New to Golf.. New to SImulators.. New to ... all of this.. Am I crazy?

[aphillipe]

(Skip to the last paragraph if you want the end result/suggestions needed)
I stumbled upon this forum a couple weeks back after doing a general search online for golf simulators. Name is Adam- I'm 35 from the Pacific Northwest here in the USA. Even though most of my friends and family members play golf, I've always resisted taking it up as I like to be REALLY good at things I pursue and... everyone would always tell me no matter how much you play you never get REALLY good at golf unless you can play very regularly. My wife approached me this summer while I was watching sports on the TV and said "You don't really have any athletic hobbies anymore outside of working out - you no longer play soccer or tennis... you should seriously take up golf... you can play it into your eighties like your grandpa did, it's good stress relief, and it's a great socializing hobby for you and your buddies" I was caught off guard but thought she made a good point - everyone needs a stress reliever from work. After going to the range a few times with a good friend who was ecstatic I finally caved, Everyone suggested I could cut down the learning time by doing things right from the start and pairing up with an instructor and using a simulator with video analysis. I found myself at my local GolfTec a few days later signing up for a year's worth of private lessons and simulator time.

2 months and a dozen lessons later I'm still just as excited as I was when I showed up for my first lesson. Even though I am still completely out of my element I'm absolutely loving learning something new and find it a much needed distraction from life. The problem? It's SO hard to find time to make it over to GolfTec during the work week - we live out in the country and it's a 35 minute drive each way (with good traffic, an hour or worse during rush hour)...

So... after we moved into our "dream home" we built from scratch about 5 weeks back my wife and I have discussed the idea of a simulator and her response was "if you think this is a sport you will stick with and you will use it, you should go ahead and get a simulator so you can really give this your all" Cool wife huh?

So here I am... I'm getting fitted for clubs in a week and have set aside a good chunk of change for that and my wife is thinking a simulator would be a great Christmas gift for myself. I'm thinking (based off my research, my budget, and advice from my instructor) that SkyTrak is my best bet for the launch monitor. Even though I'm okay with a net return/TV setup my wife said "Just get the projector and do it right from the start"... I'm a bit lost on how to compile a list of items I need to set this all up. Are there reputable online stores you recommend that have packages that save some money or is it best to individually buy each component? Lastly do retailers for sims ever do sale pricing for Cyber Monday or holidays?

My garage has 10 foot ceilings but the spot I may put this would NOT be up against a wall... Thinking either against a storage rack that we have access to the other side of.. OR covering the spot where our water heaters/water purification systems sit since that's dead space anyways. I like the idea of a hanging impact screen to save space with the idea of a 10x10 mat area that can be lifted to vertical and fold towards the screen to make setup/disassembly a breeze. I have seen some photos of this done- anyone have actual plans they used for construction? With this setup idea I assume the projector is ceiling mounted, the computer would just require a stand with cording hanging from above and I'm good to go? I would love some advice on the above - plans for a fold-away mat area, mat preferences if I want the entire 10x10 area with turf, an affordable laptop option that will allow me to have TGC down the road (video card-wise), an affordable HD projector option etc.. A little lost on where to start so any help would be awesome!

[wbond]

Well, reputable stores that have packages to save you money don't exist. They have packages, but you generally pay a premium for this. Depends on how handy you are and how much DIY you want to do, that is where the savings come from. Do you have a floor plan, it might be easier for people to make suggestions. I've got a garage setup, but mine is up against a wall. My previous setup was not and i had a wire tensioned between two locations so the screen and net could be slid out of the way. There are lots of different ways to make something work. Look up p3eps, he has a very nice garage setup.

[aeroburner]

congrats on moving forward, it is a lot of fun and sorry I smirked on the stress relief quote you said, but it is a sport or hobby that you can play late into your life. what part of the Pacific NW are you from?
well here what I have to say and others will chime in also to help on this for portability the launch monitor is the best way to go if you are wanting to basically put everything away after your done, if you want a fold up screen as others have done it depends on how you set up the screen frame a short throw projector might get in the way of the screen raising to the ceiling. I would not by a package deal as I feel you can get quality plus price by searching out suggestions from forum, a nice thing about the forum most of us have already done the mistake and moved forward on the fix so you will not have to. There some really good laptops out there that will run the golf programs if you choose to move in the TGC or JNPG but if you are starting out with skytrak a I pad and the WGT and the play and improve software will work to get you using the system

[aphillipe]

Well, reputable stores that have packages to save you money don't exist. They have packages, but you generally pay a premium for this. Depends on how handy you are and how much DIY you want to do, that is where the savings come from. Do you have a floor plan, it might be easier for people to make suggestions. I've got a garage setup, but mine is up against a wall. My previous setup was not and i had a wire tensioned between two locations so the screen and net could be slid out of the way. There are lots of different ways to make something work. Look up p3eps, he has a very nice garage setup.

Thanks for the reply! Here's a photo of our garage with some mark ups on what's currently where.. My wife wants the "option" to park in the garage although I don't see it as a necessity more just an option. Because of that I want to either do a hanging impact screen like what's offered on AllSportsSystems and then either a fold-up turf section or stuff that can just be quickly picked up and stored. I like DIY projects and if that saves money I'm definitely down to go that route providing I have a solid plan to go off of.

Our boat takes up 2 full spaces on the Left of the 4.5 we have... Storage racks down the middle divide up boat from remainder.. We have a very large piece of gym equipment that's 2,000 lbs that's in the right most bay but I can move that around if needed to accommodate a better spot for the simulator.. I was either thinking having the screen hang in front of the storage racks or having it in front of the water heaters/furnace area...

[aphillipe]

PS Grew up in Oregon but JUST moved across the river to Washington.

[aeroburner]

I have a home in Camas but reside in Tigard as I was tired of crossing the bridge to get to beaverton, You can come over to this side of the river and take a look at my set up take some shots as I have the protee and skytrak set up and we can discuss options on what I have so you can see what will work for you and what will not.

[Dav45Jac]

Are you using a projector? If so what is your screen size your projecting? I am extremely new to the golf sim. I purchased the Skytrack yesterday. My screen size will be 12x9 with 10 foot ceilings. With all the information on this site my head is spinning trying to figure out what the right short throw projector is.

[aphillipe]

I have a home in Camas but reside in Tigard as I was tired of crossing the bridge to get to beaverton, You can come over to this side of the river and take a look at my set up take some shots as I have the protee and skytrak set up and we can discuss options on what I have so you can see what will work for you and what will not.

That's a generous offer I may take you up on that providing you remember I'm the biggest newbie to golf imaginable and you close your eyes when I swing! I grew up in Hillsboro, then Happy Valley and then got some acreage up in Hockinson/Brush Prairie area and switched to WA... I work from home so income taxes are a thing of the past.

[aeroburner]

Haha I have a boy learning as well as my wife so my set up is bullet proof I am around all weekend if you want to stop by and play a round

[penrose]

I would go with allsportsystems.com Give them a call...they we walk you thru the entire process. If money NOT really an object call par2pro and have corie come down and build it for you. Golfsimulatoryguys are a nice inbetween, but I went with allsportsysems.

[aja]

Sorry.. devil's advocate agrees - "yes you are crazy" You are setting up a golf sim because of a 35 minute drive to GolfTek takes too much time???

Have you ever played on a real course and played a real round of golf??? (sorry I didn't bother to read all that stuff in between and skipped to the end).

If you think 35 minutes drive to your practice/instruction facility takes too much time then don't even start playing golf! A real round of golf takes a lot more time and a real round of golf is actually the whole point of playing golf to begin with...

[Boerdoc]

You have just begun a life long addiction that is not treatable, even with a 12 step program. You started out correctly "Hi my name is Adam" but you forgot the I am a golfer. Everyone here is addicted too. Our weekly meetings are in the form of tournaments. Our accountability is to each other and we regularly discuss our struggles to manage our addiction right here in this forum. As your wife indicated it is a life long struggle. I could go on but you get the idea.

Welcome to the group.

[Sledge0001]

This response is classic!

[aeroburner]

boerdoc has it copied and pasted on his wall lol

[rmyoung88]

Almost same exact boat (except two years in).

Started off because my knees wouldn't let me play basketball anymore. Took lessons right from the start, best investment you can make. Continue to do your lessons as often as you can.

Just this week, got a net return and a skytrak. (if you aren't against looking at a monitor, skytrak has a pretty good deal on a package).

Couple of recommendations golf wise, I'm not great, but have made decent progress over two years. Use the sim as much as you can, but continue to go to outdoor ranges to get a real feel for ball flight etc. I go to the range twice a week and will be hitting balls everyday now that I have the net.

Try to play at least once a week. There is no substitute for playing the course.

Get side barriers for your net return or whatever hitting net you set up. Especially if you are newer to golf.

Feel free to PM away if you have any random golf questions. New to the whole sim thing, but my path was really similar to yours!

[aeroburner]

yes great advice from everyone on getting out to see and get the feel of distance of ball flight, and Adam if you want to really have some fun grab your wife I will grab mine and lets go get some dinner at topgolf. I have a platinum membership there. on a Saturday night the disco lights come on and AC/DC playing loud, and its only 40 min. from your house...

[Ookie]

You've gotten some good advice here. Especially with regard to packages.

People in this industry realize that those who play golf have more disposable income than the average American. Sometimes a lot more. You can easily spend $50K for a setup that is far inferior to some of the stuff that people here have built for under $5K.

Lots of good info in this place.