Pole Barn Golf Sim Newbie

[buht]

Hello,

I'd love input, suggestions, answers, or any feedback is welcome. I plan on using this thread to track my project either way. I have a pole barn that has many little projects I've decided I don't have time for. So I'll be selling those dreams and replacing them with a Golf Sim. My son and I are new to golf. He's taking lessons and I joined a league to learn in this summer. Now I'm addicted. He loves the game too so far. I see value in a golf sim for several reasons: beers with friends, winter activity, practice practice and practice for my son and I.

This forum is loaded with information. I will do my own research as best I can. There are so many options for sims. From what little I've read, I'm thinking i could get something decent for 10k or so? Please let me know if I'm nuts. I'm definitely open for doing it for less of course.

My son and I are Lefty but I need something that will work for both obviously.

I keep reading great things about a sim then i see small downsides and upsides to each. It's hard to pinpoint what to go after.

I'll start off with some space dimensions I am working with, or would like to work with. I'd love to have the sim, perhaps a couch to watch from and behind the couch a stand up bar table (live edge wood or something) for folks to stand and drink at.

- Behind a 12x10 foot barn garage door.... (12' wide, 10' tall)
- About 13' of width is available
- About 26' of depth is available
- About 14' of height is availble, after going 11.5' past the barn garage door rails
- It's on concrete, i understand ill have to pad it and shield it a bit if using a radar based monitor?

So imagine staring at the barn garage door from the outside. You open the door and you see the following closest to you to furthest:

- Stand up bar table about 10' wide
- A couch
- The golf sim

Okay...... so for a 13 year old learning to golf with intentions to "go all the way" and myself learning to golf, any recommendations on what launch monitor equipment I should get? Which golf course system i should get? All equipment in general?

[buht]

Researching basic floor plans... im trying out floorplanner.com to help imagine a high level plan design. Some questions....

Should I raise anything off the floor, the entire thing, the driving platform, anything specific? I have concrete floors, a small risk of water coming in which i plan to mitigate. This makes me think i should raise the sim area off the concrete a half inch. Would that screw things up or make it less solid?

Width? is 12' wide enough? I could add 6" possibly to each side to gain a foot and leave things center in relation to the barn garage door. Or, go bigger but it would be offset inward toward the barn on one side.

Height? I have 14' ceilings. How high should the top part of the enclosure be? Considering there will be a 16:9 ish wide screen , lots of unused space, matter?

Sim depth? I've read several things on this. Some people have almost nothing, some have them deep, some fully enclosed. I plan to have friends over that will shank a ball off to the side. How deep should the sim side walls be in relation to the tee area?

Material? Do i go with some 2x4's or one of these metal corner piece sets where you put pipe between?

Enclosures? I see Carls, Sig12, Ace Medalist, SportScreen... Is it not cheaper for me to frame something and hang a screen? if enclosures premade are the way to go, i will. thoughts?

-------- edit, adding q/a guide from carls place website on DIY ---------

NOTE: This general guideline assumes I am using the Carls Place 6” black ball bungees and hanging it from a 1-inch pipe. It seems to me i could build something stronger with 2x4 or something else. I have a question above in that regard and need to come to an answer.

Deciding Factor #1: Room Space

What is the height, floor to ceiling, of your available space?
14'

What is the width, left to right, of your available space?
12', could extend if i want to go off center

What is the depth of available space in front of and behind the golfer?
26'

Recommendation: 10-12' away from screen, ill go with 12' unless any suggestions based on my setup

Deciding Factor #2: Buffer Space

Golf Screen Height available after buffer space of 4"?
13' 8"

Golf Screen Width available after buffer space of 6"?
11' 6"

Depth available after buffer space of 12" between screen and back wall?
25'

Deciding Factor #3: Actual Screen Dimensions

Viewable Screen Area?
Depends on enclosure or the 1" pipe approach? Unsure of this area as of yet as height of enclosure will come into play too.

Total Screen Area?
Viewable Area plus the trim on the edges. TBD.

Enclosure Size?
11' 6" wide ish, after padding and what not with the above buffer space?

Chosen Screen Mat Size?
is 8x12 high enough? i guess i need to measure some others use. that keeps me at 16:10, the next size up would require off center from barn door

Deciding Factor #4: Height and Accuracy of the Golfers

Answered this in original post. I will be having golfers of all skill levels, left and right. So ball be flyin everywhere.

Deciding Factor #5: Aspect Ratio

Aspect Ratio?
I have about 12' of width available if i want to stay centered in the barn in relation to the door. So, currently thinking 8x12 screen in "fill" fashion which will require a 16:10 projector. Any projector suggestions?

Throw Distance?
No idea if i need a short throw projector or not. I can hang one anywhere, will i save money "not" getting a short throw one?

[buht]

An example enclosure picking max height from carls golf land, with 9' enclosure depth and padding...

Doesnt include computer, launch monitor, projector, etc.. this is just a snapshot i took of a build it yourself enclosure from carls golf land. I still think i want to build my own.. ive a lot to learn still.

[buht]

I've confirmed plans to go with an 8x12 screen. I'm going to hop over to reddit and see what kind of feedback i can get. I'll come back here and update things possibly.

[wem]

One piece of feedback on the room dimensions. 12 foot is fine for the screen, but the hitting area needs to be wider if you want a center position for the hitting mat. 15 or 16 feet room width is best. For 12 feet room width you will need to offset the hitting mat to ensure you don’t hit the side wall (at least 7.5 feet from the hitting area to the side wall). You do not need a deep enclosure. Too deep and the enclosure gets too close to the hitting area and you run the risk of hitting the enclosure with your club.

[Nugget]

Hi there. Since you will need both left and right handed players to play, the offset appears to be 2ft between both hitting points. this will require n overhead monitor that is at least capable of a wide hitting area, to make it somewhat work. I think the eye xo2 is pretty wide at 28'x21" deep. The protee VX says 25x21 and is cheaper than an eyexo2. I have an XO and love it. Any other, you may need to put on a sliding left to right bracket to make it work. Floor model simulators are not really favorable for your purpose. Also the screen size you may want to go with is a 4:3 size to get enough height to make it look good. Your 14ft height here is more than enough as most sims need 10ft mounting surface from floor. You will also need to pad the floor under the turf with foam tiles for warmth and for cushion, so that raises floor half to an inch to keep from any minor wetness near door. Try building your own and check out par2pro as they sell imperfect raw screens. I have bought them and do not see any difference to 'perfect' screens. Plus you'll need to cut costs where you can as $10K is still low end. Just the simulator will will cost you $8800 USD new for the Uneekor. $6500 for the Protee. Add in a projector for about $1K, screen for $500 or less, side curtains and overhead $200, turf $300 and hitting mat area $300-600 and foam tiles $300 and you see how it adds up.Now you still have to buy the courses or pay annual subscription for GSPro, or lifetime TGC2019. For projector start with used if you get lucky. 720P is not that bad of a picture. Just look for one with no less than 2500 lumen, but try for over 3000 lumen. I found one last year for $300 and was like new. A local fellow sim guy had upgraded to HD. I had as much fun, sourcing and building an planning as I do playing. The next few months I plan to make it 'nicer' in the garage and more comfortable for guests. Seems like a project that never ends for me.