Building a golf simulator yourself: the parts list, the five traps and the real total

Building a golf simulator yourself works, and the parts list is short. What many people underestimate: building it yourself means building the frame and the screen yourself. The launch monitor, the projector and the software cost what they cost in a finished package. Here are the parts with prices, three levels with totals, and the five places where a self-build goes wrong.

The parts list

Five parts, each deciding something different. The prices come from the 2026 cost breakdown by Best Golf Simulator, in US dollars because that is where the market is; Swiss dealers sit above them because of import and VAT.

Part	Price	What it decides
Launch monitor	USD 499 to 13,995	whether you get numbers or estimates
Screen and enclosure	USD 300 as a net, 800 to 1,500 as a kit, 3,600 to 4,000 ready-made	picture, safety, noise
Projector	USD 700 to 900 entry level, 3,500 to 4,000 for laser	picture size in a short room
Hitting mat	USD 150 to 950	your wrists
Computer and software	USD 900 to 1,900, plus 250 to 1,100 a year	which courses you play

The launch monitor is the range that dwarfs everything else: from the Garmin Approach R10 at USD 499 through the Bushnell Launch Pro at 2,499 and the Foresight GC3 at 7,500 to the TrackMan iO at 13,995. Saving on the mat means saving on your wrists; saving on the device means collecting numbers nobody needs.

Three levels, with totals

Level	What is in it	Total
Net and numbers	net, mat, entry-level launch monitor, tablet	from USD 1,500
Picture and a round	screen as a kit, short-throw projector, mid-range device, PC with software	USD 5,000 to 12,000
Like a lounge	ready-made enclosure, laser projector, top-end device	from USD 15,000

For comparison: what stands in a commercial venue typically costs USD 25,000 to 70,000. The difference to the middle level is less the measuring technology than everything around it: enclosure, acoustics, lighting and a device that runs eight hours a day.

What a self-build really saves

Exactly one part: the enclosure. A frame of pipe or timber with a tensioned screen and black fabric around it costs a fraction of the finished product, and it is the only part where handiwork lowers the price. The screen itself you buy: a sheet from a hardware store does not survive a ball at 60 metres a second, and a hole in it is bigger the next evening.

What cannot be saved is the measuring device, the projector and the software. Save there and you build a room in which you do not measure but guess, and that needs no enclosure.

The room decides before the budget

Before you buy a single screw, measure the room. TrackMan names 3.0 metres of ceiling height and 4.6 metres of width as practical values, plus either 3.0 metres between ball and screen or 5.5 metres between radar and screen depending on the device (TrackMan). A Swiss garage is 2.4 metres.

The test takes a minute: back and through with the driver in slow motion. If nothing touches the ceiling, the room is a candidate. All the measurements and their traps are in Ceiling height, width, depth.

The build plan for the enclosure

The self-built part consists of four things, none of them complicated.

• The frame. Pipe with clamp fittings or squared timber, as wide as the screen plus a hand's width each side. It does not have to be pretty, it has to stay standing when a ball hits.
• The tension. The screen is not pulled tight but hung elastically on bungee cords. It should give, because that is exactly what slows the ball and takes the noise out.
• The gap behind. A few centimetres of air belong between screen and wall. Without it the ball hits the wall; with it the screen gives.
• The surround. Heavy black fabric left, right and above catches the balls that miss the target and darkens the picture, which improves it.

Then there is the projector mount under the ceiling. It is fixed once you know how far your unit has to throw for the picture width you want, which is why the projector comes after the screen and not before it.

The order in which you buy

1. Measure the room, at its lowest point, standing on the mat you will use.
2. Choose the measuring device, because it sets the depth you need: a ceiling unit and a camera need less, a radar behind the ball needs more.
3. Screen and frame by the width of the room, not by the picture you would like.
4. The projector by the distance left over after step three.
5. Computer and software by the device, because not every program supports every unit.
6. The mat last, but not cheapest.

Buy in that order and you make at most one mistake. Start with whichever device is on offer and you build the room around it, only to find at the end that two metres are missing.

An evening at a venue as a trial run

Before money goes into parts, an hour with exactly the device you intend to buy is worth it. 83 venues in the directory name TrackMan as their system, 7 Foresight Sports, 4 Uneekor and 4 Full Swing. An hour is a median CHF 50 per bay.

What you learn there is in no data sheet: whether you actually read the numbers or only look at them, whether a round on a screen is fun or dull after twenty minutes, and how loud a ball into a tensioned screen really is. Those are the three questions a cellar build later hangs on.

The five traps

• The net with no picture. A net plus a launch monitor is cheap and good for practice, but it is not a simulator: without a screen and a projector you see numbers and no course. Anyone who wants to play a round needs both.
• The projector in the swing arc. A projector on the floor or on a table throws your shadow into the picture and sooner or later catches a ball. It belongs under the ceiling, behind the swing arc, and in a short room it belongs to the short-throw family.
• The screen against the wall. A screen needs air behind it to slow the ball down. Flat against masonry, every ball rebounds and the wall takes the damage.
• The wrong computer. GSPro runs on Windows only and wants a graphics card; the maker's page also lists which measuring devices are supported. An old laptop will not do.
• The noise. A ball into a net is a bang the flat next door can hear. In an apartment building that, rather than the price, is the real constraint.

What comes every year

A self-build is not a one-off expense. The subscription runs on, including through the summer: GSPro is around USD 250 a year, E6 Connect 300 to 600, TrackMan and Full Swing 700 to 1,100. Then there are replacements. Projector lamp, mat, net and computer do not last forever; reckon on about a quarter of the purchase every five years.

More on this: Buying a golf mat.

When a self-build pays off

The sum is the same as for a bought device and hangs on the hours. At CHF 50 for an hour at a venue and CHF 500 of software a year, a CHF 6,000 setup is paid off in about a year if you play 150 hours a year, and in three years at 50 hours. The whole table is in Buy or rent.

The honest middle way when the room is tight: a launch monitor with a net at home for repetition, and a bay at a venue for the round on a screen. Where the nearest one is and what it charges is on the map.

Frequently asked questions

Can I build a golf simulator myself?

Yes, but the self-build part is only the enclosure: a frame with a tensioned screen. Launch monitor, projector, mat and software you buy as in any package. An entry setup with a net, a mat and a device from USD 499 starts at around USD 1,500; one with a picture and a round runs USD 5,000 to 12,000.

What does a home golf simulator cost?

An entry setup from around USD 1,500, a usable one between USD 5,000 and 12,000, one at the level of a good lounge from USD 15,000. Add the software every year: GSPro around USD 250, E6 Connect 300 to 600, TrackMan and Full Swing 700 to 1,100.

Is a net enough instead of a screen?

For practice yes, for playing no. With a net and a launch monitor you see carry, dispersion and club data, but no course. Anyone who wants to play rounds needs a screen and a projector; anyone working on numbers saves the biggest item after the device.

What computer does a golf simulator need?

For GSPro, a Windows PC with a graphics card; the maker's page also lists the supported measuring devices. Foresight and Uneekor bring their own software, as does TrackMan. Reckon on USD 900 to 1,900 for the machine.

What is the most common mistake in a self-build?

The room. It gets measured after the parts are ordered, and then the height is missing. You need about 3.0 metres of ceiling and 4.6 of width, plus 3.0 or 5.5 metres of depth depending on the device. The slow-motion driver test takes a minute and comes before any order.

Sources

• Best Golf Simulator: Golf Simulator Cost 2026 (Preise für Gerät, Leinwand, Beamer, Matte, Rechner und Abos)
• TrackMan: How much room do you need for a golf simulator
• GSPro: unterstützte Messgeräte
• golfsimulators.ch: alle Standorte