Converting our media room to a golf sim. I told my wife I’d “try” to keep it under $7K. Did a quick AI generated image. Disregard its interpretation of a launch monitor. 😊
Room size should work fine. Depth is just under 18 and width 14. Height where I’ll be swinging is 10 ft but the enclosure has to be max of 9 because the slope up front starts at 8ft so when you pull it out for a back gap, you move up pretty quickly. Thinking 10-12ft wide by 8.5 high. Looking at the Parlor 11 or Carl’s 11.5×8.5. Was looking at the SigPro Softy 4×7.
My question… How would you balance the spend if you’re shooting for $7K? Enclosure, mat and monitor. What would you do and if you’ve done a similar budget, what do you have and how do you like it?
I was thinking $1.5K-$2K for enclosure. $1K for mat. $2-$3K for launch monitor. My buddy has a PC that should work that I can buy off him for a minimal amount. I already have two TVs – one for the PC and larger one for just sports or something. I know there will be other things I’ll need – turf for the enclosure.
Have an Epson 2150 which should be able to hit the right aspect ratio but have to test that and making sure where it’s positioned my head doesn’t block any of the screen.
Going with GsPro subscription based on all the reviews.
It’s all carpeted so I’ll need to factor in making things don’t slide and I’ll want to do some padding in places to protect from ricochet.
Note: I do have two left handed daughters and I know I’ll want to get them in here at some point. Was just thinking of running an extra power and video cable under the hitting mat to the other side so I can flip it with relative ease. But primarily all righties. Budget doesn’t really accommodate an overhead unit.
Appreciate any thoughts as I start the process and looking forward to sharing some pics once I get to building. Fortunately, 2 sides are surrounded by open attic as I’ll want to reposition my electronics since they won’t sit behind the screen anymore. Lots to plan but looking forward to it!
by UsuallyQuietButIMO
4 Comments
I did mine for pretty much 7ish (before pc upgrade see below). Imo you have to go cheap on enclosure, flooring etc to stay on that price.
I’d focus most of your budget Launch monitor (I went Eye mini lite) Projector (you list one but make sure it will be good enough) Hitting mat (I can’t stress the quality of the mat enough. You will hit hundreds of balls a week on this thing)
I spent 2k on projector, $2500 on LM, 1k on hitting mat and floor, and 1k on enclosure from Amazon. Then a bunch of misc stuff to get it all to work, accessories, etc.
If you truly have a projector that works great then you could redirect that ~2k into either enclosure(carls or sigpro) or maybe like a full money putt floor with hitting inserts. I personally think the Eye Mini is the best bang for the buck LM unless you go to ceiling mounted(protee) or way up to Gcquad range. Ppl will argue for Foresight GC3 but that’s 4k more than the EML.
I too thought I had a pc that could run it and I was dead wrong. Spent another 1600 after the setup to get a rig to run in full ultra .
https://preview.redd.it/07b2s0on4deg1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c12b84250a89140838f0333cd59ee8ccf73f1ba9
I think you’re looking at the big picture correctly. Use all the things you already have, snag a hitting mat with a strip in the middle made for left and right hitters, if you want righty and lefty players to be able to play at the same time and don’t want an overhead, monitors like BLP and others have built in batteries and can easily be moved from one side to the other without having to worry about battery life. I wouldn’t be super concerned with running power etc. One option is to buy a complete enclosure system, but you could always get an impact screen with gromets from carls place and DIY the enclosure to save a few dollars. GL!!
Wait about a week to reevaluate launch monitor options–there will be a bunch of new stuff at the PGA Show getting released tomorrow, so current options will (hopefully) be discounted, and newer budget options might offer more features.
Don’t skimp on the hitting mat. I’d also spend a little more on the enclosure/projector (not sure how good this projector you already have access to is) if it means you’ll be happier. Nothing worse than buying something cheaper only to realize later that it sucks and needs to be replaced, anyways. Contrary to most, I would start with a cheap launch monitor (Spectrum Element or even Square) since that is the most easily re-sold and also easily portable/upgradeable. Get a nice enclosure/mat/projector (hopefully the computer you have is adequate–new softwares require some beefy PC specs), save a little on the launch monitor, then come next year after you’ve refilled the fun-money budget bucket, if you want better club data or something, you can sell your Square/Spectrum Element LM and upgrade to something a little more robust/feature-rich.
I’d go with a built in place screen and padding, you’ll maximize the screen size. You’ve got a great space there and you’d end up with a nice custom look for about as much as you’ll pay for a cheaper enclosure, You’d spend maybe $1,500 depending on the screen you choose and where you buy it from.
An overhead like a Vtrack might eat too much of your budget, but there’s used Eye Mini’s on eBay for $3,000-ish, that get’s you a solid LM that you can swap fairly easily between lefties and righties.
In keeping with the DIY theme savings, flooring combining rigid foam board, puzzle foam and turf like SYNPutt from Lowes is a bargain solution which let’s you get a high quality custom sized stance/putting surface and allows for a high quality hitting strip in the center, maybe end up spending $1,100-ish on this.
Start with you existing projector and bargain PC, you might end up below budget with some elbow grease and a sweet looking setup.