Spend my money!!

[Chief Illiniwek]

Ok the dream is finally here and I’m overwhelmed. So many options these days. I know variations of this question have been asked a million times but here’s one million and one. How do I proceed?

 

Currently have a shed going up that will have a 30x30 foot heated and air conditioned room with drywall walls with a wainscoting bottom, coffer ceilings to give it a country club look, and it’ll have a concrete floor. The concrete floor is also in floor heat if that alters mat suggestions.

 

So what do I get to make this room awesome? For starters I’ll have both righty and lefty golfers so I was thinking of getting a mevo +. I was going to hit from the middle of the room. That gives me about 13 to 14 feet of flight, and lets me put the unit well back behind me for accurate readings. Is that TOO much? What size screen would you go with? Would it be silly to go with like a 20 foot wide screen? Ceiling is 16 feet so all aspects are on the table.

 

what should I do with mat, surrounding flooring, and the enclosure? I really like padding instead of a tarp like you see at bars that have commercial simulators.

 

Any advice greatly appreciated!!

[iacas]

Do you have a budget? I think you’re going to see better results overall with an overhead unit. I know someone with righties and lefties who bought two floor units like a GC3 that they can then take to the range as well.

[Chief Illiniwek]

I’d like to keep it under $15k when it’s all said and done. Don’t know if that’s realistic or not?

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Chief Illiniwek said:

I’d like to keep it under $15k when it’s all said and done. Don’t know if that’s realistic or not?

 

Good, now we're getting somewhere. For ≤ $15k-ish, what do you have to get? The space is as above, and not included?

 

So…

• PC
• Projector
• Net/Screen
• Mats
• Launch Monitor

Anything else? Or is any of the above already accounted for?

[BigBelly]

I'd go for the ProTee VX overhead setup with the 4x10 SIG Pro Softy hitting mat.  Add a nice gaming laptop or PC to this package and you'll have all you ever need.

 

https://shopindoorgolf.com/products/protee-vx-sig12-golf-simulator-package?variant=40915177341017

[Canada8888]

You may want to consider one of these packages.  If you can wait and watch they go on deep discount sale several times a year.  

 

https://www.foresightsports.com/collections/sim-in-a-box

[Herm33]

I would second the overhead recommendation UNLESS you are thinking of wanting something you could take often take to a driving range or course as well.  But this sounds like more of a permanent set up.

 

With that budget my initial thought would be Eye XO (which I'm very familiar with) or ProTee VX which was mentioned here as well.  When Uneekor runs sales Eye XO can be in the $6500 range.  That would in theory leave plenty of room for the other items.

[Chief Illiniwek]

I’ve found that since this is a metal building on the outside, a mevo plus has a chance of having interference. So having checked out the recommended options and watched some videos, I’m now leaning towards the Protee xv. 
 

If I go that route, it looks like I’ll want an 11 foot or so ceiling mount. Should I just build an enclosure inside the room at make it about 18 feet by 10.125 feet for the screen? And then put my own foam padding on the walls?

[Chief Illiniwek]

And am I thinking of standing TOO far away from the impact screen? I figured the farther the better, but the farther back you stand, the more wedges will hit above the screen, right? I launch my wedges fairly low but my main golf buddy often hits above the screen on commercial sims. 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Chief Illiniwek said:

And am I thinking of standing TOO far away from the impact screen? I figured the farther the better, but the farther back you stand, the more wedges will hit above the screen, right? I launch my wedges fairly low but my main golf buddy often hits above the screen on commercial sims. 

 

Yes, plus if you hit pitch or flop shots… it'll go high. That's another reason for optical launch monitors.

[J_Tizzle]

23 hours ago, iacas said:

 

Yes, plus if you hit pitch or flop shots… it'll go high. That's another reason for optical launch monitors.

 

I would think you could do kind of a slanted netting above the net to catch wedges and pop-ups from less skilled golfers giving it a whirl.  I'd think it would still catch it and show it on the screen.  Might not be ideal but could be an option.  

 

I'm very envious of your situation.  I've been debating about once I have my house paid off in 4-5 years of trying to buy like 20ft of my neighbors backyard that is basically just brush for them, and give myself the opportunity to put in like a 20x30 man shed and put in my dream sim.  Just keep my entire neighborhood up with "thump thump thump" all winter long, lol.  

[Davecz]

Ill second the protee vx, inhave a similar metal building (30x44) w 12 ft ceilings. Protee vx has been amazing, only downside is you cant take it with you to the range but for the money I think its the best you can get. And just as accurate as any other. 
 

Here is my setup

 

 

[Davecz]

On 3/7/2025 at 6:40 PM, iacas said:

 

Yes, plus if you hit pitch or flop shots… it'll go high. That's another reason for optical launch monitors.

Im 10.5ft from screen and can easily hit ceiling with a flop but have metal ceilings and haven't caused any damage yet. I was going to out up a short net but at this point will leave it. One thing to make sure and get is the protective cover if you go w the proteevx. Guy I ordered from included it free with purchase of the monitor 

[BigBelly]

14 hours ago, Davecz said:

Ill second the protee vx, inhave a similar metal building (30x44) w 12 ft ceilings. Protee vx has been amazing, only downside is you cant take it with you to the range but for the money I think its the best you can get. And just as accurate as any other. 
 

Here is my setup

 

 

This is pretty much a dream setup.  Looks awesome!!!!

[goinforeit]

The hardest part will be making all these decisions. But this is a good problem to have. Congratulations @Chief Illiniwek!

I've put out a few videos on how to narrow down your selection, allocate your budget, and how-to DIY the foam panels to save you thousands. youtube.com/@goinforeit has all the goods. 

I've helped hundreds of people with their sim-build decisions for fun and am happy to jump on the phone and chat through yours. I truly love it. $15K is much more than you need for a setup that looks similar to what you see @davecz has and what I have. Maybe not the exact tech, but you can get a luxury look with plenty of performance.

 

[Chief Illiniwek]

On 3/12/2025 at 3:34 PM, Davecz said:

Ill second the protee vx, inhave a similar metal building (30x44) w 12 ft ceilings. Protee vx has been amazing, only downside is you cant take it with you to the range but for the money I think its the best you can get. And just as accurate as any other. 
 

Here is my setup

 

 

This looks great! Do you have any concerns of shanks with your current setup?

[goinforeit]

I can't speak for @Davecz, but my padded panels are 4' deep, and I'm 10' from the screen at address. Ibhave ball marks in the wall from shanks that would be saved if I brought those out another 2'. Nothing passed that and I started golfing in this sim, so i've hit all kinds of terrible shots. 

I have had some big hitters try to hit drives too hard that have had tops go straight up and hit the ceiling no more than 1 or 2 feet from the address position. 

[Davecz]

Mine screen comes out 5’ and so far shanks aren’t a problem. Topping the ball is the bigger issue as goinforeit said. 
 

I have a range of players from scratch to 20 plus handicaps, if I had drywall instead of metal ceilimg id probably put up a short net. 
 

And yes if you piece it together you can get my setup under 15k. Computer can range a bit and the hitting surface is a big part where you can save and still have a professional looking setup. Mine is a sigpro softy insert with floor built up around it. Basically a mix of several YouTube videos I watched. 
 

feel free to pm with any specific questions im happy to help. 

[ALIF]

On 3/15/2025 at 4:56 PM, goinforeit said:

I can't speak for @Davecz, but my padded panels are 4' deep, and I'm 10' from the screen at address. Ibhave ball marks in the wall from shanks that would be saved if I brought those out another 2'. Nothing passed that and I started golfing in this sim, so i've hit all kinds of terrible shots. 

I have had some big hitters try to hit drives too hard that have had tops go straight up and hit the ceiling no more than 1 or 2 feet from the address position. 

That’s all really great info. I watch one of your videos. Thank you. What I really want to know is what is your W/kg @ LT?

[goinforeit]

On 3/28/2025 at 8:34 PM, ALIF said:

That’s all really great info. I watch one of your videos. Thank you. What I really want to know is what is your W/kg @ LT?

Ha! Never thought I'd get that question here. 🙂  Clearly you ride? That's awesome! And thank you for watching. I really do love making those videos and this crazy game.

I'm at 5.4 w/kg in peak form, however, most of the season, I'm in around 5 w/kg. 

I still train like I'm racing so I can hold my own when needed. It's hard to let it go.   

 

[ALIF]

2 hours ago, goinforeit said:

Ha! Never thought I'd get that question here. 🙂  Clearly you ride? That's awesome! And thank you for watching. I really do love making those videos and this crazy game.

I'm at 5.4 w/kg in peak form, however, most of the season, I'm in around 5 w/kg. 

I still train like I'm racing so I can hold my own when needed. It's hard to let it go.   

 

That’s really strong!

[goinforeit]

7 hours ago, ALIF said:

That’s really strong!

Thanks,  man. Bike racing is the only thing I'm pretty okay at in life.