Decided to get back into golf after playing very sparingly (5-6 rounds a year) the past 12 years (had kids). Was never better than a low/mid 90s golfer (lowest ever 88 two years ago) and took lessons over 15 years ago that set the foundation. Figured building a sim would give me a place to practice and play as much as I want. TLDR: 1 month and I've scored my best round ever IRL and feeling more confident each week.
This is my garage, fold up build. Some folks here have asked for pictures and details here they are!
Build Details
- 2 Car Garage, 8'2" High, plenty of depth (about 25'+) and width of one garage side is about 11-12'. I'm 5'9" and can swing driver in here freely but have hit the ceiling on over extended follow throughs (added padding just in case). Had to move my garage door opener up and other stuff off the ceiling.
- Enclosure/Floor Materials: Amazon enclosure net, Amazon Impact Screen, Amazon Stance Mat, Bullseye Soft Hitting Strip I cut into the stance mat, outdoor indoor artificial grass mats from Canadian Tire to absorb balls dropping from the screen. Putt-A-Bout putting mat from Amazon.
- Gear: MLM2Pro, UGreen 4K Webcam for Putting, Ethernet to USB adapter to run the webcam to my gaming computer in my office. BenQ XGA Project I had sitting around from my business and my gaming computer to run GSPro (4070 Super, 5700x3d, 32gb ram, overkill for this). Sonos/Ikea Symfonisk speakers I already had in the garage (gaming computer airplays to them using Tuneblade).
- Mounting: Netting and impact screen are hooked up to the walls using screw eyelets mounted onto studs or 2x4s mounted onto studs.
- Lighting: Replaced old fluorescent light fixtures with LED ceiling lights from costco. Two Amazon LED flood lights to illuminate the hitting area and putting area.
- Set-up and take down in 3-4 minutes and park my car. Super fast if I'm just running MLM2Pro/Awesome Golf off my iPad. Artificial grass stays put, I slide my hitting mat away from the car so it doesn't get dirty. Clubs hung on the wall.
- GSPro is run off my iPad using Moonlight/Sunshine from my gaming computer upstairs. MLM2Pro connects via bluetooth and the webcam is connected via a USB-ethernet converter. My networking runs all flow through my garage so it was easy to repurpose one line for the converter.
- Webcam is mounted on a wood post with a hinge so it folds up out of the way.
Results and Practice
- Practicing almost every day. One rest day a week.
- Playing a real course once or twice a week since August.
- Analyzing my swing using MLM2Pro's tools.
- Watching Danny Maude on YouTube for tips and adjustments. Just hitting more is good but not enough if you are practicing bad habits.
- His tips have got me hitting more fairways and greens and most important working with a more natural, fun swing.
- The next plateau I hit I'll probably go get some more in person lessons.
- I shot 85 for the first time last week and feeling more confident in my distance, strike and overall course management. The below 90s rounds I've had in the past were more just hot putting/irons but now if feels like more and more are coming together.
Random thoughts
- The MLM2Pro, even with the lifetime subscription is great value for its accuracy and data. Yes chipping isn't always perfect but workable. I've had some friends who are scratch golfers come over and said not only are the shapes/distances spot on but as good as 35-40K sim setups they've tried before.
- Adding webcam putting completes the experience. My real world putting has gotten better also because I'm thinking more about breaks, distance control and never skipping that part of the game.
- At first I thought the MLM2Pro was misreading or getting my distances wrong but turns out I just wasn't striking well. Now that I've become more consistent it definitely reads my good strikes at distances I expect to see in real life.
- Don't cheap out on mats! I quickly upgraded to Bullseye because my left arm starting hurting after 1 week on a cheap amazon mat. It's fine for stance but not 50+ shots a day.
- For fast set-up, I picked up a laser aligner and marked spots on the floor. I place my laser, then the MLM2Pro and use the aiming line at the top of the launch monitor. Much faster than using the Rapsodo app.
Really pleased with my set-up and have been getting my kids learning as well. Been a really fun month of golf! Any questions let me know.
by Han-Yolo44
