ProTee Golf Simulator Building in Saint Louis, Missouri

[Buckminster]

My ProTee golf simulator build is basically complete. I did not have high enough ceilings in my house and did not want to take over my garage...so I had to build a detached building for the golf simulator.

I researched all aspects of this project for over a year and learned so much during the process. Much of what I learned was from this forum and I am willing to share what I learned with anybody that has questions.

The entire simulator design was unique to this installation with the materials purchased from a wide variety of sources including eBay and Amazon. I paid professionals to do most of the building construction, but everything associated with the simulator was my baby.

The impact screen is hung from the ceiling with 3/4" conduit at top and bottom. I ran a cable from floor to ceiling on both sides of the screen to support the nets and to pull the screen left and right to remove wrinkles. I have a full net behind the screen and angled nets on both sides.

Heating and cooling are provided by a Bryant mini-split unit that can be controlled with my smart phone so that I can turn on the AC before heading out.

I installed an HD TV antenna in the attic for viewing over-the-air broadcasts on the big screen. While running the electric lines from my main house, we also ran ethernet and cable TV wires. This allowed me to extend my home network to a WiFi router in the golf building and also allows me to run video between the house and golf building.

Future enhancements to the electronics package will include Blu-Ray player, xBox, and probably a virtual reality system at some point.

Many more details in the notes associated with the pictures.

[Stackchaser]

That is just incredible. Jealous!!!!

[aja]

Yup, really nice job!

[Jwheels9876]

Awesome. Looks fantastic

[gene438]

Super nice job Buckminster, your subfloor is exactly like mine....could not see any putting cups cut in....or maybe I missed it. I like your slightly angled board at base of the screen for ball rollback....good idea. As far as you future add-ons, not sure you really need the blueray (do they still make dvd's?) but I would highly suggest the addition of a VR system. I have the HTC Vive which I love, but there are some really nice systems coming out. A really nice benefit of having a dedicated golf simulator room is that the room can double as a VR playroom with full body tracking , etc. Research into it and you will see what I mean.

Really nice setup and quality construction, I'm sure it will bring you years happiness......congrats.

[Buckminster]

Thanks Gene - Your setup was an inspiration to me. I don't remember for sure, but I probably copied the raised floor idea from you. It turns out to be exactly the height needed for the ProTee sensor mat. No cups for now, maybe a future add.

I'm getting a new 4K Ultra HD blu-ray for the main house. I normally stream movies, but my son has lots of blu-ray and DVD discs. Anyway, the old blu-ray will move out to the simulator building. I really don't plan to watch too many movies out there, but it is nice to have the option.

Thanks for the tip on VR.

[Supraracer]

Great build! Congrats.

[Fhacker]

I want one just like this ha ha. Beautiful good job. In my garage with net return pro now, hoping to move into a new house with dedicated simulator room. I am across the river from you in Illinois. I assume u will have tgc for simulator software. If so, I have searched for courses in the St. Louis area on tgc. Hard to locate and identify. If u find any good local RCR's let me know.

[Buckminster]

I have both E6 and TGC. E6 has better practice and training modes, plus right now has some nice features like shorter tees on all the courses and options for multiple tees within a foursome. My wife plays too, so this is a very nice feature.

I have not done any real searching for courses in the area.

[Fhacker]

Buckminster. I assume you like protee system. Leaning toward that if and when I have a dedicated simulator room with width for lefty/righty play. Did u install the system yourself? Based on your comments I assume so.

I have found a few local courses on tgc. As had been discussed here and elsewhere search functions for courses is really lacking on tgc. 100,000 plus courses as they advertise but trying to locate in a specific geopgraphic area is almost impossible unless the course name has some hint in it. And it doesn't appear to be improved with the new 2019 version. Must be a fear of lawsuits/royalty demands IMHO.

Given all that, I will stick to Tgc and see what unfolds.

[Buckminster]

Fhacker,

Yes, I did the complete simulator install myself (with the help of my son and wife at times). I learned many things (and stole many ideas) from forums like this one. I do like the ProTee system and it allowed me to custom design the simulator to my building.

The setup of the ProTee system has been a challenge for me. There were issues with USB camera connections, lighting, and camera adjustments. But I think I have all my issues 99.9% addressed and they are not significant problems any more.

A major issue with TGC courses is that most of them are designed for gaming systems where people can hit the ball like PGA tour professionals. Many play to well over 7,000 yards. I am closer to a bogey golfer and find courses over 6,500 yards to be too long to enjoy and it is rare to have red tees for my wife. With the ProTee system there are a couple of ways to increase distance in TGC, so it would be possible to play the longer courses I guess.

If you have TGC, then E6 is not critical. But the multiple tees on most (if not all) of the E6 courses is nice for golfers of all levels and distances.

[Fhacker]

If and when I decide on a protee I will likely seek your counsel

Yes the tgc simulator system we have is tgc1. If you want to find shorter courses u have to search for them. With tgc2 and 2019 many (I think the majority) will have multiple tee boxes which I hope can be chosen based on your ability so hopefully your family can have a "fair" round as appropriate. or in group play.

Bogey golfer also, sometimes , ha ha.

[Brettster]

Amazing build Buckminster! Congratulations - I've been planning a sim for going on 5 years, and hopefully at a point where my basement sim will be a reality soon.

I've considered an out building, over locating it in my basement, but always run into a few things - so I'm wondering what you would say about these:

1.) With the sim in the basement, you always have perfect lighting control and can darken the room to play golf any time of the day/night. In the outbuilding, you would need blackout curtains in place most of the year - I get a lot of snow and I could see that being a huge lighting problem with any windows in an outbuilding.

2.) The cost of building a basement sim is cheaper, maybe... I'm about to have multiple contractors come out and give me estimates on a basement dig - but my guess is that it will be cheaper to do that, then to build an entire outbuilding structure. What was your build costs on the work the contractors did on your building? Were there any problems during the build, did you have any limitations on where you could position the building on your property?

3.) I don't know how motivated I would be to trek out to my outbuilding on cold winter days to use my sim. When I consider walking down a flight of stairs and teeing it up, with having to walk outside, it doesn't compare. Especially when I consider my family, which I hope to get interested in playing on the simulator too (either with Golf, or another sport, Soccer). Just wondering how that will go for you this winter? If I turn my sim into a movie theater for family movie night - I cannot imagine getting the whole family suited up to head out to the building to watch a movie.

4.) The cost of heating/cooling/lighting another building on the property would be considerably higher as my entire basement is already heated/cooled and nearly completely finished so lighted. There would be no additional cost for me to heat/cool/light a simulator space in my basement, but added costs for all of those in an outbuilding. The Bryant Mini Split sounds like a great option for the outbuilding, but still an added cost for me.

Curious your thoughts on these things?

Thanks for posting the pics of your sim build - truly an awesome building!

[BGCurtis2nd]

I built my sims in my shop due to room issues, my current home does not have a basement or any other room that I could use for my golf simulator. Problem I have now is my mother-in-law passed away, and her house was twice the size of mine but I now have half of her stuff in my house along with all of my stuff and no more room, so part of her stuff had to go into my sims room. The wife and I have looked at selling our place and buying a new place, one factor we both have in mind is being able to put the golf simulator in the new house if we do, fighting the weather to use it is a big factor along with the added cost of heating and cooling. If you have the room to swing your clubs without any restrictions I say put it in the house. I know I would love to be able to walk to my simulator with out having to deal with the weather to do so.

[Buckminster]

1 - I have blackout curtains over all windows and also dark curtains left and right of the hitting area (more for blocking stray balls). It gets almost completely dark in the room.

2 - My building was in the $50,000 range. I received some bids for more than that, but was able to get most of the work done as "side jobs" during evenings and weekends. No major issues during construction.

My subdivision does not allow detached buildings unless it is a "garage", so a simple golf shed was not really an option. Once I determined that, the cost probably doubled. I did several things that were beyond the basic requirements needed for a simulator (including a storage area that is 8' x 21'). The building can be converted to a two car garage or workshop if a future owner does not golf.

A have nearly an acre plot, so was able to locate the building without coming close to property boundaries. The building is behind my house and shares a large concrete area with the rear entry garage to my house.

3 - Agree that walking outside will be a bit of a pain, but it is not far. I did not even consider digging down in my basement. I have a 60" TV in a finished basement, so that is where the family watches movies. We plan to use the golf building for hosting sports watches with friends.

4 - The mini-split is supposed to be very efficient, but I don't have a good feeling for the additional energy costs yet. I did not notice a jump, but it has not been all that long.

[BGCurtis2nd]

Very nice setup I like the way you did it.

[Rbl]

You are a true American Hero. You’ve also inspired me to aim a little higher for my upcoming build. Instead of an 11x13 room, I’m going to use the main area of my basement. Much larger.

[ProTee Max]

How awesome to see our product get such a dedicated building!