Another Garage Golf Simulator

[MadMax]

Hi , been lurking on this site for a while, getting lots of ideas for putting together a golf simulator in my garage. Its a three car garage and I have planned to take up two spots, in the three years we have lived here (California ) we haven't parked the cars once in the garage, so up until now the garage has become the storage area for all the accumulated junk that the family have collected, my workshop for woodworking projects, dry food storage, etc. etc. you get the idea , here's how it looks


So its a golf sim and a garage renovation.
First job was to get the junk out of the garage so most bikes , shelves out and get ready for some building space.


I have decided to custom build the enclosure, put in some walls, get some thick rubber mats for the hitting area, artificial putting grass, padded walls and ceilings protection,

Down to the Home Depot to get some 4x2s .


Let's add some walls



I decided to build a ramp to gently return the balls back to the hitting mat. Its 14 ft long and 4 ft wide. It has a 4 inch slope to it . Here it is being built.


Next Add in some drywall and started to make the padding panel for the ceiling and walls, I used 3 inch foam which i got from Nextdoor for free. I got black vinyl from Hobby lobby for 6.99 /yard (23 yards) . They are backed on OSD panels. I am going to mount a Dell 32" Monitor into the drywall , so have allowed for that in the wall.

\

Here are the central two panels mounted. I have 6 panels on the ceiling 58" x 24" and another 6 of each on each side 32"x24". They are mounted with Beau Clips.



Some technical details of the build

Uneekor Eye XO
Optoma 1090 HDR short throw laser projector
Screen from Mill - 14 ft x 9 ft

Will update as I progress.

[MadMax]

Got the first two coats of undercoat down on the walls. Thinking of painting a light green color, but have to run it past the wife. Open for suggestions if anyone has an eye for design.

[MadMax]

Garage floor tiles ordered from Racedeck black friday deal - 25% off, for the surrounding garage floor. will lay them out based on this pattern

[MadMax]

Brettster, I started with the tutorials here https://www.tinkercad.com/learn to first place , then resize objects and learn how to move them around the screen, after that it was just a matter to get used to it. Love your post of your sim by the way, especially the detail you go to describe it,

[JayJo13]

Brettster SketchUp has changed to a free online version, I believe, However I did quite a bit of research and found a full free version from 2017. Here is the link - https://forums.sketchup.com/t/sketch...ad-links/74172

Also, April Wilkerson has a great SketchUp tutorial on YouTube that really helped me a lot - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjSE28T3u78

[Brettster]

Thanks MadMax and JayJo13 - I’ll spend some time on getting my paper drawings moved over… what I would like is a way to have layers showing me things like 1.) floor structure/beams, 2.) walls/roofing and 3.) final building where I can drop in things like a small bar counter along back wall, with stools, a treadmill, and my clubs/bag and then walk through it and see how crazy tight it will be with 2, 3 or 4 people total in the Sim! I used to do that with other Home Design software I have.

Thanks MadMax - post up on my Shed install thread … I’m hoping to document everything I had to buy if I can keep track of it all - the list of things I’ve bought just to get the work done on my own has been astronomical - but still hoping to finish very soon… just wish it was a little warmer, but it’s Winter now, frosty and cold every morning - makes it hard to use building/construction materials when many require 40 degrees application temperature!

[JayJo13]

I can't wait to see the finished product. This looks amazing so far!

[MadMax]

painted the walls today , went for a minty green , should complement the Black padding nicely.

[adilgolf]

Looks like a very nice space indeed.
How many beauclips per panel did you use?
When i did my panels (which weigh 5 kgs each), i tried with 8 clips per panel, spaced evenly about every 30cms, but it didn't feel consistent enough... come clips were tighter than others...
in the end, i had to add screws from behind the panels just to be safe...
How heavy are your panels ?
All the best, this should turn up great !

[MadMax]

I have just 4 on each panel, so far it seems to support the panels ok , I need to give them a good yank to separate them. Will have to see how they hang on when a golf ball hits them.

[MadMax]

Big excitement today as I mounted the projector (Optoma GT1090HDR) , Uneekor Eye XO , soundbar (Samsung A650 Soundbar) and test hung the screen (From the Mill) , Cable management kit is ordered.

[MitchI]

Looking to get the same projector and have a quick question if you don't mind. How much higher than the screen is your the projector? In my research I came across information that says the projector has to be 18 inches above the screen which feels high. I'm going to have 10 foot ceilings and want have have a 9.5 x 17 screen to fill my space but that would not allow the projector to sit that much higher than the screen.

[MadMax]

Finished the wall and ceiling panels , made one huge error , i didn't allow enough room in the corners where the ceiling meets the walls for all the padding . As these were pre drilled beau clips , i tried to re-drill the holes lower but the margin of error was too great, the clips no longer matched exactly. I ended up removing the beau clips and using screws through the studs from the back . Wasn't the way i wanted but it worked out in the end.

Here are the results of the current state.

Making the wall panels


attached to ceiling and walls

[Brettster]

Those panels are nice - how much do they weigh, each? I'm afraid too much weight for my setup - I'm planning on hanging loose black fabric/curtains draped above and to sides of hitting area.

[MadMax]

The large ones on the ceiling are around 25 - 30lbs , held there by 4 beau clips each capable to support 15 lbs . So far they are holding.

[MadMax]

Finished all the padded panels including the trim pieces on the bottom interfacing with the ramp.


left side


and the right ,

[Cash]

Looks great. Where is the foam from and how/what fabric did you wrap it in?

[MadMax]

Got the Foam from https://www.foambymail.com/ - Foam Factory - I got the cheapest i could find 3" x 24" x 82" and its actually 25" wide.
I wrapped it in Black decor Vinyl from Hobby Lobby , it was $6.99 yard in all i got 23 yards. Its now back at $9.99

Now if i could do it over i would make the panels only 22" wide (not 24") then i could get two panels from every yard of the material @55" wide , at 24 " you can get only one as you have to cut 32" to wrap 24" and there is a lot of left over.
live and learn.

https://www.foambymail.com/P/poly-foam.html

https://www.hobbylobby.com/Fabric-Sewing/Home-Decor-Fabric-Trim/Home-Decor-Fabric/Black-Deco-Vinyl-Fabric/p/47341

[Pattycakes]

How is the golf ball interaction with the foam? Does it deaden the impact? Any springy action?

[Brettster]

Good question, how is that interaction MadMax? They look very similar to JuJitsu panels that you can buy, used on eBay. Others have done that and there are forum posts about them. I've considered them, but I'm preferring curtains that I can pull back when the Sim is not in use to give a little more light to the room.

[MadMax]

Now that I have been able to hit a few shots into the foam, the ball will just ricochet softly on its path, if I hit a hi-ball into the screen it will go up into the pad and drop down nicely, no chance of dangerous bounces. The foam is 3 inches thick and not all that dense so it absorbs the impact just fine.

[Brettster]

Cool MadMax! Sounds like a great option for dropping the ball quickly... so, you have no balls coming back at you? I've played in quite a few sims in local bars and would often get balls coming back - almost every time

I guess 3 inches would be just the right amount of foam to stop a well hit ball. I just hope I can match that, or come close with a Heavy Duty moving blanket, 3 Layer Screen, and Photo Backdrop in front... probably less than 1 inch of padding! How heavy are those panels you are using (each?)