IllustrationDIY build
$3,000–$9,000A kit enclosure, a consumer launch monitor, a mat, and your own labor. Real and it works. You are responsible for the room being usable in winter.
IllustrationSeven months of golf, twelve months a year
Most simulator projects die on a measurement nobody took. Take it here first, in about a minute, and find out what your room will actually let you build.
8′8″Driver clearance, 5′10″ golfer
12′Shortest workable depth
12Launch monitors checked against your room
Measure your room
Ceiling, depth, width, and the height of whoever swings hardest. Everything below the drawing is computed from those, including which launch monitors are physically possible and which ones you should stop reading about.
The room
Ceiling
′″
Measure to the lowest thing over the swing, not the highest point of the room.
Depth, front to back
′″
Width, wall to wall
′″
Whoever is swinging
Tallest player
′″
Handedness
Swing plane
Standard. If you don't know, you're this.
Longest club indoors
How it gets built
Someone measures, orders, installs and calibrates.
What the room already has
Everything you leave unchecked is money the estimate has to add before a ball is ever struck in February.
Drawn to scale · Square Golf
Swipe the drawing to see the whole room →
- Swing envelope
- Height your swing needs
- Comfortable height
- Ball flight
OverheadFitsClears
DepthIdealEverything fits where it wants to go
WidthIdealFits a 12′ screen
It works
Your binding constraint is overhead. Clears.
Estimate for this room
$12,500–$37,200
7 of 12 launch monitors fitThree questions, in the order they kill projects
Overhead
Clears
A 5′10″ golfer swinging a driver on a neutral plane peaks around 8′8″, and you have 9′.
Depth
Everything fits where it wants to go
Your 20′ splits into 1′6″ of screen standoff, 12′ from ball to screen, and 6′6″ of clear floor behind the ball.
Width
Fits a 12′ screen
12′ of screen with 1′ either side for framing and the netting that catches a shank.
Where your 20′ of depth goes2′6″ spare
Screen standoff1′6″
The screen has to travel backward when a ball hits it. Bolt it flat to the wall and you punch through the screen, or through the drywall behind it.
Minimum 1′ · comfortable 1′6″Ball to screen12′
Under 8 feet the ball reaches the screen before the launch monitor has finished reading it, and projected ball flight looks wrong because your eye is too close to the image.
Minimum 8′ · comfortable 12′Stance and backswing4′
You, your backswing, and enough floor that you are not teeing off with your heels against a wall.
Minimum 3′ · comfortable 4′What your room lets you buyclick one to place it in the drawing
Every unit below is checked against the layout above, not against a marketing page. The ones that fail are here on purpose, with the number that failed them, because that is the thing people find out after the box arrives.
Beside the ball6 of 6 fit
Cameras looking sideways at impact. Costs almost no depth, which is why short rooms end up here.
Above the ball1 of 2 fit
Ceiling mounted, looking down. Uses no floor space at all, but wants height and a permanent mount.
Behind you0 of 4 fit
Doppler radar on the floor behind the ball, needing real distance to track flight. The first thing a shallow room rules out.
Screen and projector
- Impact screen
- 12′ × 8′Largest stock size your width allows, with room for framing.
- Projected image
- 12′ × 6′9″16:9 inside that screen. Ceiling height is what caps it, not the screen.
- Throw
- Ultra short throwMounts 4′2″ from the screen. Clear of the swing.
- Ball position
- 13′6″ off the front wallMark it on the floor before you order turf, not after.
What this room costs$12,500–$37,200
Launch monitor
$900 – $1,100
Street price for the cheapest unit that fits your room. Subscriptions and course packages are on top, and they are annual.
Enclosure and impact screen
$3,500 – $7,300
Sized for the 12′ screen your width allows.
Hitting mat and turf
$400 – $2,200
A stand-alone mat you can drag out of the way.
Projector and mount
$1,500 – $3,600
Ultra short throw is what your depth calls for. Ceiling mount and cable runs add labor.
PC, display and software
$1,100 – $3,200
A gaming PC plus a sim package. Course subscriptions are ongoing, not one-time.
Minnesota prep
$3,900 – $16,000
This room still needs insulation, a heat source, a dedicated circuit, drywall and ceiling. In January that is not optional, and it is the line item that doubles budgets here.
Design and installation labor
$1,200 – $3,800
Delivery, install, calibration.
Built from the cheapest launch monitor that fits, the screen your width allows, and the prep this room still needs. Retail ranges, not a quote. A builder will move these.
Nothing leaves your browser until you add contact details. The link just carries your numbers.
The garage line item nobody quotes you
National retailers price gear. In Minnesota you are also paying for insulation, a heat source, electrical and usually drywall before a single golf component goes in. That is the difference between a $12,000 quote and a $27,000 invoice, and it is the most common reason a budget doubles halfway through a build.
A finished basement skips all of it. An uninsulated third stall does not.
Full cost breakdown
IllustrationWhat the money looks like
Illustration
IllustrationValue install
$9,000–$18,000Someone else measures, orders, and installs. Mid-tier launch monitor, standard enclosure, mat. The most common first build in a finished basement.
IllustrationCustom build
$18,000–$35,000Framing, turf, finish work, better optics, and a room designed around the bay rather than a bay dropped into a room. Most garage conversions land here once prep is counted.
IllustrationPremium build
$35,000–$80,000Top-tier launch monitor, built-in cabinetry, lighting design, seating, sometimes multi-sport. Doubles as a theater and an entertaining room.
One builder, matched to your budget
Your spec goes to a single builder who works at that price point, not to five of them. That is the whole reason installers work with us, and it is why you get a real reply instead of a week of cold calls.