A DIY golf simulator lets you turn a garage, shop, or basement into a year-round practice space without paying for a fully installed, turnkey build.
In this guide on how to build a golf simulator, we’ll walk through how one Carl’s Place customer built his own DIY golf simulator and enclosure on a realistic budget, and how you can choose the right level of DIY for your own space, from simple net setups to full golf simulator enclosures.
Many home golfers don’t jump straight to a full-blown golf simulator. They build up to it. Think of it in levels:
| Level 1: Indoor Practice Net Launch monitor + net + hitting mat. You’re hitting real balls indoors and getting data on a phone or tablet app. No screen or projector yet, but you’re already practicing year-round. |
Level 2: Hanging Screen You hang a golf impact screen in front of a wall or simple frame (for example, with finished-edge impact screen material). Pair it with a projector or TV and you’re now seeing shots play out on a big screen in front of you. |
Level 3: Golf Enclosure You upgrade to a full golf enclosure kit with impact screen for a clean, contained, dedicated simulator space that looks and feels like a real golf bay. |
Once you move beyond the “net and app” stage into a true golf simulator...which btw there is nothing wrong with a net and launch monitor home golf setup; it helps you get practicing more. It's a perfect way to get started golfing at home, but most home golfers end up upgrading to something that includes these same core components:
How “built out” you go depends on your space, budget, and how immersive you want the indoor golf experience to feel.
Want a shortcut? Start by measuring your room and using our Build Your Own Golf Simulator tool to size an enclosure, impact screen, and key components for your space.
There isn’t just one “right” way to DIY a golf simulator. Most home golfers fall into one of these three setups.
Story time! Our friend Guy (who provided all these photos of his home setup) started where a lot of DIYers do, Level 1, the launch montior + net. Guy's first home golf simulator included: the Garmin Approach R10 launch monitor, a pop-up hitting net, and a GoSports hitting mat.
All in, he spent about $740 for a net-based indoor/outdoor setup.
The Garmin ($600) is on par with a SkyTrak that costs $2,000,” Guy said. “It is super accurate, and it is great because it gives you all the metrics you need … I freakin’ love that launch monitor. I can’t talk enough about that thing.
He used it outside until it got cold, then moved the net setup into his shop with a canvas drop cloth behind it to catch wild shots.
Pros of the net + launch monitor approach:
Limitations: nets wear out over time, and without an impact screen and projector, you’ll be looking at a tablet or monitor off to the side instead of “playing” into a full-size virtual fairway.
If you’re ready to upgrade from a golf net, but not quite ready for a full enclosure, a finished impact screen hung directly on a wall or a simple frame is the go-to DIY middle ground.
Before you choose anything else, start with two decisions that determine how you’ll actually hang the screen:
With Carl's Build Your Own Finished Screen tool, you can choose it all in an easy step-by-step format.
Carl’s Place can finish impact screens in 125 different ways, so if you’re handy with framing or already have a finished wall, you can build your own support and let the finished screen do the clean-up work.
Plus you can choose one of Carl's screen materials (Standard, Preferred, Premium, or High-Contrast Gray). Not sure which one? Check our guide on choosing your golf screen material.
Before you finalize your golf screen, it helps to have a solid plan on how you’ll hang it. Your mounting method and your edge finish work together, so deciding one usually informs the other.
Every home, garage, and basement is a little different, which is why DIYers use a wide range of creative mounting solutions. Across golf-sim forums, Reddit threads, and YouTube builds, people frequently use materials like:
These aren’t Carl’s-engineered methods. Just the types of builds you’ll see real DIYers sharing online. The structure behind the screen is entirely up to you.
Where Carl’s Place comes in is making sure you have a properly sized, high-quality impact screen with edge finishes that match your mounting plan.
Or...when you're ready to upgrade to an all-in-one golf enclosure kit.
Back to our friend Guy. Once the weather, the worn-out net, and the appeal of year-round golf pushed him “down the rabbit hole” into a full DIY golf simulator build, Guy decided he wanted a full simulator experience. A big screen in a contained space. A clean look. That's when he moved from a net to a full golf enclosure.
He also:
For the core of his simulator, Guy chose a Carl’s Place 8x10.5x5 DIY Golf Simulator Enclosure Kit with Preferred Impact Screen.
That golf enclosure kit supplied:
To protect the frame and soften ball strikes near the edges, he added 1-inch pipe foam to the front and depth pipes of the enclosure for frame and bounce-back protection for errant shots that don’t quite make it inside the enclosure.
Once the enclosure was assembled, he put 1-inch exercise mats underneath the Grizzly Grass turf that he bought from Lowes.
He only put the exercise mats to the front of the enclosure before stopping so that he could roll up the turf to install the projector without ruining the turf.
To complete the simulator, Guy:
A few adjustments followed, mainly cutting out some of the foam exercise mat to insert his hitting mat...the kind of fine-tuning every DIYer ends up doing once the simulator comes to life.
The result? “I hit my longest simulated drive yet!” he said.
Once the core simulator is in place (enclosure + impact screen + launch monitor + projector + hitting mat), everything else is about comfort and fun. Guy added several upgrades you might want to borrow ideas from:
Although the Garmin R10 does not read putting, Guy still wanted a putting option. He used 4.25-inch drainpipe caps as cups, installing them into the turf and foam. His wife made flags from wooden dowels and red felt.
To keep things organized and immersive, he added:
To keep dust and errant clubs away from the lens, he folded an 8x10-inch Lexan sheet into the cage opening. It protected the lens without distorting the image.
Finally, he extended the sim area by about 5 feet and built a small bar with stools using:
So, for those of you who think a nice golf simulator room is stuck in your dreams or out of your budget, use Guy’s ideas as motivation.
This was a crazy project,” Guy said. “I set a goal of $3,000 with a budget of $4,500. I realized quickly that $3,000 wasn’t feasible. I was able to get the bare necessities for a decent sim for just over $3,200, so not too bad. But I had a lot of extra costs and it ended up, all-in-all, at nearly $5,500. Even at over $5,000 total cost, I would still call it a budget build considering the end result. My biggest pieces of advice for anyone starting a simulator project are plan, plan, plan and research, research, research. Dive deep into the golf simulator forums and subreddits to find all the info you need.
Total before tax: $3,277.04
Total before tax: $1,843.91
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Guy’s build is one detailed example, but it’s just that: an example. Your DIY golf simulator doesn’t have to include a bar, surround sound, and a full room makeover to be worth it.
Many home golfers follow a similar path:
As Guy’s project shows, the biggest wins usually come from planning, not from buying the most expensive gear. Measure carefully, read up on what other DIYers are doing, and decide how far you want to go now versus what can wait for “Phase 2.”
If you want to follow a similar path without reinventing the wheel:
Whether you stop at a simple hitting bay or go all-in like Guy, a well-planned DIY golf simulator lets you practice more, play more, and actually enjoy indoor golf instead of just scrolling through simulator forums thinking about it.