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@home Golf Simulator - romantacize or useful?

@home Golf Simulator - romantacize or useful?

  • Romantacize

    Votes: 8 22.9%

  • Useful

    Votes: 27 77.1%
  • Total voters
    35
SuperStroke
My next house will be built on 10+ acres. I'd like to have a separate building that serves as a workshop with a double garage door aimed towards the rear of the property. A mat to hit from in there would be perfect. If I end up not using it very much, the majority of the money spent on the golf-specific part could be recovered by selling the sim. The rest of the investment would still be viable as a workshop.
 
I have the room but not enough ceiling space. I love to practice and hit balls so this is something I would use daily especially during the cold winter months that I deal with.
 
First off....as everyone else said....If your'e going to do it, you have to do it right. Half way on something like a simulator just doesn't work. That just leads to the 'treadmill' or 'bowflex' effect where it sits there with no use.

That being said, for me, I know it'd get a TON of use in the winter and with my buddies around. The winter use would be my main reason for wanting one at home b/c it allows for full swings with great feedback. It's something most guys dream of but are never able to actually do. I know I'd be jumping on it if I had the cash and space.
 
I wonder if JBs friends live in Florida or if they are in a colder climate. I could use see myself using it a lot in the winter or when the weather is bad. If I had the money and space I would do it in a heartbeat. With a nice setup being able to see ballspeed, launch angle, spin, etc would be great. Like someone else said, having friends over would make it fun too. Would think it would be useful for seeing your swing on video too.
 
Go for it. If you don't use it you can take out the equipment and sell it; repurpose the space. But if you decide after building the house that you want that space then you might be out of luck
 
If I had one, I'd likely use it. Maybe not everyday, maybe at best once a week in the winter. But I'd use it, for no other reason than to just keep hitting balls. I'd be more interested in the 'driving range' aspect than playing actual courses. But at the same time, I live in nowhereville. If I lived in Des Moines, I'd probably see how much money I spent going to the Indoor Driving Range before buying a simulator.

~Rock
 
I actually think it's more romanticized for me. I would love to have one, and in my mind I think I would use it as much as possible. But I do think at some point I would get bored with it and it just would turn in to that piece of gym equipment that just sits there.
 
I live in Canada, so being able to play during the winter would make it worth the money alone. November, December, January, February and now March... I still can't play cause there's snow on the ground and I'm in the most southern point of Canada lol. Golf withdrawals are no fun at all.

However, if the ends justify the means, do it. At the end of the day, worst case scenario being that you don't end up using it as much as you'd imagined. You can always sell it, even if it's built it you can always add it to the price of the house for re-sale whatever your capital cost may be.
 
I voted useful only for the aspect of it giving you the opportunity to golf at any hour of any day. Work on any aspect of your game. And get valuable feedback for it. BUT, return on investment wise, I don't think it will get there. The likelihood of it paying for itself is slim. If this is your forever home, I'd totally do it anyway. Wouldn't have to worry about resale and getting value out of it. Totally do it. You're custom building so the price will be in the mortgage. And host a couple weekly skins games with your friends
 
Jeff Spicoli said:
I wonder if JBs friends live in Florida or if they are in a colder climate. I could use see myself using it a lot in the winter or when the weather is bad. If I had the money and space I would do it in a heartbeat. With a nice setup being able to see ballspeed, launch angle, spin, etc would be great. Like someone else said, having friends over would make it fun too. Would think it would be useful for seeing your swing on video too.
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It was my friends in Indy and CT. So definitely colder climate.
It was fun at the beginning. They are all into golf equipment, and all thought they would use it as a sim. The truth is, in just about every case, they used the simulator part of it to justify the cost in their head of wanting to chase numbers. The sim got used less and less.
 
If I had the space I would totally use one!
 
I would get one if feasible just for the opportunity of friends enjoying it. I am all about the open door policy and LOVE entertaining others.
 
sleuth,

I was first an owner back in 2008, then I became a dealer for these systems. I sell several brands of stretching from TruGolf to Sports Coach, I have connections at all of the major manufacturers.

The guys are right, if you do it, do it right especially in a custom built home. Cost can be as little as under $20K to just under $30K for a really good golf simulator that can double as a media/rec room.

Best thing about a golf simulator is muscle memory, and all of that private time to work on a specific type of a shot. Your golf game will definitely improve, if not just from hitting balls all of the time.

I hit the range and play at least 9 holes per day, about 5 days a week. My game went from above 100 in 2008 and playing once to twice a season, to now I shoot in the low 80's consistently, hit low 70's every so often, hit my 3 wood 270, super confident in my golf game. For what is available in golf simulation these day, very worth it. My wife learned to play on a simulator, and is a great golfer now. Now just starting to teach my daughter who is 3 yrs old to play, and at first I thought it was a lost cause, but as she sees my hit balls her interest picked up and now she is putting balls on our putting green regularly, looking to get her to launch some balls this spring on the sim, with enthusiasm.

So, I think you should go for it. If price is sensitive go with the TruGolf Tech Personal and upgrade to E6Golf. The GC2 is a great launch monitor and can double as a sim, but for what you are getting for the money, you would be better served getting a golf simulator and a ES14 Launch Monitor for the range. GC2 only giving small number of courses and LM for the almost $10K, for that same price you get an out of box simulator with upgraded E6Golf, a lot more options available if you need help message me.

DR
 
For me it would be useful. BUt I don't think I would go the sim route, I would go the launch monitor route that give me ball flight path on a screen. It would be something that would get daily use in the winter and rainy days in the spring and summer. This is something that I have really thought about for my garage and building up a garage based studio for me to hit in.
 
Sounds to me like 4quarters is the guy with direct input as to How, What, When and Why!! My biggest advice is ensure ceiling height. Not to put JB on the spot, but maybe he can put you in touch with some of the guys that have "been there, done that" and wouldn't do it again so you could get details to consider.

I checked useful, because it's something I've thought about doing myself. I haven't because I figure I like the idea, but more than likely it will get unused more often than it gets used.
 
Texasbrons said:
Sounds to me like 4quarters is the guy with direct input as to How, What, When and Why!! My biggest advice is ensure ceiling height. Not to put JB on the spot, but maybe he can put you in touch with some of the guys that have "been there, done that" and wouldn't do it again so you could get details to consider.

I checked useful, because it's something I've thought about doing myself. I haven't because I figure I like the idea, but more than likely it will get unused more often than it gets used.
Click to expand...

Look up...:D
 
sleuth said:
So my wife and I have decided to custom build a house. We have met with a couple builders already to work with us on who best understands our vision and design. In the back of my head, I really want a golf simulator in the basement. My wife understands my passion and love and is entertaining the thought, as long as it's a small footprint. Some of these things require a ton of space due to the projector type setup, so I was thinking about a GC2 + TV on the wall.

What I really fear is that this is just a romantacized idea that we all have had one point or another, or if this would really be used? Lets think of all those things in our lives that we just really wanted, but then took a seat in the corner and never actually use (bowflex comes to mind).

Let me know your thoughts and why!
Click to expand...

Okay so here is my deal, warm climate in Brisbane Australia so I can play all year around but if I saw someone advertise that they have one of these I would pay to use it from time to time for testing my gear. Testing different clubs and lengths. Testing balls and techniques etc...

So what I am saying is tell your wife you can hire it out to some local individuals make her a few $.
 
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