Equipment recommendations?

[Coffman]

The three photos are screen shots from a YouTube (ideas for this phase), the garage photo is my future SIM. My hitting area; I’ll move the vehicles & mower and set up every time I practice.
I just purchase a Skytrak today, next is the net return, flat screen, iPad, hitting mat & to modify a welding cart for my flat screen/iPad.
I’m unsure what to purchase; iPad vs computer. Pros and cons please.
Trying to keep this SIM phase on a budget but still would like to play courses along with practicing.
I’m building in a couple years, I will include a dedicate room with impact screen/projector etc, but for now, I need my garage space to be versatile.
I’ll except any suggestions-I’m brand spank’n new.

[ernie18]

dont think you need a net return but to each their own. i use a hackket net and its serves a purpose...i use both ipad and pc, ipad is nice because its wireless.

[Coffman]

The Golf Club link, I checked it out. Doesn’t that need a computer to operate, not an iPad?

[frodaddy00]

You can use iPad / iPhone with the SkyTrak practice software no problems.

You could even download WGT golf app and play a few of their courses based on the SkyTrak yearly subscription model you choose.

I also have The Net Return and its great. I sprung extra for the little side nets that run parallel the the mat to catch a stray ball (since im kinda a hack golfer).

Now let's talk about Course Simulators.. honestly your expense now probably doubles once you bite this bullet. You need the software and a computer capable of running the physics engine..which is basically what golf sims are.

If you want to run The Golf Club, you will need a decent computer. Furthermore, you will need a pretty solid graphics card (think GeForce GTX 10 series - 1050 and up).

I also have my setup in my garage therefore I went ahead and bought a gaming laptop for portability. I looked for a sale and found one with a good processor and a GTX 1060 6GB for about $1200.

TGC - $800-1000 one-time licensing fee depending on promotions.

Hope that helps.

[Coffman]

Thanks for the input. Let me see if I understand; to start I can use my iPhone/iPad and still practice (view launch angles, speed, etc) and play some golf courses.

[frodaddy00]

Yes. SkyTrak comes with really good software that lets you practice, perform challenges, bag mapping (to confirm your club distances), etc. By the way you can also install the SkyTrak software on a PC if that was not clear.

Regarding golf course simulation you have limited choices if using mobile and more options, albeit more expensive, for PC.

Check this out for starters - http://www.skytrakgolf.com/simulation

The only mobile option I am aware of to play golf courses with SkyTrak is WGT golf app. This is OK but somewhat primitive as far as golf simulators go. There are a couple of Skytrak yearly subscription options available to you and depending on which one you choose it opens up more WGT courses. See details here - http://www.skytrakgolf.com/simulation/wgt

Otherwise, you need a PC to run "real" simulator software with your SkyTrak. That first link I provided shows them in more detail: e6 golf, JNPG, TGC and Creative Golf 3D.

There are forums for each of those simulators found here on this website. I can only speak about TGC since that is what I chose to purchase for my course simulator.