Best Home Golf Simulator Setups by Budget and Room Size

The cheapest real setup skips the projector. Hit into a 10 x 7 ft net and read every shot on a phone or tablet, or cast the launch monitor's app to a TV. You still get ball speed, launch, carry and courses.

A radar unit needs the room behind you: the Garmin R10 sits 6 to 8 ft behind the ball, and the ball needs 8 ft to the net. That is about 15 ft in all. Everything here carries over when you add an enclosure and projector later.

An enclosure turns the net into a screen. The GoSports enclosures come with the frame, blackout side netting, foam padding and an impact screen, in 10 x 8, 12 x 9 and 14 x 8 ft. Pick the widest one your room takes with about 6 inches to spare for the frame.

Pair it with a short throw projector. Most projectors are 16:9; on a 10 x 8 or 12 x 9 screen they run in 4:3 mode and fill the screen height, so the native image width is the screen height x 16/9. A 0.5 throw projector then sits about 7 to 8 ft from the screen, in front of you. A 0.69 to 0.83 throw projector sits 10 to 12 ft back, over the hitting area, where it needs a cage or a flush mount.

The Rapsodo MLM2PRO adds two cameras to the radar for measured spin and impact video. It sits 6.5 to 8.5 ft behind the ball. If the room is shorter than about 15 ft 6 in, use a camera unit beside the ball instead.

At the top end, camera units measure the ball beside you with no marked balls and no space behind. The Garmin R50 has its own 10 inch touchscreen and HDMI out, so it runs the simulator without a PC. The Uneekor EYE MINI LITE and the Bushnell Launch Pro are the PC-based alternatives for GSPro and E6.

The Indoor Golf Shop SIG enclosures use the SIGPRO screen rated to 250 mph, with padding on all four sides. The SIG10 frame is 10 ft 10 in wide and 8 ft 4 in tall; the SIG12 is 12 ft 2 in by 9 ft 4 in, which needs a ceiling over about 9 ft 6 in.

BenQ's golf projectors are built for this: the AH500ST has a 0.499 throw and 2D keystone, and the AH700ST adds 4,000 lumens and a 1.2x zoom for rooms where the mount spot is fixed.

If the room is also for movies, a 4K long throw projector can work, but only in a deep room. The JMGO N1S Ultra has a 1.21 throw ratio, so on a 10 x 8 screen it sits about 17 ft back, behind the golfer, where your shadow can fall on the screen when you stand at the ball. Mount it high, or pick a short throw model for golf and keep the theater separate.

Skip ultra short throw projectors for golf. They sit on the floor a foot or two from the screen, in the ball's path.