My DIY Garage Build Summary

[P_Bio1]

I decided it was time to build a simulator so I could practice more however I only have a garage and no other space. My wife still needed to be able to park her car in the garage and it was full of junk, as any garage is. To add to that my garage ceiling height is about 9’ and I am 6’1” so I was concerned about the height. I did several full swings, even with the driver, and I was able to not hit the ceiling so I got the green light to get started. Here is how I built my sim:

1. Cleaning out the garage:
I rented a storage shed and moved all of our garage stuff to the storage shed. I plan to get a storage shed built in my backyard next year to keep all of that stuff without having to pay for a monthly shed rental. Here is the cleaned-out garage. I was debating on which wall to put the screen on still at this point.



2. Garage Door Opener:
I next had to remove the overhead opener and install a side-mount garage door opener. I actually love the side mount opener even without the sim build. It’s much quieter and compact. I had the wiring redone in the attic to provide the outlet. You can see I totally screwed up the drywall openings, so I need to patch it in the future.



3. Hitting Frame:
I saw a lot of good ideas on this sub for different frame builds. I decided to go with 1” EMT. My design was to use an upside down U shape with the top bar anchored to the ceiling joists and the side bars anchored to the studs and cement floor. The frame extended about a foot past my garage door rail. Luckily the garage door didn’t extend that far so I was able to cut off that portion of the rail.









4. Impact screen:
As you can see from the initial hanging it fit well but left a large gap at the bottom exposing a cement lip from my foundation. I’ll solve this later. I purchased a 10’ x 7.7’ (4:3) premium impact screen from Carl’s place and a backstop netting from Par2Pro. Although the backstop netting is expensive I’m hoping that it will help preserve my impact screen and it helps deaden the ball so a driver strike just hits the screen and drops to the floor. The netting was secured with zip ties and the impact screen secured with elastic ball ties. I got longer ties for the top so that I could hang the screen as low to the floor as possible.



5. Padding and Protection:

I used foam pipe insulation to cover all of the exposed EMT. It’s not pretty because of the fittings but it’s hard to notice once everything is up. I wrapped the padding around and secured them within the ball ties used for the screen.

I then ordered curtain tracks and black curtains to serve as side protection. I went with the tracks so I can move them when not in use and we need to park the car. The curtains extend about 6 feet each side. I purposely hit 7i balls in the side curtains and they do a good job of stopping the ball. I don’t shank often, but when I do at least I can be assured I won’t put a hole in my wall (which I’ve already done when I was hitting balls before I got the curtains!)

I still have a gap at the bottom that I needed to protect. I triangle pads which wedge in the bottom gap. For the floor I used grass carpet from home depot for the floor so that the balls don’t bounce all over the place.





6. Hitting mat:
I went with the 5 x 5 country club elite from Real Feel Golf Mats. The mat is about 8’ away from the screen and so far I really love it. I don’t get any soreness in my hands or elbows but if you hit it fat you can really tell so it doesn’t allow your club to skip and still hit a good shot.


7. Projector and launch monitor:
For projection I went with the BenQ MW632ST short throw projector with 1.2x zoom. I mounted it on the ceiling. This took some trial and error but I finally decided on a spot just over my head so there is no way I can hit the projector. I then hooked up an appleTV (already had) to the projector so I could airplay the skytrak through it. When watching movies I can fill up most of the screen, however because of the iPads resolution I have a lot of empty space. In the future I am going to get a gaming PC so that I can optimize the resolution.

I went with the Skytrak including the metal protective case. With the skytrak I decided to subscribe to the Play and Improve plan.



8. Cooling:
I live in Florida so during the summer the garage is hot! I don’t mind sweating but having some air circulation helps. I got this industrial fan from home depot that I aim for the mat, so when hitting I get some cooling. Ultimately I would like to possibly invest in a swamp cooler or air conditioner system.



9. Still to do and improve:

Overall I’m extremely happy with the setup. We can still park the car every day and it only takes me about 5 minutes to get everything set up and hitting balls. I’m still working on getting the Skytrak optimized, and I need to improve on my overhead lighting. I also need to get a gaming PC that can run everything without having to airplay over an iPad but graphics cards are so expensive right now I may need to wait.

Thanks for reading! I’m happy for any tips or suggestions on how I can improve the build. I’m sure I’ll be tweaking it in the months to come.




Itemized list – Total cost ~$5530

Chamberlain Smart Garage Door Opener and wires - $449.38
4 x 10’ 1” EMT – Home Depot - $57
EMT Connectors – Ace Hardware - 3-way, and T connectors - $69
EMT Footpads – Tarps.com - $50
EMT ceiling anchors – Zoro.com - $41
Premium Impact Screen – Carl’s Place - $509
Raw Super High Impact Mesh – Par2Pro - $266
Foam Pipe Insulation – Home Depot - $15
Ceiling Tracks 12-18ft – Amazon – $65
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MZ7RBHZ...roduct_details
Curtains – 2 x 100”W x 108”L - $80
Protective pad – Spectrum Golf - $80
https://shop.virtual-golf-simulator....10-Ft-1007.htm
Grass carpet – Home Depot - $65
Country Club Elite Mat - $499
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0048GP25U...roduct_details
BenQ MW632ST – Amazon - $649
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010MDRIEA...roduct_details
SkyTrak - $2536
16” direct drive turbo fan - $99

[iloveplywood]

Nicely done! Thanks for the detailed setup explanation and pictures. These are super helpful in trying to plan my space.

[Zedoych]

What are the dimensions of your garage? It's mostly the width I'm curious about because I'm wondering if it would be possible for me to do something similar with only 9'11" of width.

[P_Bio1]

I only have about 12' of width because of the garage door railing. Meaning my frame and curtains are roughly 12' apart. But my garage is a two car garage so I have plenty of width without the door rails.

I think your dimensions would work, I don't know if you'd be able to hit into the center of the screen though.

[3on3putt]

What are the optimizing issues you're having with your skytrak?

[P_Bio1]

A couple of main ones I'm dealing with:

1. Distances. Now to be fair I'm a mid-handicap (13-15) and I still don't know my distances that well but it seems like SkyTrak distances are about 10 yards further than I hit on the course. When pitching with my wedges let's say on Skytrak I have 35 yard pitch and I can hit that on my sim. On the course I hit the same shot it goes 50 yards or more. I fully admit that this might just be the difference between course and home.

2. Spin numbers: I never draw the ball (I'm a slightly over the topper) but I can hit a consistent draw in skytrak so I'm trying to figure out why? It's possible it's real and I just can't do it on the course.

[ontheteebox]

Nice work! I appreciate all the details. It really helps. I'm heading down the same road as you. I just changed out the door opener to the side mount. The one difference is that I am going to be hitting towards the garage door. So I'm working out a retractable screen since I too still need to use the garage.

I also live in Florida, and the garage is tough in the summertime. I purchased a Whynter portable air conditioner from Amazon. It was less than $300 off season. It vents out through the window. It works pretty good and you would be surprised how much humidity it takes out of the air. Its a game changer to be able to be in the garage from June through September with the heat and daily storms.