spacing for your sub-floor? How far apart are they? I plan insulate it and use a tongue and groove sub-floor for the platform. Thanks for sharing.

[gene438]

I spaced mine out about 18 inches

[lpott6]

Been away for the holiday.
Thanks for the info Gene. If the stars line up, I will start construction in about 2 weeks. I will start a thread and post pics of the build.

[boozcruz33]

4)Screen direct from mfg. (Ordered with all guys on this forum), tied with bungee cords and tarp clips. I have emt frame bolted to ceiling/floor. Behind the screen are thick moving blankets and a canvas tarp. I get zero bounce. You will notice that there is 1.5 feet trough between screen and putting surface. All balls hit screen and collect in this area.
Gene

gene438 - Thanks for all of the great information! Can you elaborate a little bit about how and why the EMT was bolted to the ceiling and floor? Does the EMT effectively touch the ceiling so you are just using regular pipe straps, did you use conduit hangers, or something else? I am building a 16:9 EMT enclosure that is about 14’ wide, but it is only 13” deep. I am worried that it will be able to tip forward if I don’t secure it to the ceiling or the wall behind it and am trying to find the best option. Thanks!

[gene438]

Yes, I used 4 foot pads. As far as the top, the emt is right up against my ceiling and the bungies secure the screen. I call it "fairly tight" but there is about 4 inches between the top of screen and the emt....yes a ball can and does go through that. To reduce, I use black carpet tiles as baffles. I staple one end of carpet to the ceiling and then let the carpet tile kind of bend and tuck into the screen. Imagine one end fixed on the ceiling and then bend the tile like a recerse "C" so that the other end nestles against the screen. Now when a ball hits the tile, I would say 8 out of ten times the tile is ok,,,,,2 out of 10 times it might "pop" out from the screen and I have to put it back....It's much easier and simplier than I can explain....but I hope that makes sense.

[tonybrown32]

gene438 Awesome thanks! Really appreciate your responses and providing all this info for so long! I refer back to this entire post often! Your build has a number of similarities to my plans.. I plan to use a few rows of carpet tiles or strips as baffles as well in front of the screen..

I also plan to remove my horizontal ceiling garage tracks, and leave the door and vertical tracks in place... much cheaper than a lift kit and side mount opener, since I wont be using the door anymore anyway. It looks like the entire curved section of track and ceiling rail is one piece I can remove and store.. but that will leave the top garage door panel wheels hanging without any track to keep it in place since they currently rest just inside the curve when closed. I just need to figure out the cheapest way to keep the top section of garage door in place.. any advice there?

[gene438]

Yeah, i had the same issue, I actually kept the part of the track that is at top and starts the bend specifically so that the wheels in the top door panels would still be in the track. It curves out about 8 inches but is hidden by my side curtains.

[BlakeB]

Gene, What was the purpose of the 2x4 sub flooring? Do you think you would have the same affect if you would have gone with just the 3/4 plywood? I also saw you purchased a mat from The Simulator Guys. Which one did you purchase? I saw elsewhere you were using a gelpad. Are you using this with Synlawn turf Classic Putt on top of the gelpad to hit irons off of? What is the current stance/ hitting mat setup? Thank you for all your input on this forum. It is greatly appreciated!

[BlakeB]

Good stuff. Thanks for the info Gene!

[bbasse]

gene438 Do your inserts stay still by themselves? or do you use some sort of adhesive etc to keep them in place?

[gene438]

bbasse, the inserts stay in place without glueing it's a very tight fit and I have to press them down pretty hard to get them flush but then they stay there.

[jflo26]

Gene, love your build. You gave me a lot of ideas for mine. I'm also using my garage which is just a bit smaller than yours. Question about your turf. How was it installed? Did you just glue it down, use staples or another method? Thanks.

[gene438]

Believe it or not, but the turf is so heavy that once you roll it out you do not need to glue or staple it. I actually stapled the right side thinking I would do it all but once you roll it out, it lays great by itself.....

[Dax]

Gene, love your build. You gave me a lot of ideas for mine. I'm also using my garage which is just a bit smaller than yours. Question about your turf. How was it installed? Did you just glue it down, use staples or another method? Thanks.

Considered using double sided carpet tape.

[Aaijala]

Gene- thanks for all the great posts and videos. I’m new to this since March lockdown and I am in the middle of a SIM garage build. Just had my garage door openers changed to side mount at the top of my 10.5 ceiling so finally have clearance for driver but I have a much narrower space due to pool filter and heater in one garage bay. If it’s not too much trouble I have a couple questions:
1- I am interested in using the Synlawn Classic Putt Turf you used but will not have a subfloor- do you think some padding underneath would be sufficient? I currently have a CCE hitting mat I may just use on top.
2- I started with a Skytrak and it is working fine for practice and some course play but have been looking at upgrading to QED or EYEXO from Uneekor(We use GC2 at our indoor instructor in NYC but their pricing and subpar software turns me off for home). Are you happy with QED? Are you thinking of EYEXO? If you were buying now which would you pick?
3- I really want a two camera swing analysis built in to the launch monitor setup. I have a jury rigged HUDL setup with iPads and two video screens now and it is too clunky. How do you find swing analysis with QED?
4- I am on a trial with E6 connect now- but TGC looks great in your videos. They don’t offer a free trial as far as I can tell. Do you have thoughts on E6 vs TGC?

Thanks for any thoughts you can provide.