At Carl's Place, we're showing golfers with any budget how to make a “cheap” golf simulator in their own homes.
There’s a chance you’ve already read our $5,000, $10,000 and $20,000 golf simulator build challenges.
Now that we’ve added several budget friendly options to our lineup of fantastic golf simulator equipment, we figured we could build out a golf simulator setup for less than $3,000. Some of you big spenders might call that a “frugal golf simulator" or an "affordable golf simulator". Google tells us that "cheap golf simulator" is what a lot of you are asking about, but how about we keep it polite and stick with “financially responsible.”
So what can we get with $3,000? Nope, it won’t be the highest-end luxury golf simulator, but definitely a respectable one for indoor golf novices or people with a limited budget and/or space.
Keeping the budget in mind, we decided to go with the least expensive Carl’s Place DIY Enclosure (7.7 feet tall by 10 feet wide by 5 feet deep) and Standard Impact Screen. The 7.7-ft size is a favorite for budget indoor golf setups as it was designed specifically to fit well within standard 8-foot ceilings. (Of course, use caution when swinging in a room of that height. Especially with your driver.)
Carl’s Tip: We can customize sizes outside of the standard golf enclosure sizes listed on our website, but we don’t recommend going smaller than the 7.7-by-10-by-5 foot size.
You will need pipes to build the frame of the golf enclosure and impact screen, and we offer that kit for an additional cost. Many people will source the pipe locally for a lesser cost, and that's what we will do with this order.
At a very reasonable price, the Garmin R10 and Rapsodo MLM2Pro both provide the key data you need to improve your game. For this build, we went with the least expensive option, the Garmin R10.
After purchasing the Garmin R10 launch monitor, you will have access to the Garmin Golf app. For free, you can: access the driving range and save range sessions; review your shot history and performance stats; participate in weekly leaderboards; and create tournaments.
An upgrade for just $9.99 a month or $99.99 annually allows you to access Home Tee Hero virtual rounds and store video clips of shots that are viewable across multiple devices in Garmin’s cloud.
No computer necessary to run this software as you can just download the app for free on your mobile phone.
Although a projector is not necessary in this “cheap” golf simulator, I mean, financially-responsible set up, you have an impact screen that is meant to show your golf simulator software to make it an immersive experience.
Just because a projector is not pricey doesn’t mean it doesn’t pack a punch. Check out all our projector review videos for help figuring out which one is for you.
Placing your projector can be tricky though, so be sure that when you purchase your projector, you’ve thought about:
If you plan on using your mobile device or tablet as mentioned above, you will likely need an adapter or bluetooth connection to your projector. You can simply get an adapter, such as a lightning or USB-C to HDMI adapter, or spend a little more for a Chromecast or Apple TV for a wireless connection.
You’re not going to want to hit off of your cement garage floor, laminate basement floor or shag carpeting (although it might be tempting). You will want to use a hitting mat to avoid damaging your floors, your clubs, and your joints.
Carl's Place offers a variety of golf hitting mats.
We chose the Carl's HotShot™ 4x9 Golf Mat so that both righties and lefties can play on it with a central hitting area without having to adjust it each time.
Carl’s HotShot™ Golf Mats give a soft, realistic hitting surface in multiple sizes. It comes with three holes where you can place rubber tee receivers so you can continue to use real tees. Or you can just stick your tee directly into the turf (except with the gel insert).
And then when the center hitting area wears out, it's easy to replace just that area without replacing your whole mat.
Well, we came close. We discovered how to make a “cheap” golf simulator setup, that is both fantastic and affordable, just over $3,000 before taxes. We could have even gone easier on our wallet in some areas (smaller hitting mat, used projector, or just getting a screen hung, etc.), so there’s proof that golfers with all budgets have a chance to get into indoor golf.
Did you build an awesome golf simulator on a budget? Share your build with us.