First Time DIY Golf Sim

[dtcbox]

I thought I'd post some details about my recently completed golf simulator here in the UK.

I used this site extensively during 2018 to research and review all of the options so I thought I'd show you all what I've installed...

I'm really happy with the results and have enjoyed quite a few rounds of golf so far. I can't fault any of the setup - the SQ Beta screen from Par2Pro is absolutely fantastic.

My original intention was to build an artificial golf green in my garden - however the weather in the North-East of Scotland hasn't been too kind in recent years - so I decided at the beginning of 2018 to install a golf sim instead and persuaded the wife to allow a log cabin to be installed in the garden.

The main elements of the simulator are:

• Par2Pro SQ Beta Custom Screen (11.5' x 8' viewable area)
• Par2Pro Impact Screen Premium Trim
• Par2Pro High Impact Blackout Drapes
• BenQ TH682ST Projector
• SkyTrak
• The Golf Club
• Huxley Golf Premier Tee Turf 2
• Thistle Artificial Grass and Underlay
• 1" steel tubes with Interclamp B34 fittings
• Custom DIY made roof curtain - made from Stage Curtain Material

The room can double up as movie theatre as I've managed to run Sky Satellite TV outside - so the kids have probably used it more than myself already.

My daughter is a leftie - so I had to install a slightly larger mat to accommodate left and right players.

[wbond]

Very nice setup. What are the overall dimensions of the building? What is on the opposite side of the room from the screen?

[Supraracer]

Very nice setup.

[tron]

Great setup! Love the log cabin look.

[Tommyseb]

I’m looking to do something similar in my garden as my current sim in the garage is rather cramped, where did you get the log cabin from?

[mthunt]

Top shelf setup.

[dtcbox]

The logcabin is 4m x 8m, about 13ft by 26ft. It was ordered via forest log cabins in Aberdeenshire www.forestlogcabins.com

The cabin manufacturer is Bertsch Holzbau and are available from dealers throughout the UK. I’d recommend another 1m wide to allow playing from the center as I have to play with about a 12inch offset. I went with 1 log extra in height to make sure I had enough room - I'm 5'8" and haven't came close to hitting anything with my driver.

The other half of the building is a seating area for the family. Works well and hope to enjoy it for years to come.

[Tommyseb]

Ah I was wondering about the height, so with the extra log what is your eaves and ridge heights?? Also what thickness logs did you go for? When you hit driver is it very loud to people outside the building?

[dtcbox]

I went with 58mm thick logs. The manufacturer can pre drill holes for all your electrical wiring when 58mm and above, so all of the wires for sockets and lights can be hidden inside the walls. I also added floor and roof insulation.

The external side height of the cabin is 2448mm (8 feet) with a ridge height of 3354mm (11 feet). You can also choose your own roof angle so can change this to meet your own requirements.

Internally after the floor and artificial grass is laid you lose about 4 inches.

[Ykaar]

Very nice setup congrats !

One question please, how have you proceed to attach your sides and top black "sheets" to your screen ?

[dtcbox]

The Par2Pro screen and side impact curtains all have Velcro sewn into the edges. The screen trim is also a Velcro material so all fit together nicely. I bought a roll of self adhesive Velcro to attach to my frame so that the trim attaches to both the frame and screen. The screen itself is just attached to the frame with bungees.

Before hanging the screen my wife and I pressed it with a steam iron, protecting it with a towel. I don't have any creases or lines at all so I'm delighted with the way it has turned out.

[Ykaar]

Thanks a lot !

Did you bought the curtains with velcro or did you add velcro or curtains by yourself ?

[dtcbox]

The side curtains purchased from Par2Pro had the Velcro already sewn in. My wife used a sewing machine to attach 2 inch wide Velcro that we bought separately for the roof curtain. We also attached Velcro to the frame. The Velcro has a self adhesive backing. This allows the trim material to be attached to both the frame and screen.

[Ukwill]

Thanks very much for the writeup Dtcbox - looks fantastic!!

A few questions, if I may?

How are you finding the TH682ST? (I have one sat waiting to be installed!)
What size is the screen in total?
What is the distance between the bungees and the EMT?
What screen size ratio are you running? (4:3?)
How much unused screen space do you have? (on the top/sides?)
What distance is your projector from your screen? (and was this trial & error to determine? - I couldnt see this projector on projectorcentral so couldnt play with the calculator)
Do you have lights on when playing or does the screen look too washed out?

Can you be specific on the material side and roof curtains - did you source it online? Is it the 300gsm cotton stuff? how you have fixed the curtains/roof lining in place along the ceiling/floor? Do you have anything behind the curtains? How do the curtains handle errant shots? Also, in the 2nd picture - what have you done around the screen?

Sorry for the barrage of questions - I also have an 8x4m garden room with a pent roof (I went with a sip panel design rather than traditional log cabing), and have just put the angle irons up in readiness to begin building out my sim, so am very interested in what you have done.

Thanks!

[Tommyseb]

Hi UKwill, where did you source the SIP panel building, and what was the rough cost if you don't mind me asking, do you have any pictures?

[Ukwill]

From here: https://www.morespace4u.co.uk

Paid under 25k. (added ensuite at extra cost, but got builder to do that when they were refurbing our house). Will post pics when golf sim is finished. Gyms already in. Would be odd to post with no golf content!

[dtcbox]

I've been happy with the BenQ projector. I bought it back in August 2018 and not had any issues so far. The images are crisp and it works well, both for the sim and for watching movies or general TV. I thought it was the only decent option balancing cost with spec. I can certainly play with lights on, although I have added blinds to the windows for when the sun shines (not that often here though in North-East Scotland 😊)

Ive been out with the tape measure tonight just to give you some details on the measurements and have checked my order with Par2Pro hopefully I can answer most of your queries:

The screen itself has a maximum viewable area of 11 ft 6 wide by 8 ft high. There's a 2 inch border in addition to this along the top and sides. The border contains the grommets and Velcro. There is also a 1.5 inch hemmed pocket along the bottom to allow a weight to be inserted.

When I discussed the spec with Par2Pro they asked me to measure the distances of the outer frame and inner frame. These are:

Outer Width: 12ft 1/16 inch (3685mm)
inner Width: 11ft 10 1/16 inch (3609mm)

Outer Height: 8ft 5 inch
Inner Height: 8ft 3 1/2 inch

The screen itself when mounted is therefore flush to the EMT frame, there's no gap whatsoever. I've used 6 inch ball bungees to attach the screen to the frame.

For the projector I'm using 16:10 aspect ratio, gives the image a bit more height and allows me to use the full width of the screen. Ive also used a small amount of vertical keystone adjustment, allowing the projector to be mounted higher than the top of the screen. The projector is mounted 9ft 3 from the frame. I used the BenQ calculator from their website to find the approximate location, but then used some trial and error to get the best position. The projector has a small amount of focal zoom so you can tweak It within 6 inches or so.

For the side curtains they were sourced along with the screen from Par2Pro. They call it Super High Impact Mesh Blackout drapes. They have grommets for hanging and 1 edge has Velcro for attaching to the screen trim. They are very heavy so Ive not put anything behind them other than some roller blinds for the windows. Ive not done anything to attach them to the floor either. I bought some heavy duty curtain track to hang them.

The roof curtain material was sourced from online-fabrics.co.uk and was called 3 meter molton NDFR. I bought a roll 5m long costing about £75. Again the wife's sewing machine came in handy and we created a folded hem every 3ft or so (4 in total) We then used net curtain wire from B&Q and fed this through the hem, attaching the wire to hooks that I inserted into the roof beams of the cabin.

In terms of my viewable area, as mentioned Ive used the maximum width of the screen, so 11ft 6. At 16:10 this works out to be 7ft 2 1/4 high. I bought 18inch high screen trim from Par2Pro to cover all of the white space along the top. The reason I did this was to give me plenty of height for wedge shots. I decided to try to maximise the height as best as I could so ended up going slightly higher than the side of the cabin. I just used a connector from interclamp to support the short angled section of the frame and simply folded over the screen at the top corners, I've attached some more photos to show this.

hope that helps
dtcbox

[Ukwill]

Thank you very much for your detailed response. I’ll read it fully tomorrow!

[dtcbox]

It's now a year since I installed my sim. Thought I'd give an update on how successful (or not) it's been...

I played on the TGC tour during last winter, played about 15-20 events and thoroughly enjoyed it, I also upgraded to TGC2019. However come late spring / summer encountered a few issues:

1. The laser curtain on the SkyTrak failed after 6 months...returned it for repair under warranty. As I'm in Scotland It took 6-7 weeks to come back from the USA. SkyTrak provided a loan unit.

2. My BenQ projector failed after 9 months...with white vertical lines appearing throughout the image, repaired under warranty.

3. My new MSI laptop with RTX2080 graphics card failed after 4 months...again repaired under warranty.


So a bit of a mixed bag for 2019 so far, but looking forward to playing on tour again this coming winter. I love the setup in general, the Par2Pro screen is first class. Fingers crossed nothing else breaks.

[Jtangm04]

No offense but please never come close to any of my electronics.

[wbond]

Wow, quite unlucky, at least they were all covered under warranty. Shouldn’t really be anything left to fail at this point.

It's now a year since I installed my sim. Thought I'd give an update on how successful (or not) it's been...

I played on the TGC tour during last winter, played about 15-20 events and thoroughly enjoyed it, I also upgraded to TGC2019. However come late spring / summer encountered a few issues:

1. The laser curtain on the SkyTrak failed after 6 months...returned it for repair under warranty. As I'm in Scotland It took 6-7 weeks to come back from the USA. SkyTrak provided a loan unit.

2. My BenQ projector failed after 9 months...with white vertical lines appearing throughout the image, repaired under warranty.

3. My new MSI laptop with RTX2080 graphics card failed after 4 months...again repaired under warranty.


So a bit of a mixed bag for 2019 so far, but looking forward to playing on tour again this coming winter. I love the setup in general, the Par2Pro screen is first class. Fingers crossed nothing else breaks.