How I Built a High-End Home Golf Simulator for Under $10,000 CAD

A professional-looking home golf simulator for under $10,000 CAD

I built this basement golf simulator to look and feel like a high-end professional installation while keeping the complete simulator build below $10,000 CAD. The result combines a Mevo Gen 2, short-throw projector, impact screen, custom 2×6 frame, padded enclosure, inset hitting mat and finished turf area in a room that still works for guests.

My simulator room forced nearly every major decision. The full room is 10 feet 8 inches wide by 22 feet long with a 9-foot ceiling. The simulator and turf occupy the first 14 feet, and the impact screen sits 14 inches forward of the back wall. With a visible screen area about 112 inches wide by 101 inches high, this was never going to be a generic “buy an enclosure and put the tee in the middle” build.

Finished Range Built Golf home simulator room with impact screen, hitting mat and vinyl-plank guest area
The turf covers the 14-foot simulator zone. The remaining eight feet use vinyl plank flooring with a small table and chairs for guests and drinks.

The hitting position is offset, the projector has to fill an almost-square image, and the launch monitor needs enough room to read the ball without making the space uncomfortable. This guide explains what I chose, what caused problems, and what I would do differently.

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The core setup

  • Launch monitor: FlightScope Mevo Gen 2 with the Pro Package and face-impact capability
  • Projector: BenQ AH700ST short-throw projector
  • Impact screen: Aerixtron Golf Simulator Impact Screen with Black Back — Amazon.ca | Amazon.com
  • Frame: custom-built from 2×6 lumber rather than a pre-made metal enclosure
  • Wall padding: CAP Barbell 72×24×2-inch folding exercise mats — Amazon.ca | Amazon.com
  • Ceiling padding: CAP Barbell large folding exercise mat — Amazon.ca | Amazon.com
  • Hitting mat: Ponsonbay 6×4 dual-turf golf hitting mat with integrated ball tray — Amazon.ca | Amazon.com
  • Room turf: LITA 11×15-foot artificial grass with a 20 mm pile — Amazon.ca | Amazon.com
  • Floor underlay: REALIKE 24×24-inch interlocking EVA foam tiles, ½ inch thick — Amazon.ca | Amazon.com
  • Computer: Windows gaming PC with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070
  • Software: GSPro, E6 Connect and FS Golf
  • Display target: a custom square image for the simulator screen, alongside a 98-inch 4K television

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Why I built an L-shaped frame from 2×6 lumber

The impact screen was undersized for a room 10 feet 8 inches wide with a 9-foot ceiling, so I needed to reduce the finished opening at both sides and across the top. I built the surround as an L-shaped assembly from 2×6 lumber.

The first 2×6 lies flat against each side wall and the ceiling, fastened directly into wall studs and ceiling joists. A second 2×6 stands on edge and is screwed into the flat member. That second piece projects inward, narrowing the visible opening enough to match the standard-size screen while also creating a substantial front edge for the padded wall and ceiling mats to land on.

I installed the frame and screen 14 inches in front of the back wall, leaving space for impact-screen movement.

To mount the screen, I installed screw eyes on the rear face of the 2×6 frame. The bungee loops included with the Aerixtron screen connect its reinforced grommets to those hidden anchors. Mounting the hardware behind the frame keeps it outside the visible opening and lets the screen flex under impact while maintaining tension. The screen uses a white projection surface with a black light-blocking back.

The trade-off is that a lumber frame takes more planning, occupies more physical space and needs careful padding anywhere a ball could reach it. Screen tension also needs to be adjusted gradually and evenly rather than pulling one edge fully tight at a time.

DIY golf simulator enclosure and recessed six-by-four-foot hitting mat
The enclosure before the room was finished, showing the padded 2×6 structure and recessed hitting area.

How I built the padded black surround

Instead of ordering custom golf-simulator wall panels, I used black CAP Barbell folding exercise mats. The wall mats measure 72×24×2 inches and already have segmented seams, dense padding and a finished black cover. I attached them to the walls with double-sided carpet tape.

For the ceiling, I used a larger CAP folding exercise mat. I secured it with double-sided carpet tape and screws placed through the existing seams. The mechanical fasteners matter overhead; tape alone should not be treated as a permanent structural ceiling attachment.

The finishing detail was to angle the final row of wall mats inward so it rests on the front edge of the 2×6 screen frame. I angled the ceiling mat down in the same way. Those transitions close the gap around the screen and create a clean black border, allowing a standard non-custom impact screen to look fitted to the opening.

Safety note: The lumber frame is fastened into wall studs and ceiling joists—not drywall alone. This describes my installation, not an engineered overhead-mounting specification. Anyone copying it should select fasteners for their ceiling structure, keep screw heads and hard edges outside the ball-strike area or fully protected, and periodically inspect every overhead attachment.

How I made the hitting mat sit flush

I did not want the 6×4 hitting mat sitting like an island on top of the finished floor. I first covered the simulator area with 24×24-inch REALIKE interlocking EVA foam tiles, then laid an 11×15-foot roll of LITA artificial grass across the simulator area.

Two-foot interlocking foam tiles installed across the golf simulator room floor
The ½-inch foam-tile layer before the artificial turf was installed.

At the hitting position, I cut away the foam tiles underneath while keeping the turf layer in place. That allowed the turf to drop into the cut-out and created a recessed bed for the hitting mat. The Ponsonbay mat then sits within the surrounding floor instead of adding its full thickness above it.

This approach made the transition cleaner, reduced the step up to the mat and tied a relatively inexpensive room-wide floor into a purpose-built hitting surface. It also means the recess must be measured from the actual mat—not simply from its advertised dimensions—before any foam is cut.

Golf simulator room during construction showing the finished walls, projector and turf floor
The finished wall, projector and turf floor during the room build.

The hardest part: fitting the image to the screen

A screen this close to square wastes a lot of area if the computer and projector are left at a standard widescreen resolution. I use a custom square output so the image fills more of the available height and width. That introduces its own problems: Windows display behaviour, projector scaling and simulator software that sometimes opens in the corner or on the wrong display.

Splitting the 22-foot room into two zones

The room is 22 feet long, but I did not want all of it to feel like simulator flooring. The LITA turf covers the first 14 feet from the screen, creating a defined hitting and ball-flight zone. The remaining eight feet are finished in vinyl plank flooring.

That rear section holds a small table and two chairs, giving guests somewhere to sit and providing a place for drinks without putting them on the turf or near the hitting area. The flooring transition makes the simulator feel like part of a finished room rather than a practice bay occupying the entire space.

Launch-monitor placement

I hit from the centre of the 6×4 mat, which puts the tee approximately 11 feet from the impact screen. I position the Mevo Gen 2 exactly 8 feet behind the tee. In the 22-foot room, that leaves roughly 3 feet between the launch monitor and the rear wall. The radar-based launch monitor needs measured space behind the ball and enough flight before impact. Mat thickness and any floor drop behind the hitting area also matter because the device must sit level relative to the ball. Small placement errors can show up as missed shots, unreliable putting or inconsistent face-impact data.

Software lessons

E6 Connect has been the easiest to connect consistently. FS Golf has been useful for practice and short-game work. GSPro offers the strongest simulator experience, but getting the connection and tracking settings right required more troubleshooting. Enabling Fusion Tracking resolved an important face-impact issue in the advanced connection setup.

What I would decide before buying anything

  1. Measure the usable room, not just the wall-to-wall dimensions.
  2. Choose the launch monitor before fixing the hitting position. My layout uses about 11 feet from tee to screen and exactly 8 feet from tee to launch monitor.
  3. Confirm the projector throw and image geometry against the actual screen.
  4. Plan the computer and display connections if the room will use more than one screen.
  5. Budget for the unglamorous parts: flooring transitions, protection, cables, mounting and lighting control.

Build notes and future updates

This guide documents the simulator as it is currently built and used. I will continue updating it with exact frame measurements, longer-term durability observations and practical alternatives as I test the room over time.

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