Garage Sim Build - About to pull the trigger

[steigg]

Hey everyone,

New to this forum but have been lurking for quite a while. This is my very first sim build so bear with me. I have been planning to build a simulator in my garage for quite some time now doing lots of research and I'm ready to pull the trigger. I just wanted to reach out here with my thoughts to see if I am missing anything before diving too deep with no escape along with a few questions

Room Size: Garage is oversize, 24'x24'x9'

Simulator Size: A DIY custom enclosure with a premium screen from Carl's that is 14' wide by 8'10" high by 4' deep. My area size for the simulator will be 12' deep, hitting from 10 feet. Do you see any issues with the enclosure only being 4 feet deep? Should I place some padding on the ceiling?

Flooring: Concrete flooring. 1" thick EVA Foam Tiles from Amazon with a Fiberbuilt Grass Panel that is 1.75" high. Depending on the pile height of the turf selected, I plan on adding a roll of eva foam to even out the heights with the grass panel and cut the panel into the mat/foam. Am I doing anything wrong here? Any suggestions on if I should secure down the fiberbuilt grass panel to the ground and if so, any ideas how?

Turf: Haven't decided yet but was looking at this turf from Turf Factory Direct potentially and ordering it at 15' by 18' (or some number larger than 12' to be safe). I ordered their sample turf kit to see which one I would like.

Launch Monitor/Software: Uneekor Eye XO with View only. Should I reconsider getting Refine or Succeed? From what I have seen, most folks just use TGC or E6, not the actual uneekor software very much. I plan on buying TGC and/or E6, not sure yet. Is one better for the uneekor than the other?

Projector: The aspect ratio of my screen will be 16x10. Hitting from 10' with the Uneekor EyeXO 3.5' in front of that I have minimal room to work with. I can't place the projector behind me due to the garage door opener so I need to get a short throw projector. Looking at my options, I am leaning towards the Optoma GT1080HDR with a throw distance of 7'5", I should be able to place this directly behind the Uneekor without a problem. Do you see any issues with this?

Computer: Just going to get a prebuilt PC with a i5 or i7 and a 2xxx or 3xxx series Nvidia GPU


Thank you for reading through this, is there anything that I am missing here or do you see any issues with what I have in mind?

[GullLakeMi]

Height - have you taken swings in your garage with driver? I have 9'4" less ~1.5" for floor mat. I'm 6' 1" and don't have any problems. If your #'s are precise, you are starting 4" lower. Below 10' is a problem for some people.

Sidewalls at 4', hitting from 10' back and 7' over (center of 14'?) should be pretty good. Depends on golfer ability. My kids could miss that. Weird things happen occasionally hitting off mats.

For garage door opener and assuming a standard, modern door, $450 will buy a wall mounted opener. They are pretty easy to install. They require a power outlet, which you may not have in a convenient location. Might give you more options for projector and would certainly clear up the overhead space. They are really quiet, and some have battery backup, which is nice feature.

I've had a GC2 and now a Quad, so I'm not familiar with Uneeker. Seems like a great option for ceiling mount and accommodate left and right swings. Make sure it will work with ceiling height. I think I have read the ideal height for mounting is 10'.

[steigg]

Thanks for the feedback!

Height - I personally am 5'10" so I wont have a problem swinging, I have tried it. But, I do have a friend who is 6'3". I've had him over to swing a club and it seems to be okay. My ceiling height is not consistent. At the edge it's about 8'11 and at other parts its 9'2". When hitting from the mat, that height is around 9'1" so we'll be hitting from around 8'11" - 9'.

Sizing - I personally am around a 12 handicap, with friends ranging from 12-25. I think we will be okay there. The left handed golf will actually have 8' (I only have 1 friend who is a lefty who is 6'3" so I decided to offset the sim to the left a little bit to give the lefty more room. The right side of the sim (lefty golfer) will be against the wall and the left (right hitting) has about 8' more space behind it width wise. I was thinking above maybe adding curtains on the left and right for further coverage that can be opened/closed sliding via a bar.

Garage Door Opener - I didn't know that, I'll have to look into it, thanks for the recommendation.

EyeXO Ceiling Height - Looking on their website, it is recommended from 9'-10' so i think i'll be okay with a few less inches. if that is a problem though, I could recess the ceiling to get it to the ideal height.

[preludesam]

The sweet spot is 9.5’.

[steigg]

preludesam, the sweet spot for the EyeXO? Thanks for that info, I can recess the ceiling a bit probably to mount it a little higher. That would actually make the projector easier as well too, not having to deal with the eyexo directly in it's path.