My New Custom Garage Simulator Build/Journal - Tons of pics, start to finish!

[Mr. Wolfe]

Hi all, welcome to my simulator build. My garage was getting too cluttered and was turning into a catch all for everything. I keep my weekend cars in here, but it’s too big of a space to just clutter up and not use. Perfect time to gut it and turn it into a simulator.

I am still waiting on 1 piece as it is on back-order until November. That’s the BenQ TK710sti 4k projector. As for the other pieces, I am using the ProTee VX LM, I custom built the PC using an i7 processor and 4080 Super graphics card. Using TFD Elite Putting Turf (15’x25’). I made the hitting mat custom and bought the screen through a supplier that doesn’t advertise. Onto the pics!!

Here is how my garage looked when I started. Actually, this is after a day of cleaning it out. What a mess.





Okay, now we are getting somewhere. Starting to look like a clean garage.



Let’s knock out those rear built-in cabinets.



Started to paint the walls and garage doors.



Let’s wrap up some padding with Navy blue Marine Vinyl.



Covering up my old peg board and blacking out the window.



More pieces coming.



Lift is sold so let’s build a wall.



This is the location where the screen will go.



Building the frame for the screen using steel EMT, clamps, and tarp clips.







More padding pictures.



Let’s start that flooring.





FINALLY! I have some help.



That was a short shift Mr. Ralph.



Turf going down…



Computer built and installed.



Installed some shiplap on my wall to pretty it up.



Painted the wall and hung up my corn hole boards that I recently built.



Had to level the floor where the old drain was.



Making progress…







Trying to figure out placement for bar and stools.



Rack for some extra clubs and most of my wedges I like to experiment with.



If anyone is looking to put some golf club racks in, I highly recommend these. They are for fishing pools, but work great. $10 on Amazon for a set which holds 6 clubs. I bought 5 sets, but am going to buy 3 more.



Hope you’ve enjoyed the pics and progress!

Mr. Wolfe

[Mr. Wolfe]

Looks fantastic! You got me rethinking how i have the bottom of my screen set up. I currently have the screen attached to EMT conduit with some foam-wrapped putting turf taped down in front to prevent ricochets off the EMT. Those aluminum bars you used are interesting, but I'm a little worried about it possibly tearing there over time from bladed/thinned shots. I might do what you did and remove the bottom EMT, screw the screen down, but also move my foam/turf combo to behind the screen to help absorb the bladed shots.

I was worried about the same thing and did start getting a tear when one of my friends, who has an insane swing speed (carries 300 yards on every drive) was playing all day on it yesterday. It just sucks how much abuse a sim can take with different types of golfers or people who do not golf at all. I am now trying to rethink some new ideas as I like the bottom of the screen to be tight.

I am wondering if it would help to buy a little grommet press and put in grommets along the bottom and screw them down to something not as rigid. Think like pieces of bicycle tire or something rubber that has some give, but is still pliable.

Mr. Wolfe

[JayBrd85]

So I ended up spending about 12 hours over the last 3 days disassembling parts of my impact screen frame, lowering the screen flush to the ground, then re-attaching everything (I blame you for the inspiration, the pains in my body, and the end result). The edge of my screen has grommets, so I took your metal strip idea and put that down across the grommets and screwed a handful of them down to the floor.


The seam between the fabric edge and the impact screen is about an inch away from the metal, so hopefully the tension spreads evenly enough to avoid tears. I also moved my safety foam/turf barrier to directly behind the screen to help put a little weight on the impact screen seam to make it as flat/tight to the ground as possible and to absorb the majority of the impact from bladed / low-launch screamer shots so it isn't being stretched near the bottom. Then I made some braces for the foam/turf so it shouldn't move.



After adjusting my projector, It looked good but resulted in a 6-7" gap on the top while also being too wide by few inches on each side. My screen is 10' tall x 16.5' wide. I adjusted the screen to a 16:10 resolution via graphic card settings and was able to basically fill the whole thing.

[JayBrd85]

Where did you get those padding blocks? Or did you make those yourself?

You could use the ones you previously had in front of the screen and move them to behind the screen & do some bracing like I did. Those are more square than my duct-taped foam/turf monstrosity, so you could probably get the picture very tight to the ground using them.

[Mr. Wolfe]

So I ended up spending about 12 hours over the last 3 days disassembling parts of my impact screen frame, lowering the screen flush to the ground, then re-attaching everything (I blame you for the inspiration, the pains in my body, and the end result). The edge of my screen has grommets, so I took your metal strip idea and put that down across the grommets and screwed a handful of them down to the floor.


The seam between the fabric edge and the impact screen is about an inch away from the metal, so hopefully the tension spreads evenly enough to avoid tears. I also moved my safety foam/turf barrier to directly behind the screen to help put a little weight on the impact screen seam to make it as flat/tight to the ground as possible and to absorb the majority of the impact from bladed / low-launch screamer shots so it isn't being stretched near the bottom. Then I made some braces for the foam/turf so it shouldn't move.



After adjusting my projector, It looked good but resulted in a 6-7" gap on the top while also being too wide by few inches on each side. My screen is 10' tall x 16.5' wide. I adjusted the screen to a 16:10 resolution via graphic card settings and was able to basically fill the whole thing.

That looks great. You took my idea and made it better. Please keep this thread updated if you have any issues.

Mr. Wolfe

[Mr. Wolfe]

Where did you get those padding blocks? Or did you make those yourself?

You could use the ones you previously had in front of the screen and move them to behind the screen & do some bracing like I did. Those are more square than my duct-taped foam/turf monstrosity, so you could probably get the picture very tight to the ground using them.

I made all the blocks.

Mr. Wolfe