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After a few months of taking my garage from studs to full blown man cave/sim room/ theater room/ workspace, I'm finally playing golf. Thanks to everyone on here who continues to contribute and answer questions. I'm not going to type a novel here, but I have a couple notes after playing for a month. My garage is 20x20 and has 11' ceilings. There is a steel beam running right down the center, parallel with the garage door, that hangs about 16" down.
-Had to start by having the garage door replaced, the tracks lifted to 10', and a Liftmaster 8500 put in. If you're doing this in a garage, and your tracks are 8'-9', this is a no-brainer. It's amazing what this did for the room. After that, I planned everything out, ran the electric, put in the speakers, finished the drywall, redid the stairs and painted. This took me a few weeks due to weather in the Northeast. Then I installed the Proslat wall and new cabinets to keep everything organized and out of the way. Now it's time for the fun part...
-Originally my plan was to get a Skytrak, but I ended up going with Uneekor. Everything I read about Skytrak was positive, but I saw a lot of guys who were looking to upgrade. I figured I'd just go to the next level first and I think that was a good move. However, I went with the Ignite package, and I think it's missing a few things. I'm not a big fan of the Ignite driving range, which is all you get for $6000. It looks like you're hitting into the side of a hill and doesn't show your previous shot tracers. There's no green to hit into or even a target. Apparently, you have to pay an extra $1000 to have a driving range with a target and tracers, which is ridiculous. I chose Uneekor because I have friends and family who are lefty's, but if I didn't, I would probably go with GC2. The camera function with Uneekor is really cool and definitely beneficial, but you can't see it when playing courses. Also, the balls suck, which I'll touch on below. I was also told the balls last 200 shots before they have to be replaced, which I think is absurd.
-I bought the screen and side netting from Par2Pro. It's 14'x9'. Anything bigger would have been too big. Their service is pretty good and it shipped within a month. Shane did a great job helping me with dimensions. I ended up going with the Stealth screen so I could roll it up and down and still use my garage. It's pretty badass to be honest. My only complaint here is that I've had the screen for a month and it's completely covered in black marks from the Uneekor balls. See the picture below. I'm not sure if that's a ball issue or a screen issue. Either way, Par2Pro told me to take it to the dry-cleaner. I'm sure that won't be cheap and I'll have to do it every month, if it even works. After seeing this and being told to take it to a drycleaner, I'd probably look elsewhere for a screen. For $4k, you can definitely find a better deal and not have to dry-clean it every month.
-Shane also told me to go with E6 instead of TGC2019, which was my original plan. It was probably the right call, but it's twice as much. With Uneekor you get 27 courses and no-online play for $2500 retail ($2000 through Par2Pro). You have to pay $300/year extra for online or $600/year extra to get unlock the premium courses. Once again, super expensive compared to TGC2019. I haven't played TGC2019, so I can't give you a comparison, but I'd be curious to hear what you guys think. E6 also has a much better driving range, short chip and putting, as well as a few cool games you can play. The problem is that you can'r see the camera while in E6, so it defeats the purpose of having the Uneekor.
-My projector is a Pansonic PT-VZ580U. Love it, recommend it. Super bright. I play a lot with the garage door open and it's certainly harder to see, but we can still manage. It's not really a short throw though, mine is mounted 17' away from the screen.
-My computer is an Alienware Aurora R8. My 13 year old actually had this for gaming, so I traded him my Mackbook and told him he could play xbox out on the 14' screen. Graphics are incredible on this thing.
-Turf is from SynLawn. A girlfriend of mine is the rep there and she hooked me up with some remnants. I covered the entire garage floor and with the Precision Putt and the hitting area is the Tee Strike. I can put a real tee in the tee strike, which is pretty solid. I used 3/4" gym foam under the turf. I cut out a square and used a gel pad used for motorcycle seats under the actual hitting zone. I can play all day and not feel anything on my wrists or elbows.
-I built the entertainment console and put in a mini-fridge (naturally). I got a Sony 7-2 stereo system so I can put different things on the TV and projector. This way I can watch a movie, throw the game on, or whatever else while the projector has the sim on. Or I can do it the other way around and during football season I can play the game on the projector and still hit golf balls into the screen, while the E6 is on the TV. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-11...?skuId=5761206
-I ordered a small LED pin light, which shines perfectly on the hitting zone, so that helps a lot and looks pretty slick. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
-Lastly, I installed a 12,000 BTU DIY minisplit to keep the garage cool during the summer and warm during the winter. It was insanely easy to put in and cost about $1,200. It'll be worth it in the winter when it gets down to freezing temps and I can still play.
I think that covers it... Cheers guys.
-Had to start by having the garage door replaced, the tracks lifted to 10', and a Liftmaster 8500 put in. If you're doing this in a garage, and your tracks are 8'-9', this is a no-brainer. It's amazing what this did for the room. After that, I planned everything out, ran the electric, put in the speakers, finished the drywall, redid the stairs and painted. This took me a few weeks due to weather in the Northeast. Then I installed the Proslat wall and new cabinets to keep everything organized and out of the way. Now it's time for the fun part...
-Originally my plan was to get a Skytrak, but I ended up going with Uneekor. Everything I read about Skytrak was positive, but I saw a lot of guys who were looking to upgrade. I figured I'd just go to the next level first and I think that was a good move. However, I went with the Ignite package, and I think it's missing a few things. I'm not a big fan of the Ignite driving range, which is all you get for $6000. It looks like you're hitting into the side of a hill and doesn't show your previous shot tracers. There's no green to hit into or even a target. Apparently, you have to pay an extra $1000 to have a driving range with a target and tracers, which is ridiculous. I chose Uneekor because I have friends and family who are lefty's, but if I didn't, I would probably go with GC2. The camera function with Uneekor is really cool and definitely beneficial, but you can't see it when playing courses. Also, the balls suck, which I'll touch on below. I was also told the balls last 200 shots before they have to be replaced, which I think is absurd.
-I bought the screen and side netting from Par2Pro. It's 14'x9'. Anything bigger would have been too big. Their service is pretty good and it shipped within a month. Shane did a great job helping me with dimensions. I ended up going with the Stealth screen so I could roll it up and down and still use my garage. It's pretty badass to be honest. My only complaint here is that I've had the screen for a month and it's completely covered in black marks from the Uneekor balls. See the picture below. I'm not sure if that's a ball issue or a screen issue. Either way, Par2Pro told me to take it to the dry-cleaner. I'm sure that won't be cheap and I'll have to do it every month, if it even works. After seeing this and being told to take it to a drycleaner, I'd probably look elsewhere for a screen. For $4k, you can definitely find a better deal and not have to dry-clean it every month.
-Shane also told me to go with E6 instead of TGC2019, which was my original plan. It was probably the right call, but it's twice as much. With Uneekor you get 27 courses and no-online play for $2500 retail ($2000 through Par2Pro). You have to pay $300/year extra for online or $600/year extra to get unlock the premium courses. Once again, super expensive compared to TGC2019. I haven't played TGC2019, so I can't give you a comparison, but I'd be curious to hear what you guys think. E6 also has a much better driving range, short chip and putting, as well as a few cool games you can play. The problem is that you can'r see the camera while in E6, so it defeats the purpose of having the Uneekor.
-My projector is a Pansonic PT-VZ580U. Love it, recommend it. Super bright. I play a lot with the garage door open and it's certainly harder to see, but we can still manage. It's not really a short throw though, mine is mounted 17' away from the screen.
-My computer is an Alienware Aurora R8. My 13 year old actually had this for gaming, so I traded him my Mackbook and told him he could play xbox out on the 14' screen. Graphics are incredible on this thing.
-Turf is from SynLawn. A girlfriend of mine is the rep there and she hooked me up with some remnants. I covered the entire garage floor and with the Precision Putt and the hitting area is the Tee Strike. I can put a real tee in the tee strike, which is pretty solid. I used 3/4" gym foam under the turf. I cut out a square and used a gel pad used for motorcycle seats under the actual hitting zone. I can play all day and not feel anything on my wrists or elbows.
-I built the entertainment console and put in a mini-fridge (naturally). I got a Sony 7-2 stereo system so I can put different things on the TV and projector. This way I can watch a movie, throw the game on, or whatever else while the projector has the sim on. Or I can do it the other way around and during football season I can play the game on the projector and still hit golf balls into the screen, while the E6 is on the TV. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-11...?skuId=5761206
-I ordered a small LED pin light, which shines perfectly on the hitting zone, so that helps a lot and looks pretty slick. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
-Lastly, I installed a 12,000 BTU DIY minisplit to keep the garage cool during the summer and warm during the winter. It was insanely easy to put in and cost about $1,200. It'll be worth it in the winter when it gets down to freezing temps and I can still play.
I think that covers it... Cheers guys.
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