Ultimate Home Theater Mod for the Golf Enthusiast
29 August 2021
First, let me say in full disclosure, I’m not a golfer. Or better yet, I don’t golf enough to call myself a golfer. That’s why I don’t even own clubs. But I do like to golf. But people who really like to golf don’t like to golf with me — think Carl Spackler. All you old-timers will get that reference.
Debbie’s not a golfer either and probably thankful I’m not. But she does like to get out on the course with me sometimes as she loves to drive the carts — think ‘Thelma and Louise.’
At the risk of angering all the golf widows out there, I’ve found an interesting trend I’d like to share with my golf-loving friends and family out there. We’re all familiar with the explosion of Peloton during the pandemic with gyms being closed. With golf courses closed it seems that golfers started a trend of their own — home golf simulators. After looking deeper into this it turns out to be easier than it sounds, especially where home homeowners have existing home theaters.
Housing a golf simulator and home theater in the same space is a trend that has been taking hold and pushing home theaters and the integrated smart home technology into more than just a place to watch movies.
Building a golf simulator in your home isn’t just reserved for golf pros. Thanks to major advancements in golf simulator technology and declining prices, it’s now much easier to get a great golf simulator for your home. In fact, it’s not much more than the cost of a dedicated home theater. This has a lot of homeowners creating an entertainment space that serves dual purposes.
With some creative thinking and planning, homeowners can create an entertainment area like Top Golf or the innovative new NextLinks, where family and friends can enjoy a round of golf, watch movies and even play video games, all in the same space and with common equipment. What makes this possible is that golf simulator systems and home theaters share many of the same components — a high brightness color-accurate 4K projector, a screen, side curtains and adjustable room lighting — with a launch monitor camera, computer and software added for the golfing.
The anchor of a golf simulator is the projector. For this application, the best projector is a 5,000-lumen 4K laser projector with a short throw lens. Most standard home theater projectors are built for the cinematic experience where the lights are off and as result, picture brightness isn’t essential. But for a golf simulator, these projectors aren’t bright enough for use on a larger impact screen when the lights are on.
Golf simulation launch monitors use high-speed cameras to photograph and analyze a hit, which requires a decently lit room. A bright projector that is at least 5,000 lumens to fill a 12-foot-wide impact screen is what will deliver the best picture that doesn’t look washed out. With adjustable lighting in the room, the launch monitor has plenty of available light to track a swing while the image is bright and colorful.
Conversely, most high brightness projectors don’t have enough resolution or color accuracy to deliver a picture that looks like what the director intended. To solve this issue and allow homeowners to maximize the potential of their home entertainment spaces, there are now projector models available ideally suited for this type of setup — and they cost less than most launch monitors.
The latest golf simulation software, such as E6, now support true UHD 4K resolution, which delivers an image that looks like a true-to-life golf course. And if the plan is to watch the Masters in 4K, watching the latest Avengers movie or connecting an Xbox, the incredible resolution will add to the experience.
One area where homeowners might not be as familiar when it comes to projectors is the lens. Most ceiling-mounted home theater projectors are placed farther away from the screen, but in golf simulation, the traditional projector placement will create a shadow on the screen because the person is standing in the playing area. A projector with a short throw lens allows the projector to be mounted closer to the screen, which not only prevents shadowing but ensures that you won’t hit the projector with one of your clubs since it’s placed outside the hitting zone. Lenses are either built into the projector or sold as an add-on to a projector body the same way lenses are sold with a digital camera. Built-in optical lenses are the most economical and flexible option.
Depending on how the projector is setup, there are two ideal placement options for the playing area. One option is to use an AV cart to the side of the playing area. The ideal projector in this case will require both the right throw ratio to be set up safely beside the playing area and enough lens shift and correction controls to fill the screen. Another option is to mount the projector on the ceiling but outside the hitting area. Again, this will require a projector designed with advanced picture adjustment controls to get the image to fit perfectly on the screen.
The final projector consideration is color accuracy. Homeowners have learned a great deal about how color accuracy impacts the viewing experience, thanks in large part to the movies are now produced. Today, over 75% of 5,000-lumen projectors use lasers because laser technology enables a projector to deliver both high brightness and high color accuracy. But when shopping for your projector, look for one that specifies color accuracy using home theater color specifications such as Rec. 709, the industry color standard for HDTV. For a realistic, immersive experience, 90% or better Rec. 709 coverage is best.
Impact screens are different than a regular home theater projector screen because it is built to withstand the constant pounding of golf balls. The key here is to have a screen that has a smooth and uniform surface so there isn’t any deformation of the image. Some of the newer impact screens are strong enough to hold their shape as the primary projector screen for movies as well, but videophiles may prefer to have movies on smaller screens that are mounted in a fixed position. In that case, an impact screen can drop down in front of the fixed movie screen.
Unless you’re an extremely better golfer than I am, chances are a few shots won’t go where they were intended. In a commercial movie theater, side curtains are used to absorb ambient light and sound, but in a golf simulator, side curtains help catch errant golf balls. Options range from dedicated enclosure side curtains to blackout lined fabric curtains similar to those in a commercial theater.
Lighting is a key part of any home theater setup, but for a golf simulator, a flexible lighting environment is especially important. Dimmable lighting allows the lights to be turned down when watching movies and then back to optimal brightness for the launch monitor to track the ball. With the advancements in lighting technology, there are now multiple options to fit any budget, including smart bulbs or fixtures that can be controlled from a mobile device or home controller. Check out my recent blog ‘Smart Home Lighting and Amazon Alexa Control’ for a variety of light options and controls.
To avoid casting light on the screen, use as much directional lighting as possible. Spotlight lamps that have lower PAR values can improve control of the light in the playing and lounging area without washing out the projected image.
Launch monitors will vary dramatically in price and complexity. There are plenty of golf enthusiasts online, such as Golf Simulator Videos’ YouTube channel, which can help determine the best specifications for the space. Keep in mind that a golf simulator needs a powerful computer to run the golf software, analyze data from the launch monitor, and feed that golf shot to be displayed on the projector. If streaming video and gaming content is important, that will be another consideration.
The golf simulator setup will also require golf flooring or hitting mats, of which there is a range of options from retailers such as Shop Indoor Golf, which specializes in golf simulators. If audio is important, the room will also need a sound system that will complement both the movie-watching and the hitting experience. To pull it all together and make it as easy as possible to switch the lighting, projector, audio, and source inputs between golf mode and home theater mode, a home control system can simplify even the most elaborate setups with just a touch of a button on a controller or mobile device app.
The combination simulator-theater combines the best of both worlds into a single room without much more investment. For homeowners, it’s an opportunity to give the whole family options without having to build out space better used for other purposes. As golf is becoming an even trendier sport played by more and more people, the simulator-theater is a great option for practicing — whether it’s a pandemic, dead of winter or just for fun.
Hopefully this has been helpful and sparked some ideas with my golfing friends and family. It makes a lot of sense to install parallel technology in a home theater space with existing infrastructure. Obviously this was a pretty superficial report on adding golf simulator technology to your home theater but the goal was more planting the seed. So let me know if this sparks any ideas in you golfers out there. I’d love to come over and check out your golf simulator and talk smart home. And if you have a golf cart Debbie can drive around the neighborhood that would be a bonus.
As far as our home build, as reported last week, the price of wood has been on a downward trend for the last 11 weeks. This is great news as it opens options for us to potentially break ground before the end of the year. Other news is even more encouraging as one expert believes that prices will drop another 30% by the end of the year due to the slow down in housing construction and oversupply in lumber as sawmills rushed to meet demand. Regardless, fantastic news for Debbie and I.
We also continue to work through the outer elevation design. Once we complete that we will need to go “pencils down” and finalize our floor plans, especially if we decide to pull the trigger on building between now and the end of the year. We’ve also been spending some time perusing antique shops both locally and in our travels, looking for specific elements to incorporate into our home design as well as ‘happy accident’ finds. We’ve also found a lot of interesting stuff on the internet that we’ve been looking for as well.
That’s about it for this week. We’ll keep you updated as things progressed but please keep the questions and comments coming. We really appreciate the feedback and have integrated a lot of your ideas into our home design. What are your thoughts on a home golf simulator? Is this something you’d consider for your home, whether you have a home theater or not? Do you see it helping your game? I’m not sure even that could save my game. Until next week …
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