u/apwong

Hey all, longtime lurker first time poster. Over the last few months I've converted a detached metal outbuilding / boat storage (roughly 750sqft -- 25'×30', 20+ ft ceilings) into a multi-purpose creative studio and living space. I've added electric, insulation, and some nice birch plywood walls to finish it. One of the things I want to add is a casual golf simulator — but I'm running into some design challenges because I don't want the sim to dominate the space. We essentially have envisioned breaking the space into a couple quadrants. My wife wants the back left corner to be a gym, so I'm trying to optimize the back right corner to be a movie/sports/golf sim area without completely overtaking the room. I'm hoping to get some advice or feedback on a few of my ideas.

Here's a bit of background context:

- Birch plywood walls, polished concrete floor

- Ceiling-mounted Optoma HD146X projector currently producing a 126"×66" (roughly 10.5'×5.5') image at 16:9

- Planning on Square Golf launch monitor

- No enclosure — want the space to stay open and function as a living room/movie room when not golfing

- Impact screen in the corner of the room.

Challenge 1 — Screen height and an 18" lift

Because this doubles as a movie/TV space I want to keep the screen 16:9. The problem is 16:9 constrains height — at my maximum comfortable width of 10', I only get 5.5' of height. From the couch that feels low and looks a bit awkward. It would also feel awkward looking down at the screen when hitting.

My solution: lift the screen 18" off the floor. This raises the image to a natural viewing height for movies, and visually it looks way better in the space (more like a large display than a screen bolted to the floor). I've taped it out on the wall and it looks great.

But I've never seen anyone else run a sim screen that isn't flush to the floor. Has anyone done this? Would it feel weird playing into a screen that starts 18" up? Any issues I'm not thinking of?

Challenge 2 — Open space, no enclosure

Most sim builds I see are fully enclosed bays with side netting, top netting, the whole thing. But in my space that would wall off a huge section of an otherwise open, big studio. I want to keep it feeling like a living room that happens to have a screen on one wall, not a golf bay that also has a couch.

Has anyone successfully done a sim in a large open space without a full enclosure? What compromises did you make and do you regret them?

Challenge 3 — Shank protection without side netting

Without an enclosure, errant shots are my main concern. My birch plywood walls are finished and I don't want them getting destroyed. My handicap is in the high teens so shanks happen. Since I'm a righty, I don't expect many shots going left, but I may have some flying right towards the wall. I will also absolutely thin some shots under the screen if it's lifted.

Current plan:

- Rubber stall mats on the right side flanking the screen OR

- Loose netting panel on the right side to catch right-going shanks before they hit the wall

- Canvas or heavy fabric below the 18" screen gap to absorb low shots without bounce-back

- Maybe a canvas strip above the screen frame for the rare lob wedge that clears the top

- Left shanks — I know these are rare for a right-hander so I'm less worried about this side... I think?

Anyways, I've spent WAY too much time going back and forth with myself on this idea and I'm hoping to talk this through and get some advice from others!

I've attached a few pics to give a better understanding of the space. Open to any and all feedback.