Starting my build, would love your thoughts/feedback!

[Marshbank7]

Ok y'all...I've been lurking & learning in this forum for a couple months now, and think I have a fairly-finalized plan that I will start working on December 21st (we move into our new house). However, I'd love the thoughts/advice/experience of this group so hopefully I can avoid a little of the "error" in trial and error, and end up with a great setup.

Ok, so here's the plan....

The Room: A bonus room on the 2nd floor that's 15'10" deep x 14'9" wide x 10' high

Launch Monitor - Already ordered the Uneekor QED Ignite package, which should be delivered next week.

Sim Software - Will use TGC19 for almost all of my simulation needs (course play, practice, etc.), and can still use Ignite for "club fitting."

Computer - Already bought an iBUYPOWER - Gaming Desktop - Intel Core i7-8700 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA RTX 2070 8GB - 1TB SSD - Black/Gray

Monitor - Already bought a Dell - 27" LED QHD G-SYNC Monitor - Black

Projector - I am thinking the Optoma GT1080HDR is a good option, but I am a little confused on aspect ratio and resolution. I want a 16:10 image, but unsure what would give me the best resolution; Would I be better off going with a native 16:10 projector (1280x800 WXGA), or could I get higher resolution using a native 16:9 (1920x1080 HD) and "forcing" it to 16:10? I think the answer is the 16:9 since I could still use all of the vertical pixels, but not sure if that's how it actually works. I will need a short throw projector and unfortunately the WUXGA projectors seem out of my price range. I've also seen lots of mention of getting a projector with optical zoom, but I haven't been able to find one within my parameters (Under $1500, throw ratio of .45-.55, 3000+ lumens, good quality). Projector position will ideally be 6.5-7' away from the screen (more on hitting & lighting position below).

Impact Screen - A 7'7" x 12' Finished Carl's Premium Impact Screen (Viewable Dimensions: 7'2" x 11'7", Diagonal: 163") There is a cut-in for the roof in the top right corner that doesn't allow me to utilize the full 10' x 14'9" area. I probably have a maximum of 8' x 12' that I can use.

Frame - Planning to use 1" EMT sitting ~6" away from the wall. I know it's recommended to have the screen 12" from the wall, but I am really trying to maximize the space since I only have 15'10" in total depth. Would appreciate any thoughts here as well, but I am planning to hang a blanket and/or a net behind the screen, and, if needed, secure 2" or 3" memory foam mattress toppers to plywood, which I would then attach the the wall. Has anyone gotten away with 6" or less between the impact screen and the wall? If so, how'd you do it and how is it working out?

Wall & Ceiling Padding - I am trying to go with a clean look (have seen some of the simulators on here without an enclosure and absolutely love that look), so will use some sort of padding on the walls & ceiling. I thought black, finished memory foam padding/tiles would be easy to find, but turns out they're not. I could use mattress toppers again, but haven't been able to find any in black (or navy blue as that's the paint color of the room), so would have to cover those in something. The other option would be to have custom foam pads from akathletics.com, but that will get a little pricey. I've also considered acoustic foam (seems too bouncy) and upholstery foam (also sounds too firm/bouncy). Anyone have any suggestions for reasonably priced foam/gel padding that does a good job absorbing the impact of a golf ball?

Flooring - I am planning to take out the carpet/carpet padding and cover the whole floor with 1" Interlocking EVA Foam Tiles and then cover the foam tiles with STI NP50 turf. The foam tiles + the NP50 will give me about 1.5" to cut out holes for putting, or hitting inserts. Hopefully it provides a little noise insulation as well.

Hitting Insert - To start with, I am going to cut a 12" x 18" area out of the EVA foam tiles to drop in the Ultragel Gel Pad, and then probably use 3/8" EVA foam to bring it flush with the surrounding foam (1"). This will allow me to hit off completely intact NP50. If I don't like it I can always cut the NP50 and drop in a 1.5" hitting insert. Any thoughts on putting the 3/8" foam under or on top of the Gel, or using a different material all together?

Hitting Position - With only 15'10" depth to work with (and at least 6" less once the screen is up), I will more or less need to be in the center of the room (~7.5' from the screen and ~7.5' from the back wall). If I drop the 18" long gel pad right in the center that will allow me the ability to move my position up or back a bit depending on the club I am hitting. Also, considering I only have 14'9" of width, I will likely have the left edge of the gel pad (when facing the screen) line up with the center of the room so that I can move forward up to 12" with longer clubs to avoid hitting the wall behind me (I am a right-hander). Does that sound right to anyone with similarly limited dimensions?

Lighting - Planning to have an electrician come over and install a light(s) directly above the hitting area (at roughly 7.5-7' from the screen), and then lights right in front of the screen that are separately controlled and dimable so I can have those on when I'm just practicing putting (plan is to cut two holes for putting on each side of the room near the screen), and off when I'm using the sim. Any recommendations on lighting above the hitting area that gives a good amount of light around the hitting area, without spilling over onto the projection screen?

I know this is a lot to read through, so appreciate anyone who is still with me! Also, I am hoping this can be helpful for others, so if there is any interest, I can post progress pics/updates along the way.

Best,

Chris

[gene438]

I like your plan, it seems you have really done your homework. You may have this planned but I didn't see the items below:

1)When electrician comes over, make sure he puts in power on ceiling for projector and for uneekor unit. Also think about how you will run ethernet from Uneekor to PC
2)I would not worry about hitting from 7.5 ft., I would plan on using 1 or 2 heavy moving blankets behind your screen. This will deaden the ball and help with noise.
3)For your overhead light, you will want to use a halogen light with a "Spot" bulb...do not get "Flood". I think your idea of a light right in front of the screen is overkill and you will never use it...but it won't hurt anything putting it in....but the light from the hitting area will be enough for you to putt.
4)I like your floor idea...only problem will be finding putting cups to use. Most are 5 to 6 inches deep, so, you will need to find some that you can cut down.
5)You will love the Uneekor.
6)For wall protection, you can spend a fortune if not careful. You can look at some of the foam tiles they use for sound proofing like these: https://www.amazon.com/Soundproofing...=9864874910801

or carpet tiles like these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Foss-Pre...16PK/304679079


Good luck with the build....send us some pics as you build....

[Marshbank7]

Gene, thanks for taking the time to read and respond! As I know others have told you the same, your build served as a lot of the inspiration for the plan above. A couple of follow-up questions:

I had thought about putting power in the ceiling for the Uneekor/Projector, but then thought if I am running Ethernet and HDMI cords to the computer, I might as well also run an extension cord (could attach a powerstrip behind the Uneekor and plug in there). My current plan would be just to neatly run the cords along the ceiling and down the wall to the computer/power outlet. I cant remember, do you have your HDMI & Ethernet running through the ceiling/wall?

Do you think two heavy moving blankets behind the screen will provide enough backing/support to stop the ball within 6 inches (and avoid hitting the drywall behind the screen)? I have a couple buddies who can get ball speeds up in the 160s.

I really like everything about the sound proofing tiles, but my fear was that they would bounce the ball back at me if they are hit. Do you think they would deaded the ball enough as to not sending if flying back, as well as not penetrate through and damage the drywall?

Also really appreciate the advice on the lighting...had no idea where to start to will look into halogen spot bulbs.

Best,

Chris

[gene438]

No problem, I am lucky in that I have a full attic above my sim room, so, running cables is easy for me. You can certainly do it your way...my thought was that with a new house and the fact that you were going to have an electrician out there already, it's much cheaper to add the additional drops while he is out there.

I'm about 50/50 on whether 2 heavy blankets will be enough...I would start with that and you will just have to test it. Worst case scenario is that you screw in a heavy mattress cover to your back wall to protect it.

I cannot speak about the soundproofiing foam tiles....I do use the carpet tiles to surround my screen.

Don't worry, you'll figure it out....lol, I learned very quickly how to spackle & paste drywall...no telling how many holes I have patched the first year I had my setup.....

[Marshbank7]

I'd much rather have no cables/cords showing so will ask the electrician about it when he's out there tomorrow. And yes, I'm sure I will be a drywall repair expert in no time!

[JeffW]

I also bought Carl's Premium Screen. Mine is mounted 8" from the back drywall. I've used for over a year and I only have 2 holes in the drywall back there (and I'l hit 10,000 balls down there easy). I also have nothing mounted behind the screen but am thinking maybe a single cargo mat down the road. When you hang your Carl's mat make sure you have the correct side facing you. after I had hung mine I noticed a small piece of paper on the floor that noted there was a front and back. I thought i had a 50/50 chance I got it right. I didn't. And just so you know, the grommets on the other end of the screen aren't spaced the same as the other so I had to redrill all the holes again. I hung mine from the ceiling, Had a 2x4 mounted firmly to the ceiling and then used large J hooks to hand the screen. It's worked out well. Then used metal L-brackets on the side and tether it to the screen with the black small bungee cords I bought from Carl's as well. Good luck

[BlakeB]

Marshbank7 any developments or changes to your setup? I am in a similar situation and am about to pull the trigger. I'm interested to see pics or hear of what you decided to go with re: Wall and ceiling padding, flooring, and hitting insert. I have found yours and Gene's setups very beneficial. Thank you for posting!

[Marshbank7]

I've only made a couple of changes at this point:

1. Went with a 16:9 aspect ratio - I wanted to maximize the width of the screen, and figured it would just be a more compatable ratio
2. Because of the frame design, and size of the fittings, I had to go 12" out from the wall. At least this way I wont have to worry about balls making it to the wall...

I haven't made as much progress as I would have liked, but did get the frame up this weekend. Also had the lighting installed, and went with Gene's recommendation of outlets in the ceiling and running the HDMI & ethernet cables into the attic.

I'm planning to spend a lot of time this week working on it - my new goal is to have a fully functioning simulator by the end of this weekend. I'll post more pics.

I still don't have an exact plan for the wall & ceiling padding though.

[gene438]

Looking good!!!!

[BlakeB]

Nice work on the framing. Looks cool. Can't wait to see the finished product. I'm sure it'll be great. Thanks again for all your research.

[Marshbank7]

Still some work left to do, but made a lot of progress over the past few days. I finished the subflooring (EVA foam tiles) with a cutout for the gel insert, and got the turf in the house. I also got the Uneekor Ignite software installed, and have TGC 2019 downloaded and installed. Technically, I have a fully functional simulator, but I'm still not really using it...

As you can see, I hung the screen pretty tight. The bounce back was more than I'd like, but wasn't bad because I hung some heavy moving blankets behind the screen (I tried to post that image but for some reasons it was too large?). So, as I was testing out the Uneekor I started to notice faint black streaks were being left on the screen due to the impact of the ball. At first I thought it was the Uneekor balls (which are terrible by the way), but remembered the moving blankets behind the screen were black. I am not 100% certain, but it looks like the marks are because of the blankets. Behind the screen there is more of a black "spread" from the blanket that's probably bleeding through to the front of the screen. Needless to say, I took them down. Unfortunately, without them, the bounce back is bad. I am leaning towards getting some netting so would appreciate any recommendations there (or non-netting recommendations that work well for you). I've also ordered some longer bungees to reduce the tension so that will help too. The bounce back with some lingering concern about the possibility the balls are marking the screen are the main reasons I'm not really using it yet. I've also ordered some stickers to put on my normal balls.

The second reasons is, as you can see, I still don't have padding around the screen and on the walls/ceiling. I really shouldn't be missing a screen this big, but just the possibility of the occasional shank kept me from swinging hard/freely.

As for the subfloor,

I really like the foam tiles underneath the turf, but because I ordered so many it looks like I got some from different batches, and the quality control of these things isn't great. There are some slightly uneven transitions between tiles that you can feel if you walk over them, but don't seem to affect the role of the ball. Its really not a big deal but kind of frustrating as I was hoping for a very smooth surface. The gel pad underneath the turf seems to feel fine, but I have nothing to compare it to. Also, nothing feels good when you're hitting the Uneekor balls.

Lastly, I had a slight hiccup setting up the Uneekor as the cat 6 cable didn't work. No way to tell if it arrived broken or if it broke as I was running it through the attic/walls. I was able to run to Home Depot and grab a new 50ft cable to get it up and running. Now I just have to run that through the attic/wall. In any event, best to test your cables before running them through walls...

I think that covers it for now. Next steps are to get something for behind the screen and get padding up. I'll also need some sort of sliding curtain to protect the window on the right of the room. Once I do that I will really start using this thing.

[Jodymac77]

Is your putting turf attached to the subfloor or does it just lay freely?

[Marshbank7]

Just lays freely. No need to attach a piece of turf that size/weight.